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!

Saddleback Lanes to Host PBA Regional and Pro-am Event

Saddleback Lanes in Mission Viejo, Calif. will be hosting a PBA regional event and Pro-am tournament on July 9-11th. The event marks the first time in over 10 years that a PBA event has been held at this center. Saddleback Lanes is the bowling center that I practice and give lessons at, as well as the site for my father's pro shop.

The practice session will be on Friday, July 9th from 1-3pm. Tournament competition for the PBA Regional begins at 8am on Saturday, July 10th with A squad and then B squad will take the lanes at 2pm. The finals will conclude on Sunday, July 11th, starting at 8am.

The PBA Pro-am event will take place on Saturday night, July 10th at 7pm. The format is 3 games of 9-pin No-Tap and each participant will be able to bowl with 6 different PBA pros. Cost is $79 for adults with the option of upgrading to a bowling ball package for $179, which includes a 900 Global Bounty Hunter Pearl. Junior and Senior bowlers pay an entry fee of $59, with an optional bowling ball package of $139, which includes a 900 Global Link S30. Winner of the adult pro-am will win $300. Winner of the Junior pro-am will earn $100 scholarship and the senior pro-am winner will take home $100. Please contact Saddleback Lanes at (949) 586-5300 for more information or to sign up.

All of the PBA events throughout the weekend will be free for spectators.

2010 USBC Open Championships

This past weekend, I bowled the 2010 USBC Open Championships in Reno, Nev.

We drove the nice 9 hour drive in to Reno on Thursday and arrived just in time for the 2nd half of the NBA Finals game and watched the Lakers win the championship. To be completely honest, I'm not a huge basketball fan, but when it's the playoffs, I will watch and cheer for the Lakers.

On Friday, a few of my teammates and I decided to bowl the side events- the Bowlers Journal and BTM tourneys, at the Grand Sierra. I didn't post any stellar scores at either event and really used the tourneys as practice and warm up for the next two days.

Friday night was a lot of fun, as our whole team stayed up until midnight because fellow teammate Bryan Norton turned 21. So we naturally embarrassed him a little bit and sang him "Happy Birthday" right in front of all of the pit tables and then he proceeded to play some blackjack.

Saturday night we bowled team event. Our lanes were kind of squirelly and changed quite a bit throughout the 3 games, but by the end, they had opened up nicely if you could keep up with the moves about every 3-4 frames.

I shot 198, 211 and 220 for a 629 series and our team shot 2954.

Then on Sunday (Father's Day), we bowled doubles and singles. I got to bowl with my dad which is always a lot of fun! In doubles, I shot 166, 225 and 205 and we shot 1139 as a team. My dad actually bowled pretty well, he just didn't score very well and wasn't getting any breaks.

Then in singles, I shot 228, 200 and 206 for a 634 series and had 1859 for all-events. So it wasn't one of my better years, but we all still had fun and that's what it's all about!

Black Oak Casino PBA Regional

Hello everyone!

I know it's been forever since my last post and I thoroughly apologize! All of the wedding planning has been eating up all of my free time!

During the end of May, I bowled in the Black Oak Casino PBA Regional event in Tuolumne, Calif. The scores were super high, as we competed on the Viper Oil pattern.

For the 8 games of qualifying, I was +377, averaging 247.12 for the 8 game block and was in 4th place after both A and B squads.

The next day, we bowled 5 more games of semis. I shot another +165 over for that five games, being +542 overall and was seeded third for matchplay.

My first match, I faced Scott Kraye. This match came down to a final game five finish, after an unusual decision made by my opponent in game 4. Needing 8 pins to win and 7 to tie, he decided to pick up his spare and throw it straight at the headpin for count. He then proceeded to miss the headpin, leaving 6 pins. So I actually won game 4 by a single pin.

