PBA Saddleback Lanes Open

Hello all!

First, I want to say a BIG THANK YOU to everyone that bowled, supported and/or sponsored our PBA Regional event and pro-am held at Saddleback Lanes. With this being our first PBA Regional event, we were thrilled by the number of professionals, pro-am participants and spectators that helped make the event a big success and we only hope that the event will be bigger and better next year!

As far as my personal performance in the PBA Saddleback Lanes Regional goes...I must say that it is MUCH easier just showing up and bowling. Even though my fiance, Drew was the official host and did most of the leg-work for the event, I still helped out in many regards and I will say that it's A LOT of work! So big props to anyone that hosts a tournament. Please remember that these people put in hours and hours to make the event possible, so give them the gratitude and respect that they deserve!

So...I actually did bowl the practice session this week, seeing as I didn't have to travel 6 hours to the event. I bowled bright and early on Saturday morning, being on A squad and didn't quite wake up for a few games. I physically bowled just okay and finally started throwing the ball well towards the end of the day, which was a good thing because I was close to the projected cut number. My last game, needing a pretty big score to secure a solid spot in the finals, I struck out and shot 244 to be +152 for the 8 games. The cut for the semi's ended up being +101.

That night we had an awesome pro-am event, complete with karaoke in the bar, a house full of pro-am participants and lots of pros showing their skills out on the lanes.

On Sunday morning, we bowled 5 more games of qualifying. I threw the ball a lot better on Sunday and shot +138 for the next 5 games, putting me +290 overall. I qualified in 14th place for the top 16 single-elimination matchplay finals.

The first match I was paired up against Ben Laughlin from Phoenix, Ariz., a former PBA West Region Bowler of the Year and former PBA exempt player. The first round of matchplay is best 3 out of 5 games. I won the first game, 201-175. Ben won the second game 247-228. Then in game 3, it was a high scoring match, but I had a few carry issues in some key frames, so Ben prevailed 257-236. Then in game 4, a must win situation for myself, I needed to strike my first ball in the 10th frame to move on to game 5. I went up, threw the ball perfect off of my hand, loved the shot, but a stubborn 10 pin stood up. So I lost 202-203, coming in 13th place overall in the tournament.

Thanks again to everyone who came out and bowled, supported and/or sponsored the event! We can't wait until next year!