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26th Annual PBA South Ft. Pierce Open - Report, Results
{ 05-26-03 }
This weekend I participated in the PBA South Ft. Pierce Open, at Ft. Pierce Bowl
in Ft. Pierce, FL. It marks the 26th consecutive year that the PBA has run a tournament
in the Ft. Pierce / PSL area, the longest by far of the South Region.
I bowled on B squad, on lanes 1 / 2. I crossed with a bowler by the last name of
Langton (sorry, I don't remember or know his first name!), regional champion J.R.
Georgeadis; and national tour champion Bob Learn, Jr. Although from Pennsylvania,
Bob usually competes in several events in the South region.
I started out the first game pretty much how I wound up bowling the entire day -
A strike here or there, then a few splits, and then a washout. Add it up, and it doesn't
add up well. A score to the tune of 1303 is incredibly discouraging, but only at face
value. I had a 100% single and double pin spare conversion percentage. All my open
frames came via splits, or washouts (unfortunately, I went 0-7 on washout conversions,
usually I make about 1/3 of them).
It's impossible to make a check, or the cut, when you can't strike but twice or three
times a game, especially if they are not consecutive strikes. Trust me, I know first
hand. Hopefully one of these days, I'll be able to strike a lot more, along with converting
all of my makeable spares like I have been doing.
An interesting thing did happen, though. At the end of game 1, on the final fill
ball, I decided to throw another ball, just to see what would happen. I decided to
throw the Rebel ECX, which is made by Revolution. This is really one of my favorite
balls, so I decided what the heck. In game 2, I threw my first shot on 5 and 6 for
a strike, and was informed that the ball I was using was not product registered. I
though I was going to get DQ'ed right there on the spot, but gladly that didn't happen,
and I was just asked to remove the ball from the playing area. Phew! I seriously had
NO IDEA about that ball. For one, I remember using it before at a regional event,
and secondly, I thought Revolution was made by Brunswick, therefore product registered.
I also found out that international balls are also not product registered, which includes
the Icon Quad, by Columbia.
So then I switched back to using my Icon 2, and had the next four strikes after that.
Maybe I shouldn't have switched at all! So I have to remember to drill something similar
to that ball the next time I bowl a regional event. Maybe a Wicked B/R/T. The specifications
on that ball are close enough, and I like the core construction as well.
Update: I will not be bowling the Cream of the Crop event. In it's place, I will
be bowling an 8-game scratch / handicap SFMBA tournament on Sunday, which is sweet,
because long formats are my favorite. I'll let you know what happens there.
- Joe Tex
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