Missy Selected for World Championship Team

Missy Parkin was selected to represent the USA in the 2013 World Tenpin Bowling Association World Championships to be held in Henderson, NV in August.

As a member of Team USA, Missy along with teammates Shannon Pluhowsky, Liz Johnson, Kelly Kulick, Shannon O'Keefe and Stefanie Nation will look to defend the Women's Team title at the most prestigious team tournament in the sport.

For the full story, click here.  

Missy's Run at the PBA Summer Swing

Recently, I competed in the PBA Summer Swing in Milwaukee, with three separate tournaments and three brand new PBA oil patterns being introduced. This definitely led to some challenging conditions and an up-and-down few weeks.

The first two tournaments didn't go as well as I had hoped. First, we bowled in the PBA Badger Open at Waukesha Lanes, a wood bowling center. We competed on the new Badger oil pattern which is 52 feet in length and is the longest of the PBA patterns. As with many longer patterns, I played near the middle part of the lane using a Columbia 300 Enigma. Although I missed the cut in this tournament, I was very happy with how consistent my scores were - high game 238, low game 190, shooting +171 for the 10 games of qualifying. I finished 35th overall.

The next tournament - The PBA Wolf Open, was contested at AMF West Lanes. The new PBA Wolf oil pattern is only 32 feet in length and is the shortest of the PBA oil patterns. Going from one extreme to the other in pattern lengths meant that we had to completely change where we were playing on the lane, as well as make speed and release changes. For this pattern, I played the extreme outside part of the lane, trying to get my breakpoint to 1-2 down lane, so that the ball was almost teetering in the gutter.   Unfortunately, I felt that I didn't execute as well as I could have during this tournament and shot +139 overall for the 10 games of qualifying, which put me in 42nd place in the tournament, again missing the cut.

Due to the fact that the first two tournaments didn't go as well as planned, I did get to take in the sights of Milwaukee. Scott Norton and I took a tour at the Miller Brewery, which was pretty interesting to see how they actually make beer. I don't drink beer, but nonetheless still interesting.

We also visited the site of the oldest sanctioned bowling lanes in the world - The Holler House, which consists of two lanes in the basement of an old bar. The bowling lanes still use pin boys to spot the pins, so you must call ahead of time if you want to bowl. We didn't actually bowl, but we did have an amazing time with the owner - Marcy.

 

We also had time on the actual "off" day to take in a baseball game at Miller Park and watch the Brewers take on the Pirates. The Brewers ended up losing the game, but it was still a fun time. Also on our day off, we visited the coolest bar/restaurant I've ever been to. If you are ever in the Milwaukee area, you MUST visit the SafeHouse. This spy themed bar/restaurant, complete with a secretive entrance and all of the pomp and circumstance you can imagine was completely flawless for pulling off the secretive "spy" world. Can't say more than that, you just have to go there and experience it for yourself!  :)

So, on to the last of the three main PBA events for the PBA Summer Swing - The Bear Open, which was contested at Bowlero Lanes. The new Bear oil pattern is a 40 foot flat pattern, meaning that the lane conditions are very difficult and hitting your mark and picking up spares are a premium. I used a Columbia 300 Omen during a majority of qualifying. I played the lanes incorrectly to start and then decided I was not going to play further right than 13/14 at the arrows. I played a pretty tight inside angle, very similar to how I played the PBA U.S. Open last year when I made matchplay at Carolier Lanes in NJ. 

I shot games of 171, 223, 227, 255 and 196 for +72 the first set. I was close to the top 24 cut after 5 games and needed to stay strong. The next 5 games of qualifying, the lanes were even tougher due to tighter backends, making the carry suffer a bit and making it harder to hit the pocket. I shot games of 186, 190, 192 and then finished big with a 235 and 215 to squeeze into the cut number with +90. It ended up taking +74 to make the cut. 

Even though I had a good day, +90 wasn't quite enough for me to qualify for the overall top 28 in the PBA Milwaukee Open. I finished 32nd and missed the cut to that tournament by only 28 pins. 

The next day we bowled 16 games of round robin matchplay with 30 bonus pins awarded for each match win. I again used my Columbia 300 Omen as well as my Columbia 300 Enigma. I started off strong shooting 243, 190, 209, 254, 232 and 247 being 4-2 in matchplay. I had moved into the top 5 and had gotten as high as 3rd place in the overall standings. I then lost shooting 190 and ended on a bad note having some execution problems the last game shooting 158. 