Game 5 came down to the wire, as I was ahead the whole game. Then Kraye struck out 8th, 9th and 10th to force me to mark in the 10th frame (a very similar situation to the Queens TV show match). So I went up and made a good shot and left another pocket split!!! And again lost. So needless to say, after a few bad breaks in-a-row in some crucial situations, I took a couple of weeks off from bowling to clear my head a bit.

I finished 10th overall in the tournament.

2010 Women's U.S. Open

Hello everyone,

This week all of the ladies and I are in Fort Worth, Texas at Cityview Lanes for the 2010 Women's U.S. Open.

We are bowling three 8-game blocks of qualifying, with the field then being cut to the top 24. We will then bowl 24 games of round robin matchplay over two days. The top 5 TV show finals will be determined by the 48 games of total pinfall, plus the bonus pins for matchplay. Each match win is worth 30 extra bonus pins.

For complete coverage and to watch live streaming, check out www.bowl.com

Missy Makes Queens TV Show - Watch LIVE on Wed., April 28th at 5pm PST on ESPN 2

Tune in to ESPN 2 to watch Missy Bellinder LIVE in the USBC Queens tournament on Wednesday, April 28th at 5pm PST. Missy is the No. 3 seed in the tournament, after some huge scores and great matches in the matchplay portion of the tournament.

The Queens TV show begins with No. 5 seed, contender's bracket winner, Michelle Feldman facing No. 4 seed Kelly Kulick. The winner facing Missy. No. 2 seed is USBC Hall of Famer Anne Marie Duggan, with the top seed going to fellow Orange County, Calif. native Tennelle Milligan.

For complete results and videos, visit The Queens homepage on www.bowl.com

USBC Women's Championship in El Paso, Texas

Hello from El Paso!

Great food, lots of wind and a whole lot of bowling sums up the city of El Paso, Texas. Being able to see Juarez, Mexico from my hotel room, is a little on the strange side. I actually had no idea just how close the border was to downtown El Paso, which boasts the El Paso Convention Center, site of the 2010 USBC Women's Championships and 2010 USBC Queens tournament.

Yep, the Rio Grande and border are just blocks away (or though it seems) from the tournament site. High above on the hills of Mexico are white rocks spelling out -
Juarez
La Biblia es la verdad
Leela
(Translating - Juarez, the Bible is the Truth, read it!) I was pretty interested to figure out what was on that mountain, as I could only make out the words through using my zoomed in camera, despite the windy conditions almost toppling me over.

My dad and I decided to make a road trip out of the tournaments, making the 12 hour drive from Southern California to The Lone Star state. Although we hit some cross wind and nearly missed a dust storm, it was mostly smooth sailing all the way.

So far, I have bowled all of the events for the Women's Championship- team, doubles and singles. Last night, we bowled team event, comprised of myself, Lynda Barnes, Tennelle Milligan, Lisa Pawlak and Missy Klug. (I must say I'm definitely not used to bowling with another Missy because it just isn't that common of a name; so i did a lot of double takes throughout the two days when someone would yell "Missy".)

We bowled very well in team event, despite the rather high scoring pace, shooting 3345 (+345) for the three games. We shot very consistent games of 1109, 1119 and 1117. I personally wasn't as consistent, shooting 203, 278 and 192 for a 673 series.

Then today in the doubles event I was paired up with long-time friend Lisa Pawlak. We shot 1280 as a team and I shot games of 245, 221 and 228 for a 694 series.

Then we bowled singles and everyone on our team bowled really well! If that would have been our team scores, we would have killed them! LOL! I shot 199, 257 and 258 for a 714 series. Fellow teammate Tennelle Milligan is currently leading singles with a 779 and my doubles partner Lisa shot 745.

So for all-events, that put me at 2081 (+281) for nine games. Scores aren't up-to-date yet, so I'm not sure where that puts me and my teammates on the leader board. But seeing as the tournament isn't over for a few months, I'll just have to wait and see.

Tomorrow begins the 2010 USBC Queens tournament. Check out www.bowl.com for complete coverage. Til then...