Category: Tournaments

Tournament news

May 2009 People’s Tournament results

This post is slightly late, as there is an error on the People’s Tournament’s site that points the link to the May tournament results on the “Past Results” page to the results for the April tournament. I have informed Sherm of the error, and will link the correct page in this post.

The People’s Tournament reported Puntep Bhayakaport (201 avg., AMF 34th Avenue Lanes {NY}) as the winner of the May event at AMF Cranston Lanes. Bhayakaport defeated James O’Driscoll (174 avg., Town & Country Lanes) in the title match by a score of 254-224 (with handicaps). It was a bad event for Westgate Lanes bowlers, as no Westgate Lanes bowler reached the final eight. Greg Hudson (195 avg.) and Rafael Cruz (175 avg.) were in the top 16. James Vaughn (172 avg.) represented North Bowl in the top 16.

May 2009 NEBA results

As reported on NEBA’s site, Jon Matunas was the winner of the May event at Westgate Lanes, defeating Chad Autore by a score of 193-175 in the title match. Locally, Rich Fulton Jr., Ed Roberts, and Bob Hamilton were the cashers from Westgate Lanes. As an additional note, Jonathan Van Hees also cashed, making the third round of match play before exiting.

May 2009 NEBA bits

As is usual when NEBA comes to Westgate Lanes, I caught the Sunday afternoon squad, and I should say that they put out a tough condition this weekend: instead of the usual Coke Classic pattern, it was decided that the Kegel “Highway To Hell” pattern would be used. As it is a flat pattern and perhaps the most difficult of the Kegel Navigation Sport series patterns, nearly everyone had struggles with it, and, when I get to posting the result sheet on the NEBA site, you should find the cut scores to be lower than usual.

I did introduce myself to the one big New England gun that I had wanted to meet, but hadn’t had the opportunity to until today: Jonathan Van Hees, whom I’ve noted on this blog a number of times in connection to his exploits on the PBA Tour. I pretty much left him alone to bowl, but after the squad was over, I asked him if he would be participating in the upcoming World Series of Bowling in Detroit, and he told me he had not made that decision yet.

April 2009 People’s Tournament results

As reported on the People’s Tournament site, Alfred Donato (187 avg.) represented the home contingent well by winning the April event at Westgate Lanes, defeating Tiana Carrasquillo (AMF Silver Lanes {CT}, 150 avg.) in the title match by a score of 250-237 (with handicaps). Hans Cheung (182 avg.) also represented Westgate Lanes in the semifinals, and semifinalist Brian Frank, though he’s listed as representing East Providence Lanes (with a 209 average), should also be familiar to Westgate Lanes bowlers, as he works in the pro shop. Brian Alleyn (153 avg.) was also in the final eight.

April 2009 NEBA results

As NEBA has started posting tournament results as a PDF file (at least until it is replaced by the newsletter), I shall aim to recognize the Westgate Lanes bowlers who do well in those events.

The April 2009 event at Laurel Lanes in Plainville, CT was won by Frankie Calca, who defeated a white-hot Alex Aguiar (a Westgate Lanes league bowler, of course) in the final match by a score of 267-234. Jason Sherwood, also representing Westgate Lanes, was one of the other cashers.

Back to work

In desperate need of a real practice session after two sub-500 league performances in the last three weeks, I hit the lanes today with the intent of working any kinks in my game out. My first game wasn’t that great (only 150), but I did find my stroke later and the other two games were in the 210-220 range. I just hope that carries into Wednesday night, as I’d like to end this winter league on a positive note.

State tournament note: I was told by Bob Hamilton that Sean Richard was second in scratch all-events after his participation in the state championship tournament in Springfield yesterday. As the tournament has a way to go, let’s hope Sean’s score holds up.

Sealing the deal

I went to the lanes today for the People’s Tournament, hoping to catch Sean Richard to ask him about a project I’m contemplating. I was told Sean was bowling in the state championship tournament, however, so my request will have to wait until (likely) Wednesday night. Related to that project, however, I made the same request I’m going to make with Sean with Tom Hedding after I found out he’ll still be bowling in the youth league next season.

I did catch Bonnie and Rob bowling in the tournament, however, and Grace was watching them. I asked Grace if she knew if her friend was definitely bowling in the summer league, and she told me he had backed out. Therefore, my summer league team is set. I was also told that one of the Boermans (the core of the “Backyard Bowlers” in Brunswick Mixed) decided to take the summer off and they tried to obtain my services behind my back. However, I will be telling them that I thought their team was set, and that if I didn’t think they had a full team, I might have offered my services. Since I thought Bonnie’s team was less set than the Boermans’, then, I left the option open with her.

