Author Topic: Tell me about the ABT (Read 3471 times)

nospareball · « **on:** March 01, 2009, 07:24:39 AM »

I've been looking for some local tournaments and stumbled across the Amateur Bowlers Tour (ABT). It looks like they have something every weekend, and an interesting Handicap format. I'm in Chicagoland, are there any members here? Just looking for some info, and some experiences.
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-Clint

Rick Wunder · « **Reply #16 on:** March 03, 2009, 09:00:24 AM »

nospareball,
I am a long-time member of the Chicagoland branch. I enjoy bowling in it, and I think it is well run. Our tournament director asks the centers in which we bowl to put out tougher oil patterns. There is no ABT requirement that the pattern should be sport compliant, although I suspect that many of them are. What we get depends on what kind of relationship the director has with the management of the center. The conditions that you would encounter from week to week range from extremely difficult (I'm not exaggerating) to fine china. However, in most cases the conditions are playable, but definitely not easy.

Your average would place you in the Masters division.

If you'd like more information, please feel free to PM me, and I'll be happy to provide it.

To the rest of you,
I think we need to get a couple of things straight here. The ABT (AMATEUR Bowlers Tour) is not and was never intended to provide a home for scratch bowlers. That is called the PBA (PROFESSIONAL Bowlers Association), which doesn't exclude high average bowlers. The ABT was established for the average league bowler who is looking for a bit more of a challenge than just bowling league every week. A large percentage of ABT bowlers would not be allowed to join the PBA even if they wanted to, because their averages are too low.

It's a handicap organization. I'm not even going to try to explain why things are done the way they are, because everyone has their own idea of how it should be, and nothing I, or the tournament directors could say would change anyone's mind. I will just say that over the past ten years, everything has been tried, including removing the upper average limit. Trust me - entries went down, not up.

Just one more thing, before I get off my soapbox - the ABT consists of branches all over the country. Although there are rules that govern it on a national level, there are some differences in how the branches are run. Your experience with one branch does not necessarily reflect the experience you might have in another.
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RW (THB)

Edited on 3/3/2009 1:33 PM

Edited on 3/3/2009 2:48 PM

Mike Fagan · « **Reply #17 on:** March 03, 2009, 12:03:15 PM »

Mike Fagan here. I'm the tournament director for the Chicagoland Branch of the Amateur Bowlers Tour. Ed Mousseau ran the club from 1991-2006. I bought the franchise June 2006. Some of you that are posting might not even know me.

There was a time when the club excluded higher average bowlers, but that has not been the case for a few years. The high end average cap is 225, but that is for bowlers in the club. If you're able to average 225 on the conditions that we put out, then you should be bowling something else. If you have a book average over 225, we'll bring you in as long as you don't carry a PBA card. And we don't exclude former PBA card holders.

Our membership has included Mark Clark, Ed Moores, Bill Monce, Brian Chilcutt, Jason Wojnar, Paul Bober, Boots Kass, Pete Spreadbury, Pat Cornell, Keith Klenck, Jake Woltman, Tony LaCaze, Tom & Linda Carter, Billy Oatman, Jim Kedroski, Rick Hara, Curt Aemisegger, Scott Kelley, Jerry Marano, Bob Udseth, Chad Kloss, Davey Rosen, Robbie Spigner, and many other of the top bowlers in the Chicago area.

We run fair, competitive, fun events ... every week. Check out our tournament results on our website. We're paying out decent prize funds that always carry a guaranteed 1st prize. Bowlers of all averages and ages cash in our tournaments, which is what should happen in a handicapped organization.

All I can do is continue to run events. If you don't like them, that's ok, we can't please everyone. I encourage everyone to give it a try. If anyone reading this thread comes out to our event this Saturday at Liberty Lanes in Carpentersville and joins the club I'll knock $10 off the entry fee (regular price $50 prepaid, $55 onsite). Just mention "BallReviews Discount".

See you on the lanes.

Mike Fagan
Tournament Director
ABT Chicagoland
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Not THAT Mike Fagan, but an incredible mirror-image simulation.

Author Topic: Tell me about the ABT (Read 3471 times)

nospareball

Tell me about the ABT

Rick Wunder

Re: Tell me about the ABT

Mike Fagan

Re: Tell me about the ABT