Our 2014 season had somewhat of a dramatic build up. The members made some pretty big changes at the end of 2013 to create three divisions and open the club up to even more players. These big changes could have gone over with the bowlers in a variety of ways. However, after having our opening event in 2014 it’s safe to say that the members made some great changes that people are really looking forward to for the rest of the 2014 season. I say that because we passed our previous 6 squad tournament entry record by nearly 50%! The old record which was around 110 entries got blown out of the water with 153 entries this weekend at Brunswick Kyrene! There was definitely more lower average bowlers there due to having the additional lower averaged “C” division, and some higher averaged players there due to the higher averaged “A” division where players don’t have as much handicap.

Our final event of the 2013 season was a great one! We had a great turn out, and as always, many story lines! The event drew 106 entries, 26 cashers, a 1 in 4 cash ratio and paid out over $4,500.00! The players bowled on an incredibly difficult 47ft Scorpion pattern, which as some of you may know, is the newest version of this pattern that was used in this year’s World Series of Bowling. The PBA telecast for this pattern comes on December 22nd. There were players that played the pattern straighter, and some played it a bit more inside but no one got their ball right of the 8 board as that was out of bounds for just about everyone. It seemed that the difference maker was just keeping your shots in play to leave easier spares.

The event this weekend was at Brunswick Zone Mesa. There were 108 entries, 28 cashers, a 1 in 3.8 cash ratio and paid out over $4,000.00! The participants bowled on the PBA 37ft Viper oil pattern, which yielded fairly low scores for the weekend. There were a few bowlers as always that really bowled great and blew the roof off of the place but the average cut scores for the weekend were around +50. The pattern was very tight on the outside boards and hooked a decent amount on the inside which forced players left from the start; even straighter players had to play straight up 2nd arrow. The players that had the best ball reaction were those that could get in and play the deeper angles and slow curve the lane.

Our event at Golden Pin lanes drew 47 entries, had 16 cashers and a 1 in 2.9 cash ratio. The players bowled on the 40ft Carmen Salvino oil pattern which had moderate to high scores. We met a few new bowlers that lived in the Tucson area, and even had a couple of them make it to the quarter finals in their first event with us! 

We met the following new members; Larry Thompson, Erica Pursell, Richard Bruner, Josh Franz, and Labriel Leach were all new members that came out to represent Tucson. A special congrats to Josh Franz who made the quarter finals in his first ever SFT AHT event. Also congrats to Erica Pursell who made it all the way to the B division finals in her first ever event. Also congrats to Robin Unfricht who showed the power of the parlay and turned $25 into a quarter finals check! Congrats everyone!