This has been a really interesting tournament so far. The lanes have been tough, but playable, so if you make enough good shots and make your spares, you can be successful here. I started out on B squad and there are no re-oils during the day this week. I was able to get a comfortable play zone with an old Roto Grip Dagger between 9 on the tighter lanes to 12-13 on the more hooking lanes. The left handers in the field have decided to camp out on 9-10-11, which is a little inside of where it would be optimal, but it allows me to figure out the pairs with more traffic in this area and jump just to the inside of it to use the friction down the lane to create a little more recovery back to the pocket.
Great tournament, fair lane condition and a great strong field! Just need to bowl a little better tomorrow and I'll be getting some extended play on Thursday!
Tuesday, June 2, 2015
Thursday, June 26, 2014
PBA50 - 2014 Grants Pass Open
Obviously this was a special event, since the end result was my second PBA50 Tour Title. But along the way I fell, learned about the death of a friend, and got to enjoy the experience with my wife Elissa.
On practice day, I had a decent ball reaction, but decided that I could use one more aggressive ball to go along with my other selections for this tournament. I opted to drill a Roto Grip Hyper Cell with a strong layout so that it would reach the end of this 42' pattern and make a strong move to the pocket. This ball did not disappoint.
I was bowling both days of qualifying with fellow left-hander and part-time room mate Paul McCordic. Paul and I are generally able to "read" the lanes using both our ball reaction and each other's ball reaction. This tournament turned into the "blower 7-10 open" - if you made a mistake with too much speed and caught too much oil, you were likely to leave a 7-10. In fact, there were as many 7-10 splits left in this tournament as any I can remember.
Ready to compete, we bowled on the tournament condition in that night's Pro-Am. Since the lane condition itself was somewhat forgiving and had two squads previously bowled on it, I was able to shoot an 863 no-tap series and enjoy the conversations with the amateur bowlers. As usual, I enjoyed spending time with everyone.
The first 8-game block of competition was less fruitful than I would have liked the first two games, as I was shooting low 200 games and the scoring pace was much higher. I was getting used to the Hyper Cell and didn't use it to its full potential. I later was able to get this ball to work well and once the lanes started to hook more went to an aggressive medium ball (Roto Grip Defiant Soul), and finished at +211 for 8.
The second day I usually don't worry too much about the approaches if the first day was good. I had changed from a normal #4 sole to a #5 sole during practice, which was working well. Once I take 5 slides at the BACK of the approach I usually take 4 practice swings without a ball in my hand to loosen up my hip joints (a dynamic warm up). Well, lesson learned - I should have tested the approaches at the foul line. I completely stuck and fell onto my right knee and then my right shoulder about 4 feet out on the lane. I was able to recover from this, the approaches were repaired, and we began competition.
This time the Hyper Cell was great from the start. An opening 263 game (I missed a spare due to still being tentative on unfamiliar portions of the approach), I used that ball for 5 of the 8 games en route to a +338 block which brought me to +549 for 16 games and a 5th place finish for qualifying. My lane reading and anticipation of what to do was very good in that block. I kept my speed down and was more comfortable the second day targeting at the dots, which is about as close to the foul line as I can look. I was able to use smoother-reacting or less-reacting balls on specific pairs very quickly.
My 5th place finish allowed me a bye and a put me directly into the round of 16 for the bracketed match play. This was a best 3 of 5 games round. I thought my ball reaction was getting better, but my ability to carry the 7 pin on the left lane completely disappeared. I had started practice with a ball sanded to 1000 grit to help dry out the outer portion of the lane. In game 3 I was beaten before the 10th frame and opted to try this ball, and it worked well and carried on the left lane. Down 2-1 at this point, I chose to use this ball the rest of the match, realizing that if this was the wrong decision I would destroy the lane condition and likely not have another option and would have an early exit. I shot 226 and 230 the last two games for the win.
