Missy Gets Married!!!

Hello all!

First my apologies, for the lack of blogging in these last few months. As I've already explained in previous blogs, it was hugely due to the major planning of my recent wedding.

For those of you that have ever been married or have ever been involved in the planning process of a wedding, you know how big a feat it is to accomplish! I too used to think, "how hard could it really be?!" Well, I sure found out! It's funny that the littlest things (that you usually don't think about), such as placecards and seating charts to favors and matching cake ribbons, can assume so much of your daily life leading up to that one special and perfect day! And boy oh boy does that day go bye sooooooooooooo very fast!!!

So to answer the million dollar question (which I'm sure you've discovered by now), I am changing my name to Missy Parkin. I hope you all like the new website! Any and all comments are welcome, so feel free to email me or comment on the blog.

Also, I wanted to share with all of you a little bit about our BIG day...

Drew Parkin and I were married on Saturday, September 18th aboard the yacht "Athena" in Newport Beach Harbor in Orange County, California. Our wedding and reception took place aboard the yacht, as it cruised around the gorgeous million dollar houses, harbor seals, and popular balboa island amusement attractions, all night long. And to top it all off, it was a sunny Southern California day with a beautiful sunset, which made for some amazing photos! At the end of the evening, we had a surprise in store for our guests...Drew and I made a unique exit via a white gondola, which circled the yacht a couple of times before taking us on a private mini cruise. The entire wedding was just like a fairytale come true!

Enjoy the photos!

Bowling Update

Hello everyone!

With the wedding quickly approaching, I know I have been neglecting my poor blog. So here's an update as far as my bowling is concered...

I have been keeping things a little low-key as far as bowling a ton of tournaments this summer. However, a few weeks ago, I was a little bored on a Saturday and wanted to get away from the wedding planning, so I decided to bowl a quick 6-gamer at Yorba Linda Bowl. We bowled on the Kegel winding road pattern, and the lanes were pretty difficult. I love tough patterns! And this pattern proved to be so, but if you threw the ball well and made a good shot, it went right in the pocket and usually carried. If you didn't throw a good shot, then the odds of leaving a nasty spare or split were pretty high. I ended up shooting +62 for the 6-game block and won the tournament. I also won a few sidepots and block pots, so it ended up being a nice night!

Then last weekend, I bowled the JAT Alumni Reunion tournament at Classic Lanes in Norco. The event was awesome! The Junior Amateur Tour is the scratch junior tournament club that I grew up bowling in and is also where I really learned a lot of key elements that have helped me get my career to the place it is today. During the reunion tournament, I saw so many friends and fellow competitors that I haven't seen in over 10-15 years. It was amazing to see all of the old photos, reminis and just have fun!

The tournament format was 6 games of qualifying, with the top 16 making matchplay. Scott Norton and I lead the 6 games of qualifying with +98. Then we were paired up, bracket style for matchplay, in a single elimination, best of 3 format. I bowled Scott Kraye and won the first game, but then lost the next 2 games, thus being eliminated from the tournament. I was however, the high woman in the field and did earn a nice check for that.

Then, this past weekend, I bowled the PCB Trios event at Fountain Bowl. A lot of bowlers from Arizona, Las Vegas and Northern California came out to bowl the tournament and there were 21 teams total. Now the teams comprised of one man, one woman and one bowler over the age of 45. So I bowled with my best friend Scott Norton and local bowler Eddie Katz.

Well the scores were VERY high for the tournament, as we bowled on the house shot. However, after two games, Scott and I were making the lanes look like the US Open pattern. (Needless to say we weren't having fun!) Our team was -20 total, after 2 games and we were in dead last.

So then Scott and I decided to show up and bowl and give our partner Eddie some help (who had been trying to hold Scott and I up). For the next 7 games, we ended up shooting: 637, 705, 716, 709, 613, 689 and 670 as a team, putting us at +519 overall and making the final 6th position into matchplay. Individually, we bowled pretty even. Eddie shot +177, Scott shot +149 and I shot +193 for the 9-game block. Most of the day, I used the new 900 Global Missing Link.

On Sunday, we bowled 6 games of head-to-head matchplay, with 10 bonus pins for each individual win and 30 bonus pins for the team game win. We shot games of 666, 738, 729, 760, 669 and 666, winning 170 bonus pins. On Sunday, I used my Bounty Hunter Pearl for most of the day, and even had the front 9 with it, until a stubborn 10 pin got in the way. Although fellow teammate Scott Norton, strung all 12 in-a-row shooting a perfect 300 during game 4 of macthplay. Those scores skyrocketed us into a 2nd place finish overall in the tournament.

Til next time...

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