Mr. Bojé,
I am writing today with concerns and for clarification on a post I just read in the Open Tournament section of bowl.com. This post indicates that, though the Open Tournament has already had 30 days following the end of their tournament and the countless hours during their tournament to verify the accuracy of the results, prize checks will be delayed for verification time and that an extension of rule 309 has been granted. This brings to my mind some questions that I hope you or any member of your staff may answer for me and all participants of the 2010 Open Championship.
First, who granted an extension of rule 309? I would like to see the minutes of that meeting indicating the reason the extension was granted and all board members that voted for it, since I assume no one person has the authority to grant the extension for payout of an over $6,000,000 prize fund. Also, how long is this extension for? That is not indicated in the post on bowl.com. And, how many other USBC sanctioned tournaments, in the past 12 months, have requested and/or been granted an extension?
Second, where in the rules does it provide that an extension may be granted? I have run USBC sanctioned tournaments before and do not recall ever reading that extensions may be granted. I have re-read Rule 309 in the 2009-2010 rulebook and also see no mention of this provision in it or anywhere in Chapter 6, Tournament Rules.
Third, will any interest earned on tournament and side pot prize monies be distributed to the bowlers? With an unofficial prize list of almost $6,000,000 and several tens of thousands more in side pot money, the USBC Open Tournament already can benefit greatly from its pre-paid entries and interest it can earn during the tournament. At a modest savings rate of 1% USBC may earn over $160 per day that this extension lasts. Will this money be made to benefit the bowlers? If so, how?
Finally, I and many others would hope to see a very timely response to this request. The holding up of over $6,000,000 of bowlers’ prize money and their concerns about it, I feel, should be your most top priority until the situation is resolved. As a matter of protocol, and because of how important I feel this request is, I will be copying this email to finance@bowl.com , my local state and city associations, rules@bowl.com, usbcopenchampionships@bowl.com, the forum for the USBC Open Championship and some various forums and sites that other bowlers may frequent.
Thank you,
Shyky