In the round of 8 I bowled against my friend and part-time room mate Ron Mohr. Ron is a tremendous competitor, and we had just come off a great match in Mooresville, NC where he shot a 300 game at me and defeated me in 4 games in the round of 16. This time I chose to start with the Mutant Cell, the ball I had sanded to 1000 from practice through the start of the match, as the lanes were hooking less with each match. By game 2 I was able to miss a little more and still strike and shot 288 in the second game to close out the match. I had doubled in the 10th the first game to win 237-228.
The semi-final and finals matches, both single game contests are, as Dale Eagle describes them, "crap shoots". I drew Harry Sullins in this match, and started out strong in the match. When you bowl a formidable competitor who is quite confident, as Harry is, you want to avoid the trap of trying to beat your opponent. Rather, you must have the confidence to know that you can bowl your game and that your opponent must beat you. As the higher seed in qualifyin, I was able to have Harry start the match and finish first. I mad a couple of small mistakes and failed to double in the 10th frame, but still shot 258, forcing Harry to strike out in the 10th to tie the match and force a roll off. Harry's second shot left a 9 pin on a shot that blew away the other nine pins and I prevailed 258-247.
This brought me to the championship match against PBA Hall of Famer Dale Eagle. I started with the first four strikes, then made a couple of mistakes in the second half of the match, but I was filling all frames. Dale missed a 10-pin in the second frame then stuck on the next 5 shots to pull within a few pins. However a 7-10 split in the 9th frame gave me a 15 pin lead going into the 9th and 10th frames. A spare and strike secured the title for me.
Over the weekend Colorado and Denver Hall of Famer and former PBA Senior competitor Tom Carbone passed away. I also had my friend Barry Gurney on my mind since he had passed in June 2013, and I dedicated the win to both of these great friends and competitors. Always honor those who came before you.
Best of all my wife Elissa was there the whole week to enjoy the experience with me. This will always make this win a special experience.
On practice day, I had a decent ball reaction, but decided that I could use one more aggressive ball to go along with my other selections for this tournament. I opted to drill a Roto Grip Hyper Cell with a strong layout so that it would reach the end of this 42' pattern and make a strong move to the pocket. This ball did not disappoint.
I was bowling both days of qualifying with fellow left-hander and part-time room mate Paul McCordic. Paul and I are generally able to "read" the lanes using both our ball reaction and each other's ball reaction. This tournament turned into the "blower 7-10 open" - if you made a mistake with too much speed and caught too much oil, you were likely to leave a 7-10. In fact, there were as many 7-10 splits left in this tournament as any I can remember.
Ready to compete, we bowled on the tournament condition in that night's Pro-Am. Since the lane condition itself was somewhat forgiving and had two squads previously bowled on it, I was able to shoot an 863 no-tap series and enjoy the conversations with the amateur bowlers. As usual, I enjoyed spending time with everyone.
The first 8-game block of competition was less fruitful than I would have liked the first two games, as I was shooting low 200 games and the scoring pace was much higher. I was getting used to the Hyper Cell and didn't use it to its full potential. I later was able to get this ball to work well and once the lanes started to hook more went to an aggressive medium ball (Roto Grip Defiant Soul), and finished at +211 for 8.
The second day I usually don't worry too much about the approaches if the first day was good. I had changed from a normal #4 sole to a #5 sole during practice, which was working well. Once I take 5 slides at the BACK of the approach I usually take 4 practice swings without a ball in my hand to loosen up my hip joints (a dynamic warm up). Well, lesson learned - I should have tested the approaches at the foul line. I completely stuck and fell onto my right knee and then my right shoulder about 4 feet out on the lane. I was able to recover from this, the approaches were repaired, and we began competition.
This time the Hyper Cell was great from the start. An opening 263 game (I missed a spare due to still being tentative on unfamiliar portions of the approach), I used that ball for 5 of the 8 games en route to a +338 block which brought me to +549 for 16 games and a 5th place finish for qualifying. My lane reading and anticipation of what to do was very good in that block. I kept my speed down and was more comfortable the second day targeting at the dots, which is about as close to the foul line as I can look. I was able to use smoother-reacting or less-reacting balls on specific pairs very quickly.
