Well another great event at AMF McRay Plaza Lanes. We had 82 entries, 24 prize winners, a 1 in 3.4 cash ratio and paid out nearly $3,000 in the main tournament prize fund. We had another 21 entries in the sweeper and paid out an additional $600.00 in side action. The bowlers bowled on the Kegel Middle Road oil pattern. The pattern seemed to start off a little touchy but playable, but definitely opened up as the day went on. The pattern yielded higher cut scores then usual and allowed for a variety of styles to compete.
We did have quite a few bowlers’ cash for the first time in this event, it’s not easy, so I want to give them a quick congrats. Mark Myers, Randy Reis, Robert Lewis, Lynn Heide, and Anthony Dang congrats on your first quarter finals appearance. However, this was the first event for Mark, Lynn, Robert, and Anthony, which makes their quarter finals appearance even that much more impressive. Congrats to all of you on your success this weekend.
There were also some Parlay success stories this weekend. Chuck Kremer who is a long time SFT family member won the Economy Parlay on Saturday at 10am and carried that into at qualifying score of +49 and advanced to the finals. Additionally, Lynn Heide, a new SFTAHT bowler, led the Economy Parlay squad on Saturday. She really took advantage of the additional tournament features, because she then made it on her next squad off of the Divisional Insurance. The two bowlers invested $25 each for the Economy Parlays and both took home a combined $165.00 from their parlay success story. Also, I want to give a quick congrats to Lynn’s husband, Bob Heide, on his 300 game during league recently. Happy for both you guys! Congrats!
The epic story line this tournament was not only the age of our champion but how he reached the title. Anthony Dang, a two handed lefty, came in on Sunday with very little tournament experience and was hoping to “just get some experience”. Well the 17 year old got a bunch of that, and $1,000! Our youngest AHT champion ever had one of the most interesting runs that we have seen.
He crushed the field in quarter finals leading with +141. However, in match play, it was a much different story. Anthony found himself behind very quickly in the semi-final match against Mike Holland. Mike was bowling a solid game and had the lead going into the 9th frame. Mike had a bad shot in the 9th and finished with an open. He still had the lead and was the last one to finish the 10th frame. All he needed was a mark in the 10th to win and bowl for his first title ever. He ended up missing the bucket in the 10th frame to lose by 2 pins which allowed Anthony to advance to the final match.
Anthony bowled Steve Hamlett in the finals match. Steve defeated Ron Gonzales and Joe Yannacci the round before. Anthony was faced with the same situation again being down very early in the match, but yet again his opponent had some late opens which re-opened the door for him. A big 4 ended up giving Anthony the ability to mark in the 10th frame to win. Anthony threw a great shot in the 10th frame when he needed it but rang a 7 pin. He needed to make the spare and get good count to win. He covered the spare and got just enough to win by 3 pins yet again. Anthony bowled scratch scores of 148 and 149 to win the tournament. Proving that truly all skill levels can compete at SFT AHT; anyone could win $1,000 and get your name on the BIG CHECK!
Thanks to those that came out this weekend. We look forward to seeing you all again at AMF Christown Lanes. This event will also feature $100 per game side pots for the last squad of the tournament which is becoming a very popular feature. We hope to see you all there!
