This weekend we kicked off the 2023 Summer Quarterly Circuit (July - September) at Bowlero Mesa. With the long holiday weekend and all the other events going on this weekend we still had a good turnout. We would see 95 total entries (78 qualifying and 17 economy parlays) with 32 prize winners and a cash ratio of 1 in 4, which paid out over $6,000 in main and side event prize funds. The bowlers played on the 39ft PBA Chameleon oil pattern. The players bowled on a 39ft PBA Chameleon oil pattern that was very tricky, deceptive. Many of the bowlers would think that since there was more oil volume that it would play similar to a modified house shot, but with all the oil in the front and outside portion of the lanes it made it very hard to swing the ball. Because the pattern was not very long or very short, it allowed players to attack it from a variety of angles. The cut scores were kind of low with bowlers only needing to bowl a few pins over their average each game to advance to the quarterfinal round. The main key for the day was to leave a makeable spares and then pick them up.
We would like to welcome Rosie Young, Alex Arnell, Bill McCoy and Mike Rhoads to the SFT family. We hope that you all had a fun time and hope to see you again. We didn’t have any Parlay Power Players this weekend which goes to show how difficult the pattern played from pair to pair. Congrats to Stephanie Sell and Jim Haines for making their first quarterfinals or their first quarterfinals in quite a while. We would have one $500.00 Momma’s Mystery Pot number drawn but the bowler was not in the mystery pot. Your winner of the free plastic ball raffle, with an option to upgrade to any Track high performance ball for $85.00, was Outhay Lalab.
The quarterfinals would be bowled on the fresh oil pattern and the scores showed as we would see scores more in line with the 1st squad of the tournament. Picking up spares was the key as it would come down to the final few frames to see who would advance to semi-final round. We would have 23 quarterfinalists with each Division having at least 7 bowlers in each Division. With our 1 in 3 cut ratio, from the quarterfinals to the semi-finals, we would cut to the Top 2 bowlers in all three Divisions.
The A Division would see Tim Eichhorn (+43) emerge as the #1 seed and he would have to face off against #2 seed Quinten Bell (+29). The B Division would have Jeff Kraus (-1) as the #1 seed, and he would take on Terry Bandel (-29). The C Division would feature red-hot Douglas Bukauskas (+72) as the overall #1 seed, and he would be up against Stephanie Sell (+31).
The A Division Semi-Final match would go back and forth between Tim and Quinten. A missed 4-pin in the 8th frame by Quinten would seal the deal as Tim would finish out the match to advance, 224 to 204. The B Division Semi-Final match would be a low scoring match as Jeff and Terry would grind out a difficult pair. Jeff would string a couple of strikes to defeat Terry, 211 to 185, and advance to the Finals. The C Division Semi-Finals would see two SFT rookies in Douglas Bukauskas and Stephanie Sell. Stephanie was making her very first Semi-Finals and looking to advance to her first Finals with a win. The match would remain close until midway, as Stephanie would lose carry while Douglas would continue to string strikes to win the match, 267 to 224.
Going into the Finals we would see SFT rookie Douglas Bukauskas as the top seed. Douglas was looking to get his first title in his very first Finals. Standing in his way was chef/restaurateur Jeff Kraus who was also looking to take home his first title. Jeff joined us at the start of the year and was making his second Finals appearance this season. Jeff has been working hard on his game and his hard work was finally paying off with two Finals appearances in the last couple of months. Tim Eichhorn had been bowling all day as he had already cashed in the $10K CBE Cactus Classic this weekend and was looking to add to his winnings. As the reigning SFT Player of the Year, Tim received 20 exemptions for this season, which means that he does not have to qualify in order to make it to the quarterfinals (except SFT Majors), so Tim used an exemption for this event and was the top seed in the A Division. Tim was looking to looking to win his 3rd AHT SFT title and the $1,100 first place prize.