My 5th place finish allowed me a bye and a put me directly into the round of 16 for the bracketed match play. This was a best 3 of 5 games round. I thought my ball reaction was getting better, but my ability to carry the 7 pin on the left lane completely disappeared. I had started practice with a ball sanded to 1000 grit to help dry out the outer portion of the lane. In game 3 I was beaten before the 10th frame and opted to try this ball, and it worked well and carried on the left lane. Down 2-1 at this point, I chose to use this ball the rest of the match, realizing that if this was the wrong decision I would destroy the lane condition and likely not have another option and would have an early exit. I shot 226 and 230 the last two games for the win.
In the round of 8 I bowled against my friend and part-time room mate Ron Mohr. Ron is a tremendous competitor, and we had just come off a great match in Mooresville, NC where he shot a 300 game at me and defeated me in 4 games in the round of 16. This time I chose to start with the Mutant Cell, the ball I had sanded to 1000 from practice through the start of the match, as the lanes were hooking less with each match. By game 2 I was able to miss a little more and still strike and shot 288 in the second game to close out the match. I had doubled in the 10th the first game to win 237-228.
The semi-final and finals matches, both single game contests are, as Dale Eagle describes them, "crap shoots". I drew Harry Sullins in this match, and started out strong in the match. When you bowl a formidable competitor who is quite confident, as Harry is, you want to avoid the trap of trying to beat your opponent. Rather, you must have the confidence to know that you can bowl your game and that your opponent must beat you. As the higher seed in qualifyin, I was able to have Harry start the match and finish first. I mad a couple of small mistakes and failed to double in the 10th frame, but still shot 258, forcing Harry to strike out in the 10th to tie the match and force a roll off. Harry's second shot left a 9 pin on a shot that blew away the other nine pins and I prevailed 258-247.
This brought me to the championship match against PBA Hall of Famer Dale Eagle. I started with the first four strikes, then made a couple of mistakes in the second half of the match, but I was filling all frames. Dale missed a 10-pin in the second frame then stuck on the next 5 shots to pull within a few pins. However a 7-10 split in the 9th frame gave me a 15 pin lead going into the 9th and 10th frames. A spare and strike secured the title for me.
Over the weekend Colorado and Denver Hall of Famer and former PBA Senior competitor Tom Carbone passed away. I also had my friend Barry Gurney on my mind since he had passed in June 2013, and I dedicated the win to both of these great friends and competitors. Always honor those who came before you.
Best of all my wife Elissa was there the whole week to enjoy the experience with me. This will always make this win a special experience.
Friday, May 17, 2013
PBA50 Dayton
Three strikes. As it turns out, if I had struck out in the 10th frame, I would have made the top-4 stepladder by 3 pins over Mike Edwards, I would have been bowling Randy Pederson in the first match, and who knows what would have happened from there? I had the best tournament of the year, not just in finish but by how I bowled. I keyed on a more relaxed drop into the swing and on going "heel-toe" on my crossover step and bowled very well the first block, ending up 13th after the first 8 games. I primarily used my Roto Grip Disturbed the 2nd-8th games of the block, after my Storm Pearl Marvel was just too early with a light 1000 surface on it and was running out of energy too quick. The second block, which was on the "burn" squad (no re-oil between squads), I had the Pearl Marvel at 2000 and lightly polished. This ball worked great for awhile (had a 266 game) but then started to run out of energy later in the block. I don't normally guess at adjustments, but this time I did and pulled a 1000 sanded IQ Tour Pearl out of the bag and shot an "easy" 247 game. I say easy because all of a sudden the lane seemed to open up with that ball, and I could "see" the hook area and had a little hold with this ball. Moral of the story - if the ball in your hand and your target line is good for 9-counts, change balls or change lines!
In the match play, I started off slow, not shooting 200 the first two games. It was raining outside and it was very humid, so the lanes were playing very tight down the lane. Even at that, I was 2-0 after those two games. I needed to get a reaction and quick if I was going to keep up with the leaders, so I went back to the paddock and get my Brunswick Aura Paranormal. This ball allowed me to get some reaction at the back of the lane without it over-hooking, so I could just slow down and really roll it without being concerned that it would jump high on me. I took off after this point, moving up to 13th from 16th at the start of the block and making the cut to the top 16.
