Well we had another great event this weekend at AMF Christown Lanes. I can’t tell you how great this center is for tournaments. I really love the lay out and how the spectators are above the players. It is one of our favorite centers in the valley and has A LOT of tournament history in it. The main event drew 86 total entries, had 23 prize winners, a 1 in 3.7 cash ratio and paid out over $3,300.00! The side events had 32 sweeper entries, and paid out over $700. The high game pot squad is really starting to grow! This event the Sunday 1pm squad drew 34 total bowlers! Congrats to Hokey Begay, Dylan Taylor and Ben Dewberry on winning $100 each for their $10 investment! Our next event at Mesa East will also have $100 per game side pots on Sunday at 1pm.
The tournament was bowled on a 40ft modified house shot that really had a lot of variety to it. It started off a little tough, but it was clear that as the day went on it opened up and yielded very high scores. If there was any style that seemed to really match up well, it was the slow to medium ball speed bowlers with medium rev rates. These bowlers really bowled well in most of the qualifying squads. However, in the quarters it was clear that the key was either ball speed or loft. The pattern had some of the highest scores we have had with the cut scores all weekend being well over +60 or higher. The pattern did allow for all styles to compete, as we had bowlers of all styles in the quarter finals.
We did have a bowler make the quarter finals in her very first try out. Congrats to Lisa Hiller, who after a few ups and downs, got comfortable, and found some motivation to bowl a good game 3 and advance to the quarter finals in her very first event on Saturday. Not many people get it done in their first try, so congrats, Lisa! Some other new members that joined us at this event were Vee Leneair, and Larry Hofmann. Welcome to the family guys!
We had a couple Economy Parlay success stories. Ben Dewberry, Ryan Burt and Charlie Light all showed the power of the parlay by advancing to the quarter finals off of a small $25 investment. Ben Dewberry took it one step further, and made it all the way to the semi’s! Ben also won a $100 side pot in our big side pot squad, so he turned $25 into $138 for the tournament and $20 into $100 for the side events. That is $45 into $238! Not to mention free bowling! Well done buddy! Good bowling!
The A Division semi’s were between Ernie Mendoza, Brian Roever, and Ryan Burt. Ryan actually took 2nd at AMF Christown the last time we were there. Ernie led the A Division in the quarter finals with a hefty 700 series scratch and a +177 with handicap. He continued his domination by beating his two opponents by almost 100 pins! Ernie bowled a 259 scratch and 282 with handicap to crush his opponents and secure his spot in the final match.
The B Division semi’s were between Jai Janoe, Ben Dewberry, and Chuck Kremer. Jai led the B Division in the quarter final round shooting one of the highest sets we have ever seen! He bowled 708 scratch and +198 with handicap. His goal was a score of 200 over and he almost got there! Great bowling buddy. However, he wasn’t able to keep it going as he and Ben Dewberry were defeated by Chuck in the B division semi’s with a score of 234 with handicap. Ben had a chance to win but needed a double in the 10th that was cut short by a 9 pin on his first shot.
This meant we had two bowlers in the final match who had never won a title which meant anything could happen. Nerves tend to always play a factor if you haven’t been there before. Ernie showed his poise and “got the monkey off his back” bowling another HUGE score when he needed it most. He defeated Chuck 259 to 232 with handicap to take home, the big check, bragging rights, and $1,000! Chuck took home a cool $500. Congrats to both of you!
Our next event is at Mesa East lanes. This will be our first event after the announcement of the 2012 Pruitt’s Match Play Invitational, and I am sure the race for season points will be on. As always this event will feature an economy parlay squad each day and a $100 per game side pots for the final squad. We will be starting the Saturday squads an hour later (11am instead of 10am) for those that have to travel to get there. We look forward to seeing you all there!