As for the tournament, Bonnie made it through the first round of the roll-offs, but was eliminated in the round of 16. I didn’t stick around for the end, so full results will come when the People’s Tournament posts them.

March 2009 People’s Tournament results

The People’s Tournament ran two events last month, so the link to the site will be on the dates.

The March 14 & 15 event at Strikers East Lanes was won by Walter Farrington, III (178 avg., Merrimack Ten Pin {NH}), who defeated Phil Hall (205 avg., Strikers East Lanes) by a score of 216-181 (with handicaps) in the title match. Vin D’Aleo (213 avg.) was the high finisher from Westgate Lanes (semifinals), and Anthony Green (191 avg.) was also in the top eight.

The March 21 & 22 event at Town Line Ten Pin was won by Richard Baron (188 avg., AMF Lang’s {RI}), defeating Bonnie MacDonald (155 avg., Westgate Lanes) by a score of 267-202 (with handicaps) in the final match. Hans Cheung (177 avg.) also represented Westgate Lanes in the semifinals, and Greg Hudson (195 avg.) was in the top eight. Also representing my league, Rob Dickens (127 avg.) was in the top 16.

Wednesday bits

Some bits I learned about yesterday that I thought I’d combine into one post instead of making separate posts about them:

Hall of Fame Tournament results: The Brockton USBC Bowling Association reported Rich Fulton, well-known in the area as “King of the Plastic Balls”, as the winner of last Sunday’s Hall of Fame Tournament. Fulton defeated Bill Major by a 569-435 two-game score with handicaps in the final match. Fulton was dominant, racking up 5 games over 270 during the tournament, including games of 289, 284, and 3 279s, and averaging an astounding 248 for 11 games. The link above also includes a paragraph on the dinner Saturday night.

“Meet and Greet”: I made an unscheduled stop at the lanes after conducting other business last night, and Ray introduced me to Keith DeCambra, a PBA member out of Quincy, MA. I had seen his name while following PBA Tour events online, but he hadn’t been doing well in the events he had entered, so I told him that I wished his results could’ve been better. Keith told me that he now runs a small 8-lane center in northern New Jersey, and, as a result of that, was able to compete in the US Open last week while living only 10 minutes away. Good luck in the future, Keith. 😀

Alex Aguiar cashes in US Open for second straight year

Alex Aguiar of Dartmouth, MA, who bowls in the Tuesday Scratch Sportsmen league at Westgate Lanes, cashed in the US Open, the final tournament (and major) of the PBA Tour season, for the second straight year this week. He ended the preliminary rounds of qualifying on Thursday with a -51 score after 18 games (197.17 average), good for 99th place (103 places cashed). Aguiar moved up to 89th place today in the Cashers Qualifying Round, finishing with a -64 score (197.33 average) after 24 games. Good job once again, Alex! 😀

As an aside, Mike Rose, Jr. of Rochester, NY, whom I also met last year at the April NEBA event at Westgate Lanes, just missed the cut to 24 for match play, falling 13 pins short with a score of +147 (206.13 average) and finishing in 28th place.

Brockton USBC Bowling Association Hall of Fame Tournament note

The Brockton USBC Bowling Association recently announced that the upcoming Hall of Fame Tournament on April 5 at Westgate Lanes will be a plastic ball only event, and that all balls will be checked prior to the start of the event. It will also be an eliminator format, handicapped at 90% of 230.

As a more general item, the association has also posted a list of all honor scores earned in the association this season, including those from the other centers in the association. There is one from Westgate Lanes I’ve yet to announce on this blog, as I’m attempting to get further details on the score.

Getting away with it

My Week 26 bowling (BowlSK)

I titled this “Getting away with it” because I wasn’t flushing very much tonight, but did get decent carry, especially on my five “Brooklyn” strikes. A strike is a strike is a strike is a strike, though, and they came in enough bunches to get good scores. Indeed, if my spare shooting was better in the second game, it would’ve been my best set of the season, and I would’ve at least had a shot at my first-ever “30 clean” performance.

