Our event this weekend was at Brunswick Desert Sky lanes and had good turnout. We had 85 total entries (58 qualifying & 27 economy parlay) for 3 squads, 26 prize winners and a 1 in 3.3 cash ratio. The players bowled on the 43ft Dean Man’s Curve oil pattern that is normally a very difficult to play. Players had trouble playing on the outside of the lane and on some pairs, there wasn’t a lot of margin of error when playing inside. Moving pair to pair there were big differences. This was due to the bowling center’s older lanes which had a lot of friction, but once the oil pattern started to break down, then scores went through the roof.
We want to welcome Martin Grams, Jerome Robinson and Jericho Gaydos to the SFT AHT family! We hope you guys all had a good time in your first SFT AHT event. There were no parlay power players this weekend, which just goes to show you how difficult it was to bowl consistently.
The quarterfinals were on fresh conditions and the scores were low, but those that made it to the semi-final round were able to figure out the pattern and score well. The A division had #1 seed Mike Barcus taking on #2 seed Ernie Mendoza, the B division was #1 seed Martin Gram taking on Andy Morin, and the C division #1 seed Nicholas Viscaina vs. #2 seed Ted McKay. The A division match started off rocky with both players trying to line up on the pair. Mike eventually figured it out and made some shots at the end to string some strikes to defeat Ernie and move on to the finals. The B division was back and forth with both bowlers trying to gain the upper hand. Martin was narrowly able to get around Andy to move on to the next round. In the C division each bowler struggled with the pair they were on. Nicholas, who had been bowling good all day, was able to pick up enough spares to stay ahead and defeat Ted.
The final match was very back and forth with all the players being in the mix for most of the game. However, Mike was able to put together a 3- bagger in the middle of the match to take the early lead. Martin was able to stay clean and try to keep some pressure on Mike. Nicholas struggled at the start but was able to put together some frames and doubled in the 5th & 6th frames to stay in the hunt, but a missed 10 pin in the 8th frame took him out of the running. Meanwhile Martin was able to double in the 8th and 9th frames to put together a late rally. Going into the tenth frame both Martin and Mike were neck and neck. Martin was up first and needed all strikes in the tenth to try and squeak out the win. He was able to strike in his first shot, but his next shot went a bit long and he was able to spare for a 235 with handicap. This meant that Mike had to double and get six to win. Mike stepped up on his first shot and drilled the pocket for a strike, then with all the pressure going on was able to remain calm and hit the pocket again for a second strike. His final ball was on the mark for his fourth strike in a row giving him a score of 241 and his 1st SFT AHT title and $850.00. Congrats to Martin Gram on his 2nd place finish in his first event and to Nicholas Viscaina for 3rd place. Congrats guys!
Thanks to everyone that came out! We look forward to seeing you all at our event next Sunday at AMF Tempe Village!
