I was able to get to bowl the first local tournament of the year. Recently, I've been extremely busy, and it's been very hard to even practice, let alone thinking about bowling competitively. However, the "busy season" should end in a few weeks, which will begin to free me up for a lot of tournaments in the near future.

This tournament was held at AMF Boynton Beach Lanes, in Boynton Beach, FL. I bowled at 9PM. During practice, I couldn't decide between the AMF Nighthawk or the Columbia Game. The Game has more of a surface on it then the Nighthawk does, but the Nighthawk seemed to give me the best overall reaction.

The lanes were really tight, with an "out of bounds" outside of 7, so I began playing directly up 8. The first game I missed one spare, and alternated spares and strikes all the way out for a 190 game. In the second game, I was able to move a board inside, and started off with a double and three spares. Then, the most amazing thing happened, as I left a 3 count on my first ball, after sending the ball out a few boards to the right. I was somehow able to pick off the 3-5-9 out of a full rack. My guess is that it was a bad rack, because either the 8 pin or the 6 pin should have fallen in conjunction with the 3-5-9. I did not make this very ugly leave, but I was able to throw the last six strikes for a 216 game. The third game was more like the first game where I alternated spares and strikes all the way out for a 215 game.

Here's the funny thing. I bowled 620, which isn't great, but it was a solid 620. Usually, when I bowl good (not necessarily score well), I wind up making the cut. This time, that did not happen, as I missed both cuts by about 10 or 20 pins.

Not the way I wanted to start out the year, but what can I do about it now. My next tournament that I am going to bowl in will be a PBA Regional Tournament in Rockledge, FL. Before the tournament I may drill up a Icon 2 to replace my Columbia Game, probably drilling it the same, just because it's getting kind of old now. I also like the new Icon 300, which is a "hook monster". I'll let you know sometime next week.

- Joe Tex

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