Result: 243-172-226=641
Average (78 games): 182 Last 9 games average: 207
Next week’s AVG+1 score: 572

It did seem like the other team was off of their game tonight, and that helped us to a winning night. I pretty much carried my team in the first game, lost the second game, but then had Helen and Ted get a key turkey and a double (respectively) late in the third game to all but seal it. Helen told me afterward that she thought she could’ve had a 200 game herself if she could’ve closed it out.

People’s Tournament note: The People’s Tournament will be having events each of the next two weekends, starting this weekend (Mar. 14 & 15) at Strikers East in New Hampshire, then the following weekend (Mar. 21 & 22) at Town Line Ten Pin in Malden. Of course, I will post results for each event here (with links to the recap on the People’s Tournament site) when they become available.

Brockton-Foxvale-Tri City mixed doubles results

Official results of the 21st annual Brockton, Foxvale, and Tri-City mixed doubles tournament, which was run primarily by the Tri-City USBC Women’s Bowling Association and held at Westgate Lanes on Feb. 21 and 22:

Handicap

Shirley & Bill Major 1437
Jeanette & Michael Carter 1409
Erica & Rich Hubert 1399
Ivonne Naranjo & Shawn Rodriguez 1384

Scratch

Eric Buckman & Mary Altemese 1204
Maureen Morrison & Ed Miller 1181

Congratulations to all that cashed.

Jonathan Van Hees cashes in Etonic Marathon Open

After taking the “West Coast Swing” off, Jonathan Van Hees of Newport, RI rejoined the PBA Tour trail this week for the Etonic Marathon Open in Indianapolis, and had a good result, cashing in 38th place. The Etonic Marathon Open, part of this season’s “Extreme Swing,” comprised of 54 games over 6 of the PBA Tour oil patterns (Cheetah, Viper, Scorpion, Chameleon, Earl Anthony, Shark), with the top third of the entries (53) qualifying (and cashing) after 18 games. Van Hees had a final score of +573 (210.61 average), with his best performance coming on the Scorpion pattern (1999 in 9 games).

The top five seeds for tomorrow’s show are Wes Malott, Pete Weber, Ronnie Russell, Bill O’Neill, and Chris Barnes. As part of the tournament’s format, the top seed has the choice of oil pattern to be used on the telecast, and Wes Malott has chosen the Scorpion pattern.

PBA announces World Series of Bowling: The PBA has announced that the 2009-10 PBA Tour season will begin with a new World Series of Bowling, to be contested from Aug. 1 to Sept. 7 in Detroit. The series kicks off with the Motor City Open at longtime PBA Tour host Taylor Lanes. The rest of the series, including six more exempt PBA Tour events, the return of the PBA Women’s Series, and a revamped PBA Senior Tour World Championship, will take place at Thunderbowl Lanes in nearby Allen Park, a 90-lane center with a unique arena setup for the taping of ESPN telecasts and coverage on the subscription PBA.com Xtra Frame online service. The series will culminate in the open-field PBA World Championship, the first major tournament of the season, with the four finalists returning on Dec. 13 for the only live ESPN broadcast of the series. This is the first time the PBA Tour will spend an extended period of time in one city.

February 2009 People’s Tournament results

The People’s Tournament’s site reported Arabinda Sahoo (150 avg., Spare Time Lanes {CT}) as the winner of the February event at AMF Cranston Lanes. Sahoo defeated Ryan McPartland (199 avg., AMF Auburn Lanes) by a score (with handicaps) of 271-172 in the title match. A couple of bowlers from my own league did well in this tournament: Bonnie MacDonald (148 avg.) placed in the top 8, and Rick Boerman (149 avg.) was in the top 16. It was a shame both couldn’t be in the top 8, as Bonnie and Rick had to face each other in the round of 16. Jon Corda (206 avg.) also represented Westgate Lanes in the round of 8. Inside the Brockton association, Lee Adams (180 avg., North Bowl Lanes) was a semifinalist.

Sean Richard scores 800 series in Sunday Niters League

Been sitting on this one until I saw the score posted on Bowler Express:

Sean Richard, subbing in the Sunday Niters League, shot games of 227, 276, and 297 for the first 800 series of the season at Westgate Lanes on Feb. 22. Congratulations Sean! 😀

NEBA tournament note: Sean Richard’s 800 came on a day when he also rolled a 295 @ E. Providence Lanes en route to cashing in last weekend’s NEBA event, which was won by the Tuesday Scratch Sportsmen League’s own Alex Aguiar. Nice bowling all around, guys. 😀

47th Brockton USBC Bowling Association Championships unofficial results posted

The unofficial results of the 47th annual Brockton USBC Bowling Association’s championship tournament have been posted, and Dan Robinson appears to have been the star, as a 794 score in singles helped him not only win that event, but also All-Events. He is the top bowler in both the handicap and scratch divisions in singles and All-Events, so it remains to be seen which prizes he receives.

