PBA Lumber Liquidators Marathon Open Schedule
The PBA Lumber Liquidators Marathon Open is taking place this week, in Baltimore, Maryland. This event is being bowled on seven different PBA oil patterns throughout the week. All five of the animal patterns will be used, while the patterns from the Dick Weber Open and Earl Anthony Memorial Classic will also be used.
All bowlers will bowl two blocks, one on Tuesday and one on Wednesday for a total of 18 games. After the 18 games of qualifying, the field will be cut for the cashers round for 14 more games on Thursday. The rounds of 32 and 24 will be bowled on Friday, with the top 16 advancing to bowl on Saturday. The final 16 bowlers will bowl 7 games, with the top 5 advancing into the ESPN stepladder finals. The TV finals will take place on Sunday, April 4, 2010.
Tip of the Week – March 29, 2010
Last week’s tip came from Carolyn Dorin-Ballard. This week’s tip comes from her husband, Del Ballard, Jr. This tip also comes from the Brunswick Clinic for Better Bowling. In this clip, Del shows us how to get proper timing in your arm swing. Del demonstrates the proper timing for a four step approach and also shows two common mistakes that are made.
Smith, Neral Win PBA Regional Events
Two PBA Regional events took place this weekend. The PBA Northwest/West Regions Caveman Bowl Open took place at Caveman Bowl in Grant’s Pass, Oregon and the PBA South Region Midlothian, Va Non-Champion Open took place at King Pin Lanes in Midlothian, Virginia.
Don Allen III led qualifying of the Northwest/West region event with a score of 1888 (+288, 236 Average). Allen was not able to hang on to his lead, finishing with a 6-6 record to drop him to third place for the tournament. Bryon Smith finished match play with a 10-2 record to move into first with a total score of 4475 (+475). Dave Arnold finished the tournament in second and Bob Rosenau finished in fourth. This event was bowled on the 39′ Dick Weber Open pattern.
John Neral led qualifying of the PBA South region event this weekend with a score of 1780 (+180, 222.5 Average). John cruised through match play, losing only one game in the round of 8. John was undefeated otherwise, going on to win the tournament. Chris Hans made it to the final match before losing to John Neral, becoming the runner up. Chris Arcaro and Jason Fitzgerald were the other two semifinalists, finishing third and fourth. This event was bowled on the PBA Scorpion pattern.
Ziesig Wins Plastic Ball Championship
The PBA GEICO Mark Roth Plastic Ball Championship took place this week in West Babylon, New York. The opening match had Wayne Garber bowling against Mike Machuga. Garber won the match, 258-245, and went on to face Walter Ray Williams, Jr. Walter Ray defeated Garber 280-211 to advance. He went on to bowl against amateur Brian Ziesig. Ziesig defeated Walter Ray in another high scoring match, 255-237, and went on to face Jason Belmonte in the finals. The two tied in the final match with a score of 247 and bowled a one ball roll off. Ziesig won the roll off 10-9 to win the tournament. This is Brian Ziesig’s first PBA title and this is the first title won by an amateur since 2002. This event was bowled on the PBA Shark pattern.
Barnes Wins in Fifth Challenge
Chris Barnes and Anthony Pepe faced off in the fifth Chris Barnes Challenge on Saturday night. Pepe was the high bidder for the week, putting up his $5000 to take on Chris Barnes. Barnes matched the $5000 bid and the two bowled for the total pot of $10,000. This is the highest yet in one of these challenge matches. The two bowled a three game series, with the highest total score taking home all of the money.
Anthony Pepe had a nine pin lead headed into game three, but as everyone knows, that is not a big enough cushion at all. Barnes came back and finished with a 681 series to beat Pepe’s 649. This win makes Barnes 3-2 in these matches, having lost one to Derek Hartnell and another to Alex Aguiar. Pepe is no stranger to the pressure, as a 33 time JBT winner he also has some experience in PBA regional events.
