If you have been following along with the other posts, you know that we had a real nice time out at Hazel Dell Lanes this last mon

Bowling on the PBA Shark Pattern, scores were definately lower for this event putting a premium on covering spares.  Most bowlers found 1 game at their average, 1 game above average and 2 below average which is what you would expect on oil like that.

John McGinnis won the event with solid scoring in the stair finals by edging out Brad Lewis 208-199 and Lyndall O Bannon 209-192.

Overall the qualifying average scratch scrore was 153 and it took a scratch average over the four games of 168 to make the cut.  High scratch score for the block was Brad Lewis with a 232.  Again, the nice thing about bowling a NWBT event, even after a few not so stellar games, every bowler is still in the hunt to make the cut.  Even going into the final game of qualifying, the top 70% of bowlers were still within range to advance.  That creates some create competition.

At the end of the day John McGinnis was the champion, followed by Lyndall O'Bannon, Brad Lewis and Steve Rocha. 

Congrats to the winners for the event and great effort to all who bowled.  I was impressed by how quickly our bowlers adjusted to the pattern and started making good shots.

Next event is at AMF Cascade Lanes in Portland on May 25th.  915 am check in, 1000am bowling.

Losing bowling centers in our region seem to be almost a common occurence lately.  In late March we learned of the closing of AMF Timber Lanes in Vancouver, WA.  There last day is on the 18th of May and you can read about it in this months Vanport Bowling Newspaper by clicking here.

This afternoon while dropping of our banner and supplies for the May Tournament at Cascade Lanes, we learned that they too will suffer a similar fate.  Matt was shown the press release which has the center closing on June 1st.

Our May event will go on as planned, we will have a modified oil pattern and will bid our farewell to another large center that we have held multiple tournaments in.

I will be doing some additional investigation into the cir****tances but find it odd that nearly all but 2 of our high priced AMF Centers have fallen in the past 18 months.

This month's tournament was at Hazel Dell Lanes in Vancouver WA and for the first time in a while, I had a really good time. I totally enjoy running the event, but I guess the way the tournament was set and the way things went just had me feeling really excited all day. I mean the guys that bowl our events are just genuinely great people and I really look forward to seeing them each month and miss them when they are not bowling. We get new bowlers each month that come out to bowl our events and you know I never have to worry about them with the group that we have. They are great sportsmen, include the new bowlers in conversations, encourage them and just make the whole day a good experience for the new guy. Our guys are pretty darn classy in my opinion.

We set the tournament up on the PBA Shark Pattern which was a pretty good challenge for our group. Scores were definitely lower across the board and bowlers had to work pretty hard. Our normal tournament qualifying average for a basic house shot ranges in the 185-190 range for all bowlers but this event had them at 159.5. Even though the scores were lower, I think everyone had a pretty good time and everyone had a chance at making the cut going into the final game.

The cut score was -2 .

I was not wanting that caliber of shot when we were planning the event with the Center Management and probably won't lay down a Shark pattern again for a very long while, but it was certainly something to watch. But many thanks to the center for putting up a shot for us as requested. Normally I offer a challenge to the bowlers who don't make the cut, that if they toss 2 bucks into a pot, I will bowl on a fresh pair with that pattern for three games. Take their best three qualifying scores against what I put up and if they beat me, I would give them a 20-25 dollar discount on their next entry. Nobody took me up on this offer today.

It probably was a good thing as I got lined up after the first game (157) and shot 179 and 202 in games 2 and 3. Not bad for a bowler who has never bowled that pattern before.

Anyways, like I said, I had a great time with these guys this month. Wish there were a few more bowlers this month, but feeling optimistic about next month.

By the way, if you have not been out to Hazel Dell Lanes lately, you really ought to check it out. It had been about 20 months since I had been in there, but the improvements were great and with Dave Husted now owning the center, things are really improved. The new manager is great, the coordinator is one of the best out there and the staff is very friendly, helpful and I felt really want you to have a great time. I could not believe how well it was staffed for a Sunday and how great they all worked together. Oh and a big thing for me as a Tournament Director was that I never once had to call to the back for respots, stuck balls, bad racks, jams ect. First tournament in my 2 years that I have not had that happen. Check em out if you get a chance. Oh and if you have kids that like that cosmic thing, the synthetic lanes actually have glow inlays when the lights go black and display patterns on the lanes that are just really cool.

Have a great start to your week.

Well this Tuesday night will mark the end of another league bowling season for me.  This is the 4th complete season in my career and one of the most challenging.

I was really frustrated this past two weeks in that we had our league title within our grasp and watched it slide away as we wrapped up the season.  Sitting in first place for the final 4 weeks we went into the last week with a 4 point lead and into the position round 14 points up.

Our 3rd position bowler ran into a bit of bad luck and ended up being hospitalized the final two weeks of the year and we bowled a man down each week.  We were of course worried about him as it was heart related and on the day of the position round he was given a pacemaker.  Our thoughts are with him for a speedy recovery.

We missed winning some much needed points in those two weeks and the less 10 pins for the absentee bowler was the difference in two of those games.  A few covered spares ect and we would be rolling for the championship.

The salt on the wound is the fact that we won the team points total for the season but were unable to win either half.  So very consistent as a winner, just finishing second best each time.  I guess the pin money will be nice but I was looking forward to getting another league championship patch.

Now the decision is to decide if I am going to bowl a summer league or if I would rather work on my golf game a bit.

So like everyone else, the league season is coming to an end in a few weeks.  It is hard to believe that we are nearly mid-way through April, but the beautiful day we had yesterday says it's about that time.

This time last year I was still trying to get myself healthy from back surgery while cheering my league team on in the final stretch.  This year we are back atop the leaderboard and every point counts going into the final weeks.  It certainly will be a challenging 3 weeks as we finish the regular season against the team that edged us out in the first half, followed by a position round.  Survive those two weeks we seem the first team in the league finals.