Our event this weekend was a special one! We not only had a great turnout, but we got to honor one of the greatest SFT members of all time. Our event was at Glenfair lanes and the players bowled on a very difficult 32ft wolf oil pattern that ended up having the lowest cut scores we have ever seen! The average cut was -30! This means if you bowled about 10-15 pins under average per game, you still had a chance to qualify! Short patterns have always been very difficult at this bowling center. For whatever reason, regardless of the oil pattern, the gutters have always been a bit out of play and don't have a lot of reaction off of them. Because of this, shorter oil patterns like Wolf are extremely difficult. The key this weekend was definitely spares! The event drew a total of 86 qualifying entries (64 qualifying entries & 22 economy parlay). It was a great turnout for the holiday! We want to thank all of the veterans who put it all on the line for us to be able to have the freedoms we have and live in a country where we can have weekends to go bowl with friends and have a good time.
For those that don't know, we lost Lynn Arthur a few weeks ago. Lynn was one of our greatest members, if not the greatest member of the SFT. He has bowled the events for decades! He even bowled in the first SFT event that I (Craig Spencer) bowled in nearly 14 years ago. He was one of the first friendly faces that I met and helped me get comfortable at the events. Through out the next 14 years Lynn wouldn't change much at all. He was a pillar of positivity, sportsmanship and professionalism at the SFT events and remained one of the friendliest supportive guys I have ever met. It was really an honor to be able to honor him at this weekends event. We had several members share memories of their own about Lynn and all while Lynn's wife and family were there to hear how great he was in the bowling community. We capped it all of with big announcement to help immortalize Lynn in the SFT forever. We announced the new Lynn Arthur Sportsmanship Award which will be awarded every season now until the end of time. Of course we were also very pleased to be able to announce and award the 2018 winner to Lynn and his wife. Lynn, we know you are up there watching us all and we miss you already brother! There wasn't anyone else like you, and there probably never will be.
The quarter finals had low scoring once again, with pretty much every semi-finalist bowling under average. We had #1 seed Ted McKay vs #2 seed James Roehtle Sr. in the C division, #1 seed Sammi Hernreich vs #2 seed James Roethle in the B division and #1 seed Jason Tunay vs #2 seed Mike Fitzgerald in the A division. The A division semi-finals was pretty close until the last few frames in which Michael wasn't able to put enough strikes together to put the pressure on Jason and Jason was able to cover his spares and take advantage of a brooklyn strike to move on as the A division champion with a score of 219 with handicap. In the B division, it looked like James Roethle was going to be the winner as he only needed a mark in the 10th to win. His first shot he only got 6 and on today's conditions, any multipin spare wasn't an easy one. He wasn't able to convert which gave Sammi the win and a shot for her first SFT AHT title. In the C division, it was a game of hot potato with Ted and James both going back and forth with the mistakes. It ended with James needing a mark in the 9th and 10th to really shut Ted out. He opened in the 9th, spared in the 10th, but than only got 5 in the fill for a score of 169 with handicap. Ted needed to mark and get good count to win. He spared in the 9th, but in the 10th missed left and left the 1-3-9-10. This spare wasn't easy this weekend, and because he got 6, he had to convert the spare to move on. In clutch fashion, he was able to convert and move on to win his first title in 3 years.
The final match was a one horse race and it was from the very beginning. Sammi started off with a nice 4 bagger from frame 3 and although she opened after that, no one was able to put together a string to put any pressure on her. She was able to come away with her first ever SFT AHT title and $1,000.00! Ted McKay came in 2nd and Jason Tunay 3rd! Thanks to everyone for coming out to the event this weekend and thanks to those who shared some of their memories of Lynn! See you all next Sunday at AMF Union Hills lanes!