At the start of the top 16 my first match was against Randy Pederson. I started off very slowly, not doubling until the 5th frame after making a "super-washout" and staying clean. On the washout I realized my hips were turning out on me a little bit at the release, and from then on I focused on keeping my left hip on my target line on the downswing/release. I bowled GREAT from that point forward and made a huge run shooting 760 my first three games on route to moving into the top 10. I had one bad game on 5-6 where I had no answer for the pair, then I was having hand/grip issues the next game against Walter Ray and only managed to shoot 204 and lost. I then rebounded with at 258 to get to 7th. I was about 93 out going into position round and in 7th, but I thought that with a big game I could at least have a say in the outcome. Bowling Wayne Webb, I started with a 5-bagger then a 7-pin, then struck to the 9th. In the 7th frame in the 3rd-4th match, Randy was on a 172 pace after 6 frames, so I had a chance. My shot in the 10th drifted high (not a great shot) and I missed the spare to shoot 243 and lose, but my focus was really on trying to make the top 4. Had I shot 279 instead of 243, I would have had 66 pins more and I finished 63 off the top 4.
All in all this was a great confidence boost going into the majors in Vegas.
In the match play, I started off slow, not shooting 200 the first two games. It was raining outside and it was very humid, so the lanes were playing very tight down the lane. Even at that, I was 2-0 after those two games. I needed to get a reaction and quick if I was going to keep up with the leaders, so I went back to the paddock and get my Brunswick Aura Paranormal. This ball allowed me to get some reaction at the back of the lane without it over-hooking, so I could just slow down and really roll it without being concerned that it would jump high on me. I took off after this point, moving up to 13th from 16th at the start of the block and making the cut to the top 16.
At the start of the top 16 my first match was against Randy Pederson. I started off very slowly, not doubling until the 5th frame after making a "super-washout" and staying clean. On the washout I realized my hips were turning out on me a little bit at the release, and from then on I focused on keeping my left hip on my target line on the downswing/release. I bowled GREAT from that point forward and made a huge run shooting 760 my first three games on route to moving into the top 10. I had one bad game on 5-6 where I had no answer for the pair, then I was having hand/grip issues the next game against Walter Ray and only managed to shoot 204 and lost. I then rebounded with at 258 to get to 7th. I was about 93 out going into position round and in 7th, but I thought that with a big game I could at least have a say in the outcome. Bowling Wayne Webb, I started with a 5-bagger then a 7-pin, then struck to the 9th. In the 7th frame in the 3rd-4th match, Randy was on a 172 pace after 6 frames, so I had a chance. My shot in the 10th drifted high (not a great shot) and I missed the spare to shoot 243 and lose, but my focus was really on trying to make the top 4. Had I shot 279 instead of 243, I would have had 66 pins more and I finished 63 off the top 4.
All in all this was a great confidence boost going into the majors in Vegas.
Thursday, June 21, 2012
PBA Senior Tour - Brentwood
This was an eventful stop. I started out in practice with a decent idea of how the lanes would play, but decided to drill a ball in case the lanes got tighter. In the first round, that ball didn't react very well, so I went with the ball that I used to lead the first round of the Senior US Open, because it gave me a very smooth shape with kept the ball from going left and leaving 3-7s. I bowled well the first block, and the afternoon squad generally did much better than the morning squad. I found out why the next morning as the "double stripped" morning pattern hooked earlier in the front of the lane. I struggled badly the first 4 games, including a 170 in game 4, then stepped over to watch another player who had a good reaction. My change was 2 feet more loft and slight move to the right, and I shot 220-250-240-220 (ish) to finish the block strong and qualify in 12th position. I drilled another ball to handle more over-reaction I anticipated the next day.
In match play I caught Tom Baker the first match, but his carry wasn't good and I won the match 3-1. My next match was against Dale Traber on a pair oiled only 5 minutes before. In this situation, the lanes are very tight and very tough early, and I lost the first game 213-207, but got better reaction later, using the newest ball to close the match out 3-1. I then had to wait and come back to bowl the round of 8 (best 2 of 3) against a local favorite. I shot 300 the first game and won the match 2-0. In the round of 4 I bowled Walter Ray. I had a chance going into the 8th if I could keep striking, but I pinched the shot off a bit and left an 8-pin. Walter Ray bowled a perfect match on a tough pair, figuring out the left lane on the 3rd shot and shooting 259. He then went on to win the tournament.
