Our event this weekend was at AMF Union Hills lanes and we had a decent turn out considering it was opening weekend of the Phoenix City tournament and also St. Patrick’s Day. We had 72 entries (47 qualifying and 25 economy parlay), 25 cashers, a 1 in 3.6 cash ratio and we paid out a little over $3,000.00 in main and side event prize fund. The players bowled on the 39ft Winding Road oil pattern which yielded some interesting results. At most tournaments the cut scores are higher in the C division and lower in the A division because of the increased amount of handicap in the C division. This tournament was the complete opposite with the A division cut score taking +100 and the C division cut score going as low as the +50 range. The pattern appeared to allow players to play in their comfort zone for the most part with a variety of playable options.
We have had a ton of new bowlers this season. We can only assume that it has something to do with the increased number of events giving those busier people more options to find time to try an event out! We want to thank Dan Marks, Scott Marsh, Ryan Currie, Thomas Chambers, and Michael Rexroad for coming out and trying the events out. We hope you all had a great time and we look forward to seeing you at your next event!
The quarter finals were an exciting one with only one spot being available in each division. Since the cut ratio to advance from the quarter finals is always 1 in 3, with only 5 quarter finalists, there would only be one spot. Many of the divisions came down to the very last game but they ended up with Eric Flick being the A division champion, Mike Umstead the B Division champion and Patrick Sheridan the C division champion.
Mike Umstead was the #1 seed in the final match due to having the highest quarter finals series including handicap. He elected to start the match so he could finish on the right lane. He had Eric as the B bowler to finish last and Patrick as the C division bowler. The final match didn’t have anyone off to a huge lead. Eric started off with a small lead but an open in the 5th frame showed Patrick and Mike both that they still had a chance at the title. However, they never really took advantage of it. Mike never struck in the later frames and Patrick opened in the 7th and 9th. The lack of pressure on Eric allowed him to keep a nice loose swing doubling in the 8th and 9th to pretty much lock up his 2nd title and the Union Hills championship!
Thanks to everyone for coming out and we look forward to seeing you all come out for our event next Sunday at AMF Peoria! Oh, and happy St. Patrick’s Day!
