Our event this weekend was at Brunswick Tri-City lanes. The event drew 89 total entries (63 qualifying & 26 parlays), had 28 cashers, a 1 in 3.2 cash ratio and paid out over $4,400.00 in main and side event prize funds! The players bowled on the PBA 45ft Dragon oil pattern that played very tricky for all bowlers. We did have a few that matched up well and were able to produce some high scores on the fresh and then struggled as the lanes tightened up with carry down in the following squads. Most players were playing straight at the headpin or just left of 3rd arrow and it seemed that the players that could repeat their shots had a little better chance at putting together good games. This was a change of pace since the last two tournaments had very high scores.
As always, we want to welcome our first-time bowlers to the SFT AHT family! Welcome Nicolas Viscaina, Ryan Detlaff, Andrew Gill, Skye Vasconcellas and Roy McKnight to our bowling family! We hope you all had a good time at your first event and we look forward to seeing you at the next one! Also, Josh Black was the only parlay power player this weekend, making it to the quarterfinals off the $25 economy parlay. We always have one or two bowlers that can get through and cash in the quarterfinals from the economy parlay and it’s always great to see players taking advantage of this affordable option. Nice bowling to all of you!
The quarterfinals were low scoring on the fresh pattern. The scores were like the 1st squad of the day and it made so the bowlers had to be able to repeat shots to score well. The A division cut score was +11, B division +12 and C division +92. Since the handicap is 80% of 210, this means the players were bowling their average just to make it to the semi-finals, except for the C Division. This was a good illustration of how tough the oil pattern was on fresh and it took the bowlers repeating their shots to score well.
The A Division was led by Correen Lieber, as the #1 seed, and she had to face Eric Flick for a spot in the finals. Their semi-final match was a back and forth with each bowler trying to jump out to a lead. Unfortunately, both Correen split in the 6th frame and then chopped a spare in the 10th frame to leave an opening for Eric. Eric was able to take advantage and strike in the 9th and 10th to defeat Correen, 226 to 193. In the B division, the #1 seed was Lynn Arthur. Lynn would take on Derek Hamm for the chance at advancing to the finals. Their semi-final match was an exciting one. Derek was able to stay clean and string a few strikes to take a quick lead, but Lynn came roaring back as he always does. Lynn was able to strike in the 7th, 8th and 9th frames to put himself in a position to grab a spot in the finals. All Lynn needed was a strike on his 1st ball in the tenth frame. He threw his shot and it went a little high leaving him the 3-6-10 and gave Derek the win, 212 to 217. The C division was led by Dan Lanious, who is a relative newcomer and joining him in the semi-finals was another newcomer Nicholas Viscaina. Their semi-final match was a back and forth will both bowlers struggling on the pair. Nicholas had got a lead but opened in the final few frames to leave the door open for Dan in the tenth frame. Dan was able to strike in the 10th frame and punched his ticket to the finals with a score of 207 to 201.
The final match was a back and forth affair with each bowler feeling out the lanes. Dan and Eric each started out missing a few spares while Derek was able to line himself up and get himself into position with a 4-bagger in the 3rd, 4th, 5th & 6th frames. It looked like Derek would run away with the win, but he split in the 8th to leave a small opening. Dan was able to calm him nerves and get himself back in to the match with a few nice shots. Eric struggled with carry leaving single pin spares and eventually making a ball change in the 6th frame. Dan and Eric battling it out for 2nd place. Dan was able to put a few frames together to finish at 193 while Eric continued to struggle with carry to finish at 176. Derek was able to make up for his open in the 8th and finished out with a nice 236 game giving him the win and his 3rd SFT AHT title and $900.00! Congrats to the other finalists and other cashers today! Thank you for coming out and we look forward to seeing you next Sunday at Brunswick Mesa!