This was a real confidence-building week, and one I'll use as a springboard to the rest of the summer.
In match play I caught Tom Baker the first match, but his carry wasn't good and I won the match 3-1. My next match was against Dale Traber on a pair oiled only 5 minutes before. In this situation, the lanes are very tight and very tough early, and I lost the first game 213-207, but got better reaction later, using the newest ball to close the match out 3-1. I then had to wait and come back to bowl the round of 8 (best 2 of 3) against a local favorite. I shot 300 the first game and won the match 2-0. In the round of 4 I bowled Walter Ray. I had a chance going into the 8th if I could keep striking, but I pinched the shot off a bit and left an 8-pin. Walter Ray bowled a perfect match on a tough pair, figuring out the left lane on the 3rd shot and shooting 259. He then went on to win the tournament.
This was a real confidence-building week, and one I'll use as a springboard to the rest of the summer.
Saturday, June 16, 2012
Senior Masters
Wow, this was a great week! I was pretty steady and relaxed through qualifying, with 5-game blocks of +159, +104 and +164 for an 8th place qualifying position. I drilled one new ball which helped through the 3rd qualifying block. In the first two matches I was very comfortable and had a great ball reaction, shooting 769 and 714 the first two matches. This led to yet another match against Ron Mohr, and we had another close, back and forth kind of match. I got a break in the 9th of the 3rd game and capitalized on it with a good shot in the 10th to close out the match 696-688. The final match of the day against Hugh Miller was on the easiest pair either of us had seen the entire tournament. After starting with the front-9, I had a lapse in concentration and missed a spare in the 10th. We were at 268-266 after the first game, but I started to lose the front part of the lane early in the 2nd game and Hugh was able to maintain ball reaction. Short story is that it's hard to beat an 803! In the final match on Friday morning against Amleto, I just bowled horribly the first game plus, then realized that I was trying to beat him instead of just bowling my game and making him beat me. I did that through the last half of this match, but still made a couple of bad shots that ultimately cost me the match. So, a 9th-12th place finish is still good, and I'll move forward to the last stop on this swing. I've now bowled 121 games of competition in 3 weeks, plus practice. Looking forward to a day off!
Saturday, June 9, 2012
Senior US Open 2012
Great week - finished 8th overall after leading the first squad, including a 300 2nd game. I bowled well the first block, getting to +288 for the first 6 games (248 average), then struggled the next two blocks, qualifying 30th. I moved up to 15th after the cash round, as I was much more relaxed once I was in the cash. The first round of match play also went well. I went 5-3 in match play with all my games between 228 and 248. The last day was not as good, as I shot a lot of low 200s and ultimately slipped from 6th to 8th. I was never able to get past 6th or make a serious run at the top 4, but it was still a pretty good week, and I feel like I learned a lot about myself that will help me win that next tournament.
However, I bowled 40 games between the two Senior regionals last week and 51 games this week, for a total of 91 games in two weeks. Needless to say, I'm taking a day off from bowling before the Senior Masters starts tomorrow!
However, I bowled 40 games between the two Senior regionals last week and 51 games this week, for a total of 91 games in two weeks. Needless to say, I'm taking a day off from bowling before the Senior Masters starts tomorrow!
Monday, May 28, 2012
Getting Ready (Healthy) for the Majors
It really sucks to get sick right before a 4-week road trip. I haven't been able to exercise and I really am glad I had my son Alex to help out with the drive from Denver to Flagstaff. That being said, it's time to get ready to go down to Sun City, AZ for the first of two Senior Regionals that should make for a good tune up before the Senior US Open next week in Las Vegas. I'm looking forward to a fun week with Alex and getting to see my sister Cathy and her husband Bob while down in Phoenix. Oh, and a good finish to start the trip would also be nice!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
