Last week, we flew from the Striking Against Breast Cancer Mixed Doubles event in Houston, straight to the US Women's Open in Chicago. It was arguably the toughest US Open pattern I've ever competed on, counting both the men's and women's US Opens. With one burn squad during qualifying and then having to compete on two other burns squads during matchplay, it meant for challenging conditions overall, which put a premium on shot making, spare shooting and consistency.
We bowled three 8-game blocks of qualifying. The field was then cut to the top 1/3 for 8 more games of the casher's round. The field was then again cut to the top 24 players for 24 games of round robin match play, with 30 bonus pins awarded to the winner of each match and 15 pins awarded for a tie.
I was on B squad and therefore bowled on the burn, meaning that they did not re-oil the lanes after the first squad. I started out using my New Hammer Rebel and shot games of 211, 177, 210 and 181. I then switched to my New Ebonite Warrior Supreme and shot 195, 196, 211 and 226 to finish off the block at +7 overall. This put me in tied for 34th place. Only 39 bowlers out of 142 were plus after the 1st block of qualifying.
The next morning, we competed on fresh oil. I started out with my New Ebonite Game Breaker 2 Phenom and shot games of 189, 210 and 202. Then had a little trouble during the transition shooting 179 and 189. I then switched to my Hammer Rebel and shot 190, 193 and 213 for -28 overall, which put me in 39th place.
I decided to drill another Game Breaker 2 Phenom for the next day's fresh squad. My original one was pin down, so I decided to drill another one pin up in the middle of my grip to give me another option when the lanes transitioned and before my Hammer Rebel would come into play.
I started out strong during Block 3 of qualifying shooting 231 with my pin down Game Breaker 2 Phenom. I then shot 185, 195 and 256. Then struggled again shooting 180 and 165, trying a few different balls, but rebounded and switched back to the pin down Game Breaker 2 Phenom to shoot 211 and 197 to end the block at -8 overall. This jumped me up into 23rd place with only 20 bowlers plus after 24 games of qualifying. The cut to the top 1/3 was -135.
The next morning, I knew I needed another solid block to make it into the top 24 match play finals. I again started out strong shooting 244 with my pin down Game Breaker 2 Phenom. I followed it with a 214, but then struggled shooting 171. I switched to my pin up Game Breaker 2 Phenom and shot 208, 187 and 210. The lanes were brutal towards the end of the block and everyone had already migrated far to the left, similar to how we finished on the burn squad. I shot 167 and brought it back with a 189 for -18 overall. This was enough to make the cut to the top 24 and put me in 21st place with again only 20 bowlers averaging 200 or more in the field.
With no re-oil for the 1st round of match play and everyone already migrating far to the left, I drilled two new balls to make sure I had enough options. I drilled a pin up Track Heat to play inside and a pin up Hammer Arson High Flare Solid in case I needed to try playing out (which was virtually unplayable the entire tournament.)
With the inside option looking bleak, I opted to play out around 7-8 board, even though I had never played right of 14 the entire tournament. It was my best option and I struck with it for the entire round. I ended up going 3-5 the first round, ending the block at +1 which kept me in 21st place.
Playing outside using my Arson High Flare Solid during Round 1 of Match Play
I knew I needed a huge day to both try and make the TV stepladder finals as well as to try and qualify for the top 16 PWBA Tour Championship.
I gave it my all in those 16 games. I lost my first 4 matches in the morning with decent scores and then turned it around and won my last 4 matches, going 4-4 and shooting +73 scratch for the 8 games.
The final round of match play, we again bowled on the burn, as they did not re-oil the lanes. This time I opted to stay inside and played farther left than I've had to play in a very long time, including when bowling with the men. I went 3-5 that round and ended the tournament at +232 finishing in 16th place overall. Although I bowled well and made a big move, it wasn't enough to move me into the PWBA Tour Championship and thus ended my 2016 PWBA Tour Season.
Playing inside using my Warrior Supreme during game 4 when I shot 258.
So over a span of 5 days, 142 bowlers from around the world competed on the grueling US Open pattern. I bowled a total of 56 games, throwing over 1000+ shots (not including practice), averaged 198.79, missed one single pin spare (of all things a 6 pin, which I consider to be my easiest single pin), picked up several splits/tough spares/washouts, had a low game of 154 and a high game of 258.
Am I happy? Yes. Am I proud of how I bowled at the US Open? Absolutely, Yes. Am I disappointed? Also, Yes.
Although, I had a much better second half of the PWBA Tour Season, despite going through a very difficult time in my personal life, I am saddened and disappointed that my 2016 PWBA Tour Season is over. However, I'm using this as motivation for me to work even harder on my game, fix the areas that need fixing and make the areas that are great, even better! Thank you all for following along on my journey! I appreciate your support more than you will ever know.
Until next time!
