Fresno PBA Regional

This past weekend, I bowled in the PBA Sierra Open in Fresno, Calif. on the chameleon pattern.

Since we bowled in a bigger bowling center, everyone competed on one squad for qualifying. After the eight games of qualifying, I was in 9th place at +85. The pattern was pretty difficult. It only took +16 to make the cut to the top 1/3 of the field for the semis.

We then immediately bowled the 5 games of semis. The pattern played even tougher, with scores dropping, shot making and accuracy became a must. After the 5 games of semis, for a total of 13 games, I was at +135 and in 6th place. It only took +14 to make the top 16 match play finals.

All day, I played the lanes fairly straight and pretty far outside, which made transitions and adjustments a little easier. I think everyone would agree that they saw too many 2-8-10 combinations, which was really easy leave. I also went old-school and had drilled up two brand new "old" balls, which I ended up using the entire tournament. How many of you remember the old Columbia Ricochet Rebound and Blue Wicked???? Yep, those were the balls I had just drilled and used all weekend. See old balls can still work!

Then on Sunday, I bowled Mason Sherman in matchplay for the best 3 out of 5 Round of 16 finals. I lost the first game 164-236 and then came back to win the next two games 230-160 and 255-200 (I had the front 8 that game). Then I lost the 4th game189-234 to tie the match 2-2. So it all went down to the last game. I bowled well, but caught a few bad breaks and lost my shot on one lane and ended up losing 196-225.

Overall, it was a great weekend and good practice. The lane conditions were very demanding and shot making was at a premium.

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