We had another fun and exciting event at AMF Union Hills this weekend. As always the SFT AHT family found a way to set another record. It wasn't the entry count this time, but instead the number of new bowlers. The event drew 111 entries, 30 cashers, a 1 in 3.7 cash ratio and paid out over $4,100.00 for the entire event! The record was the 17 BRAND NEW bowlers that came out this weekend. I can't say that it has never been done because our first event ever was all new SFT AHT members since it was a new club. However, as we have grown our events have normally drawn 4-6 new members at each event. The fact that we had 17 at this one was absolutely incredible. It was due in large part to Bo Copeland doing promotions at the host center, and the rest of the SFT AHT members bringing in new people.
The members bowled on the 40ft 2014 Singles & Doubles Open Championship's oil pattern. The pattern proved to be a great pattern for the event with the cut scores being medium for the most part. It was also a great pattern as it allowed all styles to play the lane in a way that they were some what comfortable. The straighter players could play the straight and the higher rev players could move left and hook it with some margin for error. It was a great pattern and the club can expect to see it again in the future.
As I said before we had 16 new bowlers this weekend, so let's meet them! Benjamin Sutherlan, Felipe Espriu, William Graham, Dino Amoroso, Luciano Amoroso, Ryan Friedberg, Steven Blake, Mike Walker, DeAngelo Trujillo, Mark Nichols, Rich Strowman, Brandon Schneider, Reese Elliston, Raymond Berrios, Tyler Shipman, Anthony Weidenfeller, and Tin Tieu all bowled in their first standard event this weekend! We hope you all had a good time at your first event with us and we look forward to seeing you at the next one!
We want to say congrats to Chris Albert, Rick Hoang, Jesse Solberg, Bruce Irwin, Dennis Smith, and Ben Sutherland on making their first ever SFT AHT quarter finals this weekend. Every event we are seeing new faces have success and that means our prime objective is being completed, so congrats to all of you! Also congrats to Gary Demeny, Susan O'Hara and Lynn Arthur on showing the Power of the Parlay! All of them turned their $25 entry fee into a nice quarter finals check, but Gary took it one step further and made it to the semi-finals which got him $160 for his $25! Nice bowling you three!
The semi-finals had #1 seed Wes Marema vs #2 seed Ben Spencer for the A division title, #1 seed Ron Gonzales vs #2 seed Gary Demeny for the B division title, and #1 seed Ben Sutherland vs #2 seed Brian Gustafson for the C division title. Wes coming off a huge +201 in the quarter finals was too hot for Ben to handle and was our A division champion. A shot that pushed a little high and left Gary a 7-10 split closed the door on his match which named Ron Gonzales the B division champion. The C division match was a back and forth one. Ben started off on fire with string of strikes but then followed with back to back opens. Brian, showed that you strike for show and spare for the dough. He stayed clean and threw a three bagger at the same time as Ben's opens which allowed him to put the pressure on Ben and inevitably claim the C division title. Our three division finalists squared off in another exciting final match!
Just like the match at our last event at AMF Christown we entered the 10th frame with all three players within striking distance of taking home the title. Ron finished his 10th frame first and although he didn't strike out, he stayed clean and his big strike in the 9th frame gave him just enough of a lead that he didn't need to perform greatly in the 10th to still have a shot. However as he finished his 10th frame, he could still lose to any player that doubled in the 10th. The next player up to finish was Wes Marema, and his first shot went high leaving a split that he couldn't convert. Wes finished with a 223 game with handicap which wasn't enough to over take Ron's 250 game. Brian was the last one to bowl and was the last one that could defeat Ron. He would need a double as well though, and he wasn't able to do it either. Leaving a split in the 10th frame, giving Ron the victory and Brian a nice 2nd place finish. This was Ron's 3rd SFT AHT standard event title, and Brian and Wes's first title match appearance. However, Ron used one of his exemptions he won from the 2013 points race to be seeded into the quarter finals. This means that he doesn't get any season points for this win for this year's race which is a big loss for him but, many of our other regulars were happy to see him win.
Congrats to all of the bowlers this weekend and we look forward to seeing you all at our next standard event in a couple weeks at Brunswick Kyrene lanes. We want to thank all of you for making this season incredibly successful so far, and we are very excited to see how much further we can grow.