The Finals would start off with a bit of a hitch as the center’s scoring program would freeze up so we would have a bit of a delay to start. The Finals seemed like it would be an interesting match as we would feature two lefties in Tim and Douglas versus the lone righty Jeff. Tim would strike while Douglas and Jeff would both open to start off the match. Douglas would strike to lead off the second frame while Tim would leave the baby split (2-7) and would not convert the spare. Jeff would ring ten but was able to pick up his spare on the right lane. In the third frame Douglas would leave the big four (4-6-7-10) on the left lane and couldn’t make the spare attempt for an open frame. Tim would strike on the right lane to try and make up the spare he missed in the previous frame. Jeff would hit a bit of the carry down on the lane as he would leave the 1-2-4, but would miss the spare as he would leave the 2-pin standing. In the fourth frame, Douglas would strike on the right lane which looked to be the “good” lane for him and Tim. Tim would be up on the left lane and looked to move a bit towards the gutter in order to try to get his ball to read the lane correctly, but would leave the 3-pin, which he would spare. Jeff would be up on the left lane and get his ball to hit the pocket light but would leave the mixer 8-pin which he would spare.
So midway through the match and it would seem that all three bowlers were struggling with the pair. It seemed like whomever could string a strike or two together would be our winner. Douglas would make the same move as Tim, on the left lane, as he would move a bit more left and leave a weak 7-pin. Douglas would miss the 7-pin as he missed just a bit inside for an open frame. Tim and Jeff would both strike in the fifth frame to make up some of the handicap difference they were giving to Douglas. The sixth frame would see Douglas missing a bit as his ball would jump through the nose to leave the 2-4-7. Douglas would convert the spare to keep himself in the match. Tim would be up next on the left lane and would see a bit of carry down, from him and Douglas, as his ball would skid too far and leave the 3-6-7. Tim’s spare attempt would hit the 3-6 and see the three pin just miss the 7-pin for an open. Jeff’s sixth frame would see his ball go a bit high in the pocket to leave the 6-pin which he would spare. Douglas would be up on the left lane and get his ball to finally read correctly for a mixer strike. Tim would be up on the right lane and he would hit the pocket right through the nose to leave the 6-7-10 split. Tim would open as he would pick up the 6-10. Jeff would leave a mixer 8-pin in the seventh frame. Jeff would pick up his spare to remain clean and keep himself in the match. Going into the eighth frame Douglas would leave the 2-4-7 which he would leave the 4-pin on his spare attempt for an open frame. Tim would be up on the left lane and see his ball miss the head pin and leave the 1-3-6-7 as it looked like the left lane was seeing a lot of transition from both lefties. Tim would chop the 1-3 out of the spare to open as Jeff would get a much-needed strike to take a slight lead.
Going into the ninth and tenth frames it looked Douglas or Tim would need to put something together as Jeff had a small lead by remaining clean for most of the match. Douglas would be up on the left lane for the ninth and leave a mixer 10-pin which he could not convert for an open frame. Tim would be up on the right lane and would miss a bit inside as his ball would take off leaving the 2-4. Tim would pick up his spare as Jeff would get a Brooklyn strike for a double and looked like he was going to be our winner! Douglas would open in the tenth as he would miss a ten-pin spare attempt to finish as 162. Tim would need to get a mark and good count to take second place. Tim’s shot in the tenth would again hit the transition and come in late leaving the 1-3-6-7. Tim could not convert the spare and would finish in third place with a score of 152. Jeff would close out the match with a double and nine, for a score of 227, to win his 1st AHT SFT title and $1,100.00! Congrats to Douglas Bukauskas for second place and $650.00. Also, congrats to Tim Eichhorn on third place for $450.00!
Thank you to Jodi Bach and the staff at Bowlero Mesa for the wonderful customer service and for hosting us this weekend. Also, thank you to Tawna McDonald and Michael Dragon for keeping us running on time this weekend. Thank you to everyone that came out this holiday weekend. We appreciate you all and hope you all have a fun, safe 4th of July.
We’ll be back in a couple of weeks at AMF Mesa for another 2-squad tournament. Good luck to everyone that is heading up the Las Vegas this week to compete at the True Amateur Tournament (TAT) at The Orleans!
Bowlero Mesa Finals - Tim Eichhorn vs. Jeff Kraus vs. Douglas Bukauskas
