Earl Anthony Medford Classic
Hello again everyone,
This week we’re in Medford for the Earl Anthony classic. This week’s pattern was designed especially for this tournament. It features a much flatter, wider pattern which will hopefully bring more emphasis on shot making. The PBA laneman ran the pattern last week in Reno, and it did seem less forgiving.
After practice, it seemed like I was going to need to use a ball that gives me a little more control. I drilled a Code with the pin about 3 inches from my axis. This was to get the ball to roll sooner, and react smoother down lane. I also drilled another Villain. I haven’t had much success with this ball up to now. It always seemed like it was a little too angular at the back. This time I did a little different surface prep on it. I took a 500 grit abralon pad to it, and then I polished over that. This gave it a little underlying surface, but the polish helped clear the front a little.
In qualifying, the best look that I had was with the new Villain. I was able to start around 6-7, and keep it on line. There seemed to be a little spot right there that I could keep the ball in play. The scoring pace was really lower compared to a lot of past tournaments. I caught a 246 game in game two, and just kept grinding games in the two teens. At the end of the block, I was in 15th.
For the next block, I started in the same zone. The first pair we hit had a huge difference between lanes. The right lane was close, but the left lane was 4 boards and a ball change tighter. This was a fresh pair, too. I got 190 out of it and moved to the next pair. The re oil seemed to give us more hang down lane as usual, and I was struggling to get the ball to go through the pins the right way to carry. I was still bowling games in the 190s but I didn’t want to make too many drastic changes, since I was still in the number, and that wasn’t going up at all. The last thing I wanted was to try the wrong thing, and bowl 160, and really end up in trouble. The 6th game, I finally found a ball that would strike. I went to a Break S75, and moved way in, and kept my hand soft. This ball got down the lane, and got the right angle for carry. I bowled 252 to get back up in the number. The next game, I just needed to bowl a solid game, and I was in. I started with the front 10 before leaving a 4-10 split in the tenth. I got a little too soft on that one. That was good enough to move up to 12th.
The next day in the finals, I started with the same ball as the day before. I bowled pretty solid games in the beginning, and moved up a bit in the standings. The middle games, I started seeing some transition, that moved me deeper on the lane. I bowled a couple of bad games, and dropped below the top 16. I ended up changing back to the S75 from the day before, and bowled another 257 game. That got me right back in the hunt for the cut. I survived a close one the next game, and was sitting in 14th for position round. The spots were jammed up, and I still needed to at least win the next game to survive. I was able to put together a 240 game, and advanced to the last round.
The night block started off just a bit tighter down lane than earlier. This time, I started with the Code that had the 3 inch pin. I was able to stay away from the out of bounds, and still get the ball to hit. I started with a 250 game, and got within reach of the top 4. I got on a little bit of a winning streak, and each game I moved a little closer to the show. In game five, I won with a 214, and finally moved into the top 4. There were probably three of us that kept moving back and forth, and in and out of the top 4 number. The top three were pretty much locked, so the last spot was up for grabs. The next two games I lost with small 200s, and slipped back a bit. The game I bowled right before position round, I won with 215, and was only 8 pins back of the show.
I was now in position to try to jump into the show with a win in the last game. I bowled Sean Rash in position round, and we bowled it on one of the pairs used for Xtra Frame. These two pairs have lighting on them for the webcast, and consistently break down much faster that the other pairs. We were both trying to play around 5th arrow, and trying to get the ball to retain enough energy to strike. Neither one of us had much of a look, and Patrick Allen started with the front 6, and pretty much locked us out. Looking back, I should have tried to move farther right, and go hard and straight at the pocket. I might have bowled a better game, but 260 might have been tough.
This week went much better, and I felt like my swing was a little looser. The extra work last week seems to be paying off. The Tournament of Champions is next week, and I’m looking forward to it. I like bowling the majors, because you usually have to keep things in play, and make shots.
Thanks,
Steve
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900 Global/AMF Sales Manager