50th annual Massachusetts State USBC Bowling Association Championships

The 50th annual Massachusetts State USBC Bowling Association championship tournament will be held on weekends between April 25 and May 17 at AMF Airway Lanes in Springfield, MA. Events are five-man teams, doubles, and singles, with optional all-events. Entry fee is $26/bowler/event and $6 for All-Events, with the prize fund being returned 1 in 8 for team, 1 in 10 for singles and doubles, and 1 in 15 for All-Events, 60% handicap and 40% scratch. Handicap is 90% of 240, computed on a three-game basis. Entries close March 15, and re-entries will be allowed based on lane availability. Entry flyers with more information are now available at all Masschusetts tenpin bowling centers.

January 2009 People’s Tournament results

The People’s Tournament site reported Saykum Miya (E. Providence Lanes, 176 avg.) as the winner of the January 2009 event at Westgate Lanes. Miya defeated Joe Chan (Westgate Lanes, 190 avg.) by a score (with handicaps) of 223-210 in the title match. Westgate Lanes was well-represented in the top 32, as, in addition to Chan, Jason Sherwood (215 avg.) was in the semifinals, and Pam Lavallee (151 avg.) and Jim Yost (194 avg.) were also in the top eight.

Massachusetts USBC Women’s Bowling Association 46th Annual Championships

The Massachusetts USBC Women’s Bowling Association will hold its 46th annual championship tournament in all weekends in May except for Memorial Day weekend at Gardner Ten Pin. It is a classified tournament with 4-women team, doubles, and singles events, plus optional all-events, with the average classes as follows:

Team: 600 and over, 599 and under
Doubles: 330 and over, 290-329, 289 and under
Singles and All-Events: 165 and over, 145-164, 144 and under

Squad times are 10 AM and 1 PM on Saturdays, 9 AM, noon, and 3 PM on Sundays.

Entry is $20/bowler/event and $5 for All-Events, with entries closing March 1 unless schedule is filled sooner. Doubles must bowl singles, and singles must bowl doubles. Entry flyers with more information are now available at local bowling centers.

Additional note: The association’s annual meeting will take place at the Colonial Hotel in Gardner on Saturday, March 14 at 9:30 AM.

Brockton USBC Bowling Association Hall of Fame Weekend

The Brockton USBC Bowling Association will hold its annual Hall of Fame Weekend on April 4 and 5. The festivities begin with the Hall of Fame induction dinner, which will be held on the 4th at the Holiday Inn in Brockton starting at 7:00 PM. Tickets are $35/person, and you may see Ray DiSanto Jr., Bob Young, or Roy Garrigus if you’re interested in attending. This year’s honorees are North Bowl Lanes manager Fred Delfino, along with bowlers John Ellis, Jim Ferguson, and Steve Travers.

The accompanying Hall of Fame Tournament, which will be an Eliminator-style handicap tournament, will take place on the 5th at Westgate Lanes starting at 12:30 PM. Entry fee is $35, and only walk-in entries will be accepted.

New association web site launched: I am also proud to announce that the Brockton USBC Bowling Association’s new web site is now online, and the link has been added to the sidebar under “Bowling Sites.” The home page is functional, though the individual pages needed to be uploaded and the links to those pages on the home page fixed at press time.

Killing two birds with one stone

I was looking forward to this lesson with Ray today, as I felt I’ve been losing it the last few weeks, not just in my spare game, as I’ve documented, but on first ball, as well. Ray spotted something in today’s “before” video, however: my wrist would flex at the top of my backswing, making my hand come on top of the ball through the downswing and driving my release into the floor. I forgot what one of the two options Ray presented me for fixing this problem, but I chose what seemed to me to be the most comfortable one…shortening my backswing, as I appeared able to stay behind and under the ball until my backswing got up to shoulder height.

