This will by my first Blog entry regarding tournaments and other competitions that I bowl. Remember that you can leave comments or ask questions by clickong on "comments" at the bottom of the entry. I want to hear what everyone has to say, and I'm happy to answer questions. Hopefully we can all learn from each other during the blog experience. :)
I have been looking forward to bowling in my first PBA Southern Region event since relocating to Florida last month. The competition down here is as good as it gets. Here is a sampling of the (rather intimidating) list of PBA Tour pros that bowl here: Walter Ray Williams, Jr., Norm Duke, Jason Couch, Steve Wilson, Jason Hurd, Roger Bowker, Steve Hoskins, Chris Hayden, Mike Machuga and Patrick Allen. I'm sure there are many others that I'm forgetting, plus the ones that just like to vacation in Florida and take in a regional or two while they're here. Doing well in the South region is not going to be easy. I know that going in, but I hope to become a better player because of the high level of competition.
This weekend we bowled at AMF Florida Lanes in Tampa, FL. The bowling center is a 32 lane house with AMF synthetic lanes. We bowled on PBA Pattern B, a 42-foot pattern. I bowled on this pattern at a National Tour event in Las Vegas in January after the Masters. After struggling the first 4 games there, I shot +150 for the last 5 games. It is a long oil pattern and the outside boards are usually out of bounds unless you have a lot of hand, slow ball speed, a dull ball, or some useful combination of the three. Sometimes, depending on the lane surface, there might be a nice shot up the first board or two but usually the scores come from playing the inside of the lane without too much swing room. I figured I could use the same ball I used for the last 5 games in Vegas and play close to the same line to the pocket. I got my Columbia ICON 300 ready for action
We bowled an 8-game qualifier - I knew scores were going to be high, plus I bowled the B squad so I got to see the A squad results before I shoed up. Because of this, I wanted to get off to a good start, as I didn't think I could afford a bad game. First game: 173. Oh well, so much for that. It was a strange game because I started feelign a bit dizzy and sick in the middle part of the game. Once the feeling passed, I was able to get locked in ans get out of the minus-27 hole I put myself in. Games of 244-265-232 got me to +114 after 4. After a 184 game, I put up 257-221-219 to finish my block at +195 - good for 11th place! I am very happy with the effort and was feeling confident going into Sunday.
The most impressive part in my opinion was that I didnt' have to change balls all day. My trusty ICON 300 gave me the perfect reaction all day long. I started out standing on board 27 and looking at board 16 at the arrows. I think part of the reason I struggled the first game was because that brought the ball too close to the flooded outside boards. I moved in to board 29 on the approach and looked at board 18 at the arrows and starting "whacking 'em."
The field was cut to the top 24 for 5 more games of qualifying, after which it's cut to the top 16 for a best 2-out-of-3 bracket format like on the National Tour. Again, I wanted to get off to a fast start. Again, I was hopeless out of the gate, this time to the tune of 189-176. I thought the same shot would work as Saturday, but the backends seemed to hook just enough more to throw me off. After two games, I made my first ball change of the tournament, putting my ICON 300 back in the bag. I wanted a bit more control at the breakpoint to manage the hooking backends, but I didn't want to sacrifice any hitting power. I decided on the original ICON. It doesn't flare as much and I can play straighter with it. When I don't try to cover too many boards, my ICON hits like a tank. That was just what I was looking for. I moved about 4 boards right and started throwing the ball a bit harder. BINGO! 211 and 228 the next two games to push me back up to +199. I'm now in 16th place, right on the bubble. 17th is +176. I figured if I put up a good game, around 220 or so, that would put a lot of pressure on the guy behind me (who is a great player and a past regional champion). Unfortunately, I left a couple of splits when they weren't welcome and I could only manage 180. I thought for sure it was the end of a great tournament, but as it turns out, the guy behind me still needed three strikes in the 10th frame to tie me at +179. He got the first two strikes, but left an 8-pin on the last shot, putting me into the finals by one lone pin.
I was happy I had new life, but on the other hand, I had to bowl the tournament leader, 2-time Team USA member Shawn Evans in the first round. Shawn is a friend of mine and I know how talented he is when he gets going. Luckily for me, he got off to a slow start and I was able to take the first game 227-196. The second game was a different story. Shawn started strikign so I knew I had to keep going as long as I could. I got some good breaks, and it came down to the tenth frame with me needing a mark and a good count for the win. Unfortunately, the ball slipped off my hand at the VERY wrong time and I left a 1-2-6-10 washout. I knew I had to make it to stay alive for that game, so I gave it my best shot and put the ball in the perfect place. It bounced off the 1 into the 6 and I converted it! Now I only need 9 pins for the win. Off my hand the shot felt great. It looked great all the way down the lane, and even into the pins. I shouldn't have gotten my hopes up because even though the ball hit extremely hard, I managed to leave the dreaded 7-10 split. We tied at 234. We had a one-ball sudden death roll-off. Shawn got up first and struck. I needed to match him and threw another great shot, but was victimized again as I buried a 9-pin. Two great pocket shots, nothing to show for it. Oh well, still one more game to go....well that thought was put to rest quickly as Shawn never gave me a chance, throwing the front 9 strikes for 279 against me.
So I was eliminated in the Round of 16. Part of me is happy I did well, but another part of me is disappointed that I was so close to going to the round of 8. I made $500 for my troubles, and I took consolation in the fact that PBA Champions Jason Couch and Chris Hayden were also eliminated that round, so I made it as far as two of the best in the world.
I hope to build on this tournament. Next week is another Regional in Lakeland, Florida. The lanes should be tougher because the South region has used Patterns E and B the last two weeks (the two easier ones). A and C are the low scoring ones, so I expect one of those two next weekend. I should be on top of my game after this weekend.
Tune in next weekend for an update from the PBA South Region Lakeland Open, taking place at Orange Bowl in Lakeland, FL.
Peace out -
Jeff
Posted by at April 6, 2003 11:02 PM