The PWBA Florida Tour Stops

The past week and a half I have spent in Florida competing on the PWBA Tour. Our first stop was held in Orlando at Boardwalk Bowl hosted by past PWBA champion Kendra Gaines.

During this stop, we bowled on a very unique  37' pattern. Check it out!

During the 1st block of qualifying, I used my New Hammer Diesel with 1000 grit surface for most of the block, playing straight up 7,  staying out the entire block, just making minor adjustments. 

I shot games of 215, 232, 208 and 228. I then switched to a pin down Scandal Pearl and shot 195 and then switched to a Game Breaker 2 Phenom Pearl for 222 for +100 overall. This put me in 8th position after round 1. 

We then headed out to lunch and got caught in a pretty ugly Florida summer thunderstorm. With a 3 second walk/run from the entrance of the restaurant until the front door, we got completely soaked. Funny now, but not so funny then.

During the night block it was a definite grind! The lanes are always a little different after every strip and re-oil, as they tend to get a little tighter and flatter. I started off with my Columbia 300 Impulse Solid and shot 175. I then switched to my Hammer Diesel and shot 187, 225, 182, 184 and then ended with a big 279 to get me to +132 and in 12th place.

In the Casher's Round, I used a pin Down Tyrant the entire block. I had a good line to the pocket, but I struggled with carry and shot 190, 204 and 179. I then struck out 8th, 9th and 10th for 199 and 213. Being 13th going into the last game, I knew I needed a big game to make the top 12 for match play. I made 12 great shots and bowled a 247 the last game to be the 12th and final qualifier by 3 pins. 

Unfortunately match play didn't go as well, as I couldn't seem to win matches. I went 1-5 shooting +56 scratch and came in 11th place in the tournament. I would have liked to at least make it to the group stepladder for a chance at the TV show, but still a great week overall.

HUGE thank you to Kendra Gaines and the staff of Boardwalk Bowl for the gracious hospitality! Can't wait to head back there again next year! 

I ended up staying in Florida in between the two stops and got a chance to hang out with my good friend John Janawicz (JJ.) On Sunday, I visited the Kennedy Space Center for the 1st time. I went because they had a rocket launch that night, but the launch got cancelled with 10 seconds before takeoff. A big bummer indeed!

On the 4th of July, JJ and I went to Disney Springs for lunch, did a little shopping and then headed to the Disney Polynesian Resort to watch the amazing fireworks from the Magic Kingdom. 

I was also able to practice at the KEGEL Training Center one of the days. This is an amazing facility with some crazy technology. I highly recommend checking it out if you're ever in the area. 

The next leg of the PWBA Tour visited Seminole Lanes in St. Petersburg/Clearwater. This week we bowled on another unique pattern that some say looks like the number 4, and I think resembles a bad game of Tetris. The pattern ended up producing some pretty high scores.

The first block, I used my Scandal with 1000 grit and played far to the right. You had to keep the ball close to the gutter all week. The only problem was that as the pattern developed and more games were bowled, you couldn't move left because there was a cliff of oil. So you had to find the right ball to smoothen out the dry to the right and not over-skid in the oil. I shot 224 game 1 and then switched to my Tyrant and shot 201 and 234. I struggled the next game shooting 171. I then switched to a Paradox Pearl and shot 225 and 195 for +50 overall, which put me in 28th place.

The next block, they did not re-oil the lanes, so we bowled on the burn lanes from the morning. As I previously mentioned, they definitely got a bit tricky. I started off using a newly drilled Dark Legend Solid with the pin above my middle finger and put polish on it. I also had worn a little wrist support that helps me to roll the ball more and I took it off for the second set to help project my ball further down the lane. I shot 200, 258, 191 and 190, changing speeds to compensate for each lane. 

I then, started lofting the ball over the heads with speed to get a better reaction and shot 197. Going into the last game, I knew I needed a good game to make the cut as I was currently in 30th position. I continued with the loft and threw the ball extremely well to shoot 224 for +60 on the block and +110 overall and ended up making the cut which took +89. 

I knew I would need a monster set to make the top 12. Unfortunately things didn't go my way and I ended up coming in 32nd place. Although, I definitely would have liked to do better, I am still glad that I cashed in the event.

BIG thank you to the Kraus family and all of the staff at Seminole Lanes for another wonderful event! 

Super happy for one of my tour roommates Danielle McEwan for making back-to-back TV shows. 

Now time to enjoy being home for a few days before heading to Rochester, NY later this week.

Until then!