The practice work after this involved the usual towel on the lane, but this time I focused on keeping my backswing short. It appeared to be the ticket; at one point, I had 7 strikes in a row, and early on, I was resetting the full rack when I left something, as ball reaction is usually one gauge (in my mind) of how I’m doing. I did work on doing the same thing with my spare attempts eventually, and even then it seemed I couldn’t miss, getting one clean game (a 235) in the bridge between my solo work and Ray taping my “after” video. As an added benefit, I was also playing further inside (standing around the 24 and 25 board) than I’m used to and still getting to the pocket, something I’ve wanted to learn. The next few practices will, of course, focus on keeping my backswing short.

Local tournament note: The Brockton Foxvale & Tri-City Women’s Bowling Association will run their 21st annual mixed doubles tournament on Feb. 21 & 22 at Westgate Lanes. Entry fee is $41/team, with the prize fund being returned to about 1 in 10 entries at 70% handicap and 30% scratch. Handicap is 80% of 220. Squad time is 1:00 PM on both days. See entry flyers at all area centers for further details. Entries close on Feb. 11.

USBC announces changes to Women’s Championships for 2010

USBC to debut 3 average-based competitions for 2010 Women’s Championships in El Paso

I like the new format…it gives the lower-average women bowlers a chance to compete against others with similar ability while keeping the scratch competition available. I think the USBC is wagering on this move bolstering participation in the Women’s Championships, and my philosophy on women’s bowling is that anything that’s good for women’s bowling is good for the game in general.

Torn between two tournaments

After learning about the dates of the local association’s tournament last night, I approached Shawn, my league secretary, about the possibility of getting a team together from my league, and he was open to the idea, saying his usual teammate and doubles partner for the tournament (who is usually also a teammate of his in the league) won’t be able to participate due to injury this year. Since the team event is a team of 4, we would need two more people, and Eric Nordstrom (whom some of you have seen in the scrapbook) said he’d also be interested in participating.

I did let Shawn know, however, that I would be torn between participating in the city tournament and the People’s Tournament at Westgate Lanes this month, as my budget only allows for one tournament. The feedback I’ve been getting from the chat folks is strongly in favor of me entering the city tournament, as they think I have a better chance of cashing in events in that. The drawbacks would be that I’d have to rise early on the Sunday my team is scheduled to bowl, get a ride to and from the venue, and I’d also have to talk to other non-bowling people about other matters.

The cost of missing single pins

My Week 17 bowling (BowlSK)

I had 9 single pin leaves tonight (except for last balls in the 10th frame) and only made 3 of them. I missed 3 of them in a row in the last game alone (a couple of weak 10s and a stone 7), and, if I made just those single pins, it would’ve turned out that I shot 600 on the night. I was 31 pins over average on the night, largely on a good second game, but I know I could’ve done much better if I made my single pins. This may be something I’ll have to work with Ray on.

Result: 193-221-157=571
Average (51 games): 180 Last 9 games average: 180
Next week’s AVG+1 score: 558

My team split the points tonight due to winning the second game being enough to take total despite losing close games to bookend it. “The Badgers” won their second game tonight, so they took the first-half title. If a different team wins the second half, the two teams will roll off for the league championship at the end of the season.

Tournament note: The 47th annual Brockton USBC Bowling Association Championships will take place on February 1 and 8 at North Bowl Lanes in N. Attleboro. The events to be contested are 4-man teams, doubles, and singles, with an optional all-events competition. Entry fee is $20/bowler/event (not sure what the all-events entry fee is), and entries must be submitted by January 26. Doubles and singles squad is 9:00 AM and team squad is 11:00 AM on both days. Prize money will be divided 70% for handicap prizes (will update with the handicap basis) and 30% for scratch prizes. Note: If you enter doubles, you must also enter singles, and if you enter singles, you must also enter doubles. Entry flyers available at the Brockton USBC Bowling Association centers.

December 2008 People’s Tournament results

As reported on The People’s Tournament’s site, Carlos “Charlie” Aponte (AMF Silver Lanes [CT], 166 avg.) was the winner of the special year-end event at Westgate Lanes. Aponte defeated Mike Klosin (Strikers East [NH], 210 avg.) in the title match by a score of 257-216 (with handicaps). Charlie Aponte collected a check for $5,000 for winning this special event. For the locals, Shirley Major and Brian “Hawk” Earle were both in the top eight.

Additional note: The People’s Tournament will be running a New Year special event, again with prizes of $5,000 for first place and $2,500 for second place (with 32 guaranteed prizes), at Westgate Lanes on January 24 and 25. Entry fees will be $70 mail-in, $80 on-site, and $100 for new members. See the tournament’s web site for more information.