Belmonte Leads Plastic Ball Championship Going Into TV Finals
Jason Belmonte was able to hang on to his lead through the round of 16 in the PBA GEICO Mark Roth Plastic Ball Championship. Belmonte finished with a score of 8081 (+1681, 243.16 Average) and a 10-8 record to qualify first for the TV finals. Brian Ziesig was close behind in second at 8070 (+1670). Others making the top five include Walter Ray Williams, Jr. (+1544), Wayne Garber (+1512), and Mike Machuga (+1425).
They are using a stepladder format for the TV finals of this event. The #5 and #4 bowlers will face off, with the winner going on to bowl against the #3 qualifier, and so on. Jason Belmonte will take on whoever comes out of the other four bowlers in the final match. This event is being bowled on a modified version of the PBA Shark pattern. This pattern is similar to the shark pattern, but has a much lighter volume of oil to make up for the use of plastic balls.
PBA Plastic Ball Championship Round of 32 Results
The round of 32 has completed in the PBA GEICO Mark Roth Plastic Ball Championship. After completing 23 games, there is a very tight race for the few spots around the cut. Jason Belmonte is in the lead at +1125 with a 5-4 record. Brian Ziesig is in second with +1091. Walter Ray Williams, Jr. is in third at +1011. Other bowlers rounding out the top 5 are Bill O’Neill and Mike Machuga.
The field will now be cut to the top 16, with the cut score being at +774. Scores have been high for this event with the lowest bowler in the round of 32 averaging 217.22 for the tournament. The field of 16 will bowl today and the field will be cut to the top five for the TV finals. The TV finals will be aired live on ESPN on Sunday, March 28, 2010 at 2:00 PM Eastern Time.
Belmonte Leads Plastic Ball Championship Round of 64
Jason Belmonte has taken the 14 game lead in the PBA GEICO Mark Roth Plastic Ball Championship. After 14 games, Belmonte is leading the field with a score of 3366 (+566, 240.43 Average). Jason has thrown two 300 games and finished his second block with 811 for his last three games.
Walter Ray Williams, Jr. is currently in second with 3339. Others in the top 5 include Mike Fagan (3320), Wayne Garber (3293), and Brian Ziesig (3241). The field will now be cut to the top 32, with the cut score at 3035 (+235, 216.79 Average).
Scores have been pretty high so far for this event, with only one bowler averaging under 200. This event is being bowled on a modified version of the PBA Shark pattern. This pattern is the same length, but has a lighter volume of oil. This volume makes up for the weaker surface of the polyester bowling balls.
Brian LeClair Leads TQR for Plastic Ball Championship
The PBA GEICO Mark Roth Plastic Ball Championship is underway this week. This event is being bowled on a modified version of the PBA Shark pattern. This pattern is similar in length, but has a much lighter volume of oil.
The Tournament Qualifying Round of this event was bowled on Wednesday, March 24, 2010. Brian LeClair led the TQR with a score of 1685 (+285, 240.71 Average). The top ten bowlers from the TQR advance into the tournament. Others making the top five in this event included Bobby Hall II (1595), Joseph Costanzo (1588), Johny Petraglia, Jr. (1584), and Ryan Ciminelli (1573). The cut for this event (10th place) was 1542 (+142, 220.29 Average).
The round of 64 is being bowled today (Thursday), with the top 32 bowlers advancing to the round of 32 on Friday.
Tip of the Week – March 23, 2010
This is my first week of scouring the web looking for tips to bring to you. This week’s tip comes from the Brunswick Clinic for Better Bowling and Carolyn Dorin-Ballard. Carolyn shows us how to use the handshake drill to get the proper hand position. This is a great tip, although many great bowlers use this hand position with a combination of other hand positions to provide more versatility. This is a great way to learn to throw a hook ball. Use this technique as a place to start and you can make adjustments from there to perfect your arm swing and release.
DV8 Hell Raiser