Going into the final 8 games of matchplay, I was in 9th place and 63 pins out of the top 5. I drilled another Columbia 300 Omen, pin up to use towards the end of the block. I started out the block with 3 losses shooting 198, 214 and 178. Then I decided enough was enough and started bowling really well, shooting games of 241, 243 and 246, winning all three matches. I had made it back into the top 5 with two games to go. Then I moved down to the low end of the house and hit an atrocious pair. I couldn't stay out of trouble, leaving splits and couldn't figure out one of the lanes. I had a disastrous game at the worst possible time, shooting 154 which knocked me into 10th place and 31 pins off the show going into the position round. 

The last game, there were 6 people in range of obtaining the final spot on the TV show. I knew that I needed to just throw great shots and hope that the pins fell my way. I started out with the front 3 strikes and then left a 10 pin. I never missed the pocket, but couldn't seem to string any more strikes together shooting 213 and winning my match, but coming in 7th place overall. Tom Hess, who was in 8th place going into the position round and 16 pins out of the top 5, started out with the front 8 strikes shooting a 268 to earn the final 5th spot on the TV show. 

Although I missed the TV show which was upsetting and disappointing, I was still happy with my performance, finishing 8-8 in matchplay and only 70 pins from the TV show. Finishing 7th is now my new high at a PBA Tour National event. My previous high was tied for 9th place at the 2012 USBC Masters. So I can't be upset about that.

All in all a roller coaster of a week, but at least I ended on a good note.

Until next time...

Missy Featured in May issue of Bowlers Journal International Magazine

    

Check out the Bowlers Journal International magazine May issue to see Missy Parkin featured on the "The Pro Approach" article. USBC Hall of Famer and Gold Level certified coach Bill Spigner breaks down Missy's physical game, properly explaining Missy's high backswing, as well as other elements in Missy's physical game.

To subscribe to the Bowlers Journal International magazine, click here. 

Missy's PBA Regional Whirlwind

In the past couple of months, I have been competing in many PBA Regional events. PBA regional tournaments are a great way for me to stay sharp, get in some great competitive practice, as well as get a chance to bowl on the PBA patterns.

My first PBA Regional event of the year was the PBA West Ebonite Open at Palm Springs Lanes in Cathedral City, CA. In this event, we competed on the Chameleon oil pattern. After the practice session on Friday afternoon, myself, Scott Norton and Dave Wodka put on a great clinic for the bowlers in the area. We focused on physical keys to improve bowler's individual games as well as spare shooting techniques. We had a great turnout and everyone seemed to have a great time!

The next day we started qualifying and the lanes ended up being pretty high scoring for the event. I shot 224, 235, 211, 239, 169, 225 and ended on a big note shooting 258, 258 for my last two games. This put me at +219 for the 8-game block. However, I ended up missing the cut by 1 pin to make it to the top 16 matchplay finals. I still cashed in the event, but making matchplay would have been nicer. ;)

The next PBA Regional event I competed in was the PBA Earl Anthony Memorial Classic at Earl Anthony's Dublin Bowl. We competed on none other than the Earl Anthony oil pattern, which played very tough all weekend long. Scores were low, so shot making and spares were premium!

During qualifying I had a very roller coaster day, shooting games of 201, 177, 256, 202, 158, 279, 215 and 183 for +69 on the day. That score put me in 6th place overall going into the top 16 matchplay finals. In this regional, we bowled the old PBA Regional format, which is16 games of round robin matchplay on Sunday.

I bowled extremely well on Sunday, shooting +231 scratch for the 16 games and also won 10 out of 16 matches. Each match won earned me an extra 30 pin bonus. However, despite the great bowling and number of matches I'd won, I remained in exactly 6th place for the tournament. Still a great cash and great weekend!

Next stop for the PBA Regional series lead us to the amazingly beautiful state of Hawaii, where we competed in three separate events on the islands. 

The first event was a one day event at Schofield Lanes on the Schofield Barracks Army base on the island of Oahu. We competed on the Scorpion oil pattern. Scores were pretty low for this event, which cut to the top 8 for the matchplay finals. I stayed fairly consistent but ran into a little trouble in the middle of the block, shooting games of 201, 222, 167, 213, 179, 215, 195 and then a BIG 235 the last game to be +27 and sneak in a check, cashing in the event which took +20 to cash.

My best friend Scott Norton had an amazing look all day. He lead qualifying, shooting +239 and then went 5-0 in matchplay to win his 5th PBA Regional title, defeating Rhino Page 245-214.

