Our event this weekend was at AMF Desert Hills and had another good turnout with all the other events going on around the Valley. We had 67 total entries (49 qualifying & 18 economy parlay) for 3 squads, 24 prize winners and a 1 in 2.8 cash ratio which we paid out over $4,000 in main and side event prize funds. The players bowled on the 43ft Dean Man’s Curve oil pattern that was a very difficult pattern to play. Players had trouble playing on the outside of the lane and there wasn’t a lot of margin of error when playing inside. Pair to pair were big differences, but once the oil pattern started to break down in the 3rd squad, then scores started to go up!
As always, we want to welcome Roy Miele and Eric Pick to the SFT AHT family! We hope you guys all had a good time in your first SFT AHT event. Congrats to Josh Hancock on being this weekend’s only parlay power player! Josh was able to turn his $25 into a quarterfinal’s appearance! We would also like to congratulate Brian Schamber who won Momma’s Mystery Pot for $500.00!!! Your winner of the free plastic ball, with an option to upgrade to any Track High Performance ball for $85.00, was Kevin Convirs.
The quarterfinals were bowled on fresh conditions and it the scores were low, but those that made it to the next round were able to figure out the pattern and score slightly above their average. The A division had #1 seed Justin Song taking on Ron Gonzales, while the B division would see #1 seed Brian Schamber versus Derek Hamm, and in the C division #1 seed Mike Stockinger would face off against newcomer Roy Miele.
All the semi-final matches were close. Mike Stockinger was unable to hold off Roy Miele winning 189 to 162. Derek Hamm was able to bowl a clean game to defeat Brian Schamber, 208 to 169. The A division semi-final would all come down to the last few frames. Ron Gonzales held a slight lead going into the ninth, but an unfortunate open in the ninth frame, by Justin, opened the door for Ron to finish the match with a nice 207 game.
This would be the first time, in a while, where all three divisional winners were not the #1 seed of their division. Going into the final match Ron Gonzales was looking for his 9th SFT AHT title, while Derek Hamm was looking at going 5 for 5 in Finals. Newcomer Roy Miele was looking for his first title in his first ever event!
The match started off with everyone trying to figure out a line to the pocket. A few open frames from both Ron and Derek gave Roy a quick lead to start. About midway through the match all bowlers were neck and neck. Unfortunately, the pair of lanes that the Finals were bowled on broke down and after a short break the bowlers had to switch pairs. After a mini practice to get warmed back up, then the match continued. Derek couldn’t carry in the second half of the match and dropped behind Ron and Roy. Ron started to mount a comeback by throwing a four-bagger to put some pressure on Roy. It would come down to the final frames as a light hit by Ron in the ninth left a seven pin. Roy was able to strike in the ninth and doubled in the tenth to give him his first ever AHT SFT title and $600.00!!! Congrats to Ron Gonzales for coming in 2nd and to Derek Hamm for his 3rd place finish.
Thanks to everyone that came out to support the event! We look forward to seeing you all at our next event at AMF Union Hills next Sunday, January 20th! Hope you all have a great week!!!
