First, no matter what the format is, the PBA Tournament of Champions (TOC) is a great event. I am honored to be able to participate in this event as a PBA Senior Champion, and I completely understand the views of those who feel that neither I nor anyone else who has not won a regular PBA tour title should be allowed into the field. However, the eligibility rules allowed me to participate, and I was not disappointed!
I was REALLY pressing during the Champions first qualifying round. I didn’t make it out of this round last year and I was NOT about to let that happen again this year. I managed to reset my mental framework during the break between blocks and bowl well the second block to get into the elite field.
I had a really nice reaction through the elite qualifying rounds and mostly used a Roto Grip Outlaw. This allowed me to get the ball through the front part of the lane and still “read” the mid-lane well and not over-hook at the back. There were a couple of times when the fronts hooked too much and I need to go to a pearl, but not too often. At the Red Rock, the low end of the center hooks earlier and stronger than the high end of the center, so I compensated with speed and hand position changes.
At the end of the first 5 games, I was in good position in 23rd. I dropped to 33rd after the second round as I was not as sharp mentally and didn’t make shots as consistently as I should have. I up a little after the 3rd round and stayed around the cut number all the way through. After 19 games, I was at +488, and there were 4-5 people around me that were within 20 pins of me. I knew I had to beat at least two of them to get into the round of 36 and get a check (with last cash at $3,600). I had stayed relaxed all the way through this part of the tournament because I had achieved my primary goal, but I was by no means satisfied with just making it to this point and being competitive. I wanted a check! I stayed relaxed through the last game and bowled one of the best games of my career, shooting 267 to get a check and move on.
The round of 36 was a new chapter, with no pinfall carryover and the addition of the 11 current season champions. Most of these 11 players were the highest rev-rate players on tour, and this caused the lanes to break down a lot differently. This caused the left side to also play much differently, and I missed the quick transition that left my ball choice only being good for knocking down 9 pins. Dropping immediately to 36th was a blessing in disguise because it forced me to be bold in my choice of ball and line. I went to a weak hybrid and cut the hook down more and increased forward roll, speed and loft to combat the hook in the front part of the lane. This allowed me to recover from -32 to +146 by the end of the block and leave me 50 out of the cut to the top 18. In the 2nd round I moved to within 9 of the cut score, but then hit the “death pair” which had knocked both Mike Scroggins and Patrick Allen out of contention and it got me as well. I struggled with the reaction during this block as well as physically struggling with my grip on the ball due to the sheer number of games (52 this week + practice = about 60-65 games). I was not able to figure out how to handle the low part of the center until the last game. That was enough to move me up a couple of spots at the end and bring my check up to $4150, so that was satisfying.
Overall, the opportunity to bowl against a tremendous field of PBA champions was very, very satisfying, and one that I will remember. I was able to hold my own at age 55 against the best in the world. I also had a LOT of fun! Who could ask for more!
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