Our next event, was the PBA Naval Station Open, which actually took place at the bowling center on Pearl Harbor Naval base. We bowled on the Chameleon oil pattern for the event. To say that the lanes were hooking is saying it mildly! I didn't have a great look all day and shot -49 in the event. It took +17 to cash and only +64 to make the top 8 matchplay finals. I will say that it was really cool to be able to bowl on the Pearl Harbor Naval base. I guess if I had to pick an event to miss the cut at and have an extra day off, I'd pick it to be in Hawaii.

After our "wonderful" day of bowling, we decided to do something fun. So we headed up towards Hanauma Bay and actually saw a pod of whales, which breached a few times for us!

Our final event, we flew to the Big Island and ventured to KB Xtreme Lanes in Kona. The bowling center was really nice and had been recently remodeled. We again bowled on the Scorpion oil pattern and the lanes were again low scoring. I shot games of 214, 227, 200, 202, 174, 188, 241 and 254 to be +100 and qualify in 4th place. It only took +38 to make the top 8 matchplay finals.  

In matchplay, I faced Tom Daugherty in the best of 5 matchplay finals. Tom won the first 2 games, and facing elimination, I struck out in the 10th frame the 3rd game to win and stay in the match. However, I couldn't get lined up well enough and Tom defeated me in game 4. I came in 6th place overall in the event.

After all of the regional tournaments, Scott and I decided to stay on the Big Island and sightsee for a couple of days. We had one of the most amazing experiences - snorkeling at night with Manta Rays. It was incredible! We also ventured to the Volcanoes National Park and got to see the glow of the Kilauea crater. 

 

Til next time...

Missy Leads World Bowling Tour Rankings

Missy Parkin has jumped into the lead of the World Bowling Tour points standings after finishing in 1st place among the women competing at the USBC Masters tournament last week. The USBC Masters is a major stop on the World Bowling Tour and therefore rewards double points.

Read the full story here.

Missy's Cashes in USBC Masters as High Woman

This past week, I ventured to New York City as well as New Brunswick, NJ for the USBC Masters at Brunswick Zone Carolier Lanes, the previous site of the PBA U.S. Open.

We bowled three 5-game blocks of qualifying and then the field was cut to the top 63 players and last year's champion Mike Fagan for the double elimination match play finals.

I bowled on A squad and therefore had my first two squads on the fresh oil pattern and finished the last qualifying squad on the "burn squad," where the lanes were not re-oiled.

My first block, I shot games of 214, 230, 200, 225 and 186 for +55, using my Columbia 300 Oath and Enigma as well as my Hammer First Blood. That put me about 30 pins out of the cut to the top 63.

The second block of qualifying, the heads started out hooking more and the backends were a bit tighter, so that made for a bit lower scoring pace. I shot 222, 176, 175, 221 and 233 using my Columbia 300 Enigma, Ebonite Game Breaker and Hammer First Blood. Even though I struggled in the middle games, I was happy with how I finished the block. That put me at +83 overall and about 70 pins out of the cut to the top 63.  

Needing a big set in my final block of qualifying, I started out strong with a 246 game. I then hit a couple of rough pairs and couldn't get the ball to quite go through the pins correctly to carry. I shot 195 and 189, which both should have been a lot higher. I finished out the set with a 214 and 236 for +80 on the block and +163 overall. I came up 31 pins short for making maychplay, which ended up taking +194.

Overall, I am very pleased with how I physically bowled. I was having to use my "Z" game for the last two blocks, keeping my speed down and using a different release to get more revs on the ball. Physically, I felt my execution was really good all considering. I never missed a single pin spare and picked up quite a few splits and washouts.

I ended up coming in 78th place overall out of 468 bowlers. I was also the high woman in the tournament.

Prior to the USBC Masters, my husband Drew and I ventured to New York City with Scott Norton and his husband Craig. We spent an awesome few days around the City and had a great Valentine's Day dinner. Here are a few pictures from our trip.

HighLine in Chelsea, an above ground park along the Hudson River

The Empire State Building colored Pink, just for me.  :)

Spin New York, a Ping Pong bar in the City 

Valentine's Day dinner

Until next time...

Watch Missy on Feb. 3rd at 4pm EST on ESPN

Missy Parkin will be one of the featured professional bowlers competing with celebrities in the Chris Paul PBA League All-Star event airing on Superbowl Sunday, February 3rd at 4pm EST on ESPN.

Missy teams up with NBA All-Star and Slam Dunk Champion Blake Griffin of the Los Angeles Clippers, in the eight-team Shootout competition. This marks the first time that a female professional bowler has competed in the Chris Paul Celebrity Charity event since its inception five years ago.

Tune in to ESPN to watch all of the action!

Click here for a preview of the show!