Last week, I competed in the Bruswick Euro Challenge at Dream Bowl Palace in Munich, Germany as part of the World Bowling Tour/European Bowling Tour.
After a very short week at home (after competing in the Middle East), I hopped the pond again, but this time to Europe. I was very excited for the week ahead and happy to be competing in the Euro Challenge once again.
The Brunswick Euro Challenge consists of 6 games of qualifying in a beat the board type of format. You can re-enter as many times as you'd like. The top 52 bowlers make the cut with the top 12 earning a bye into the second round of the finals. There was also an early bird special qualifying which advanced the top 8 bowlers from the first 6 squads that had not already qualified in the main cut. Women again received 8 pins of handicap per game.
After a long flight, I decided to combat the jet lag by bowling a squad since it was part of the early bird special qualifying. I bowled decent shooting games of 224, 201, 220, 189, 206 and 226 for +66 scratch, which wouldn't be enough for the cut, but definitely gave me some ideas on how the lanes would be playing.
The next day, I again bowled another squad as it was the last day for the early bird qualifying. I started out very well shooting games of 243, 226, 223, 224, 202 and ended on a rather sour note shooting 185. Overall this put me at +103 scratch (+151 with handicap), which would be very close for making the early bird cut. I used my Columbia 300 N'Sane Antics as well as my Hammer Red Legend for the entire block.
The following day, was the highlight of my trip. Anyone that really knows me, knows that I have a fascination with castles, specifically medieval and a HUGE love for Disney. With that said, one castle has been on my bucket list for a VERY long time - Neuschwanstein Castle in the Bavarian Alps. This castle built in the 1800s inspired Walt Disney when he built Sleeping Beauty's Castle inside Disneyland and Cinderella's castle inside Disney World.
After a trolley, subway and train ride, we arrived 2.5 hours later at the magnificent little town which housed the amazing castle perched up on the mountain. What made the trip even more fun was that Kelly and I had a big group of bowlers that came along for the adventure - Sean Rash, Tom Hess, Jason Sterner, Danielle McEwan and Marshall Kent.
We took a horse-drawn carriage up to the castle and took a tour of the inside. The castle was never fully completed as the King died during the construction. After the tour, we ventured to a bridge that was above a waterfall and had amazing views of the castle in its entirety. The path was a little icy, but that definitely didn't stop us from going to see the views. We were also able to see King Ludwig II's summer home as well. The castle was definitely everything I imagined it would be and more!
The next day, I bowled another squad, as I was still not sure if my scores from the early bird would be enough. I shot games of 220, 204, 235, 221, 191 and then experimented the last game a bit. Although my scores were't higher, I did learn a few things for the finals. I again used the same bowling balls, as well as my Ebonite Code of Honor.
The next day, I took the day off from bowling as it looked like my scores would hold up from the early bird. I ventured to downtown Munich and watched the glockenspiel clock that performs every day at noon. I ventured to the famous Hofbrauhaus to see the crazy beer hall. I also visited a few churches and climbed 304 stairs to the top of St. Peter's church for some amazing views of Munich.
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| Inside the Hofbrauhaus |
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| View from the top of St. Peter's Church |
BIG congratulations to C300 Teammate Josh Blanchard for leading qualifying and the finals and going on to win the Brunswick Euro Challenge, earning his first National PBA title. #letsbowl #TeamC300
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