Space Bowl, Rockledge, FL

I bowled last weekend in the PBA South Rockledge Open, at Space Bowl in Rockledge, FL. Rockledge is about 5 or so minutes north of Melbourne, FL, which is the same area as the UBA Classic tournament. For this tournament, I drew "B" squad.

Walking into the building, I knew I was in for a rough time. The pattern used was PBA pattern E-1, in which the first two outside boards are completely dry - meaning you have to get the ball into that area to have any kind of chance of scoring well. That, combined with the fact that the lanes were extremely tight throughout the entire tournament, made for a very low scoring condition.

They were so tough that I scored for the entire block a -289 score (I don't have to give a game-by-game summary, do I?). Basically, I could not double, and was somehow able to throw split after split after split. However, I converted all but 3 spares (not counting splits). That's pretty good. I even made some buckets, washouts, and 3-6-10's.

I didn't feel as bad, because a lot of other great bowlers were in the -200 range also. However, some bowlers bowled fantastic. Norm Titus averaged over 240, including a 289 in the very last game of the block. But it was J.R. Georgeadis who won on Sunday for his 1st PBA Regional Title.

Overall, I didn't not play the correct part of the lanes all day long, which led to most of my demise. I also had some trouble early with the approaches, as I found them to be very slippery. I did feel that this tournament was a needed experience to have, as I made a great amount of spares, which gives me confidence for the next tournament I bowl in, which is most likely the UBA tournament in two weeks.

So far this year I'm 0-2. Not the start I wanted to have.

- Joe Tex

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