Cornerstone Newsletter June 2007

June Davis — Fri, 01 Jun 2007 13:28:06 GMT

The Cornerstone

The Foundation Newsletter

Volume 10, Issue 6 May 2007

"The crisis is upon us, friends. Our sport is in trouble. Many of you, that love the game as we do, will look at the crisis like a friend who is in trouble and needs our help. We must not shrink from the task before us, we should welcome it. It is 'our' generation that has been called to the challenge. If not now, when? If not us, who?"

Letter from the Editor

Crazy is as Crazy Does

For me, the last couple of months have literally gone by in a blur as my days have been running together as more of long stretches with a brief pause for sleep. Now that things have started to settle down (or at least I think they are), I can get back to my normal “routine”.

Part of that routine includes an annual issue of the Cornerstone dedicated to collegiate bowling and the annual Sectional and National tournaments. In years past, we’ve always dedicated the May issue of the Cornerstone to the Sectional tournaments while posting the National results in the June issue. Unfortunately, this year, Kegel hosted the prestigious World Ranking Masters tournament and we decided to dedicate our entire May issue to it.

Now that we are all a little less crazy from World Ranking Masters ‘festivities’ we can get back to the grind. As such, look for the Sectional and National reports in the July issue.

And speaking of World Ranking Masters, congratulations to all of the players who competed. Additional congratulations to Diandra Asbaty (United States) and Stuart Williams (England) for earning top honors. Lastly, congratulations to the Kegel Training and Tournament Center and the USBC for running a top notch tournament in relatively short notice. Everyone did a superb job.

Soutar Wins First GBT Title in KR Strikeforce Wichita Open

Wichita, KS - Dave Soutar won his 25th national professional title April 9th Wichita's Northrock Lanes, and he did it with gusto, defeating Don Patterson 289-221 in the championship game. He earned $8,000 for the victory. His brilliant career now includes 17 PBA Tour titles, 7 PBA senior titles, and now a Generations Pro Bowling Tour senior title in only his seventh GBT event.

Patterson also had a great day, rolling two 300 games in the matchplay earlier in the day. His runner-up check was $4,500.

In the title match, Soutar left a solid 7 pin in the opening frame, then reeled off a 10-bagger and added a 9-count on the fill ball for the 289. Patterson struck on six of his first seven shots, then lost a shot wide, leaving a 2-4-7 split in the eighth, and Soutar never let him back in the match. "Everything worked today til that split," said Patterson. "Dave owed me a whipping because I beat him in a big match last year, so I knew he wanted it. He's a great champion, and I hung with him until I shoved that shot out the window."

Soutar missed the first eight weeks of the 17-week tour nursing a knee injury he suffered bowling last summer. "I couldn't wait to get my leg in shape to bowl this tour, and after Matt Buxton helped me change all my grips last week, it is much better. I usually don't do very well on these high scoring conditions, but I carried better these last two days than I ever have. I think the offset grip gave me a few extra wall shots and 10 pins. This is great. My old tour room-mate Dave Davis won in Columbus, and now this. I'm really excited about the next two weeks and the PBA summer tour. I think I can compete again."

In preliminary matches leading up to the final, Soutar beat Ron Garr 215-203, and Patterson defeated Vic Benedict 264-164. Prior to that, Patterson beat Mark Roth 258-236, and Kerry Painter 257-225. In Soutar’s Classic division(60+), Ron Garr defeated Matt Buxton 219-164, and he got by Gradie Creasie by a score of 225-185.

Next week, the GBT travels to Interstate Lanes in Round Rock, Texas, near Austin, for the GBT Texas Open, and then the season winds up with a final event at Emerald Bowl in Houston.

Championship Match

Dave Soutar def. Don Patterson $3500 [289 - 221]

Senior Division: Stepladder Matches

Match 3: Don Patterson def. Vic Benedict $3000 [264 - 164]

Match 2: Don Patterson def. Mark Roth $2000 [258 - 236]

Match 1: Don Patterson def. Kerry Painter $1500 [257 - 225]

Classic Division: Stepladder Matches

Match 3: Dave Soutar def. Ron Garr $3000 [215 - 203]

Match 2: Ron Garr def. Matt C. Buxton $2000 [219 - 164]

Match 1: Ron Garr def. Grady Creasie $1500 [225 - 185]

Atria Wins GBT Championship

Houston - Vinnie Atria won his second Generations Pro Bowling Tour title April 23 by defeating likely GBT player of the year David Ozio 245-224 in the championship match at Houston's Emerald Bowl. Atria earned $9,000 for the victory. Ozio cashed for $4,500 to boost his money total to $86,300 for GBT's first season.

In the title match, Atria came out striking, starting with an opening six-bagger. Ozio missed a 10 pin in the first frame, then rolled four in a row. In the seventh, Atria hung up in the ball to miss a 7 pin to let Ozio back in the match, and ‘the wizard’ mounted a charge with a double in the eighth; but a solid 9 pin took his breath away in the ninth, and Atria came back with a double to seal the victory.

"Golly, to end the year this way is great, and to beat David on top of it, as good as he is, although I did get a little lucky, makes it even sweeter," said Atria. "He led this thing by so much, but it happens to all of us. I lead the one in Ohio by a lot and got beat. I guess it was my day."

Atria's two titles netted him $43,500 for his first pro season. "I'm so happy to end the year this way because I started backing myself this swing, and that adds a little more pressure," said Atria. "I haven't been bowling well, and I was beginning to wonder if I made a mistake."

"I only missed three spares all week long, and I couldn't have thrown it any better on the nine pin," said Ozio. Still, he capped an incredible year where he won his division nine times in the 16 GBT events he bowled. "It's a little frustrating because I could have done so much better, but overall, it was a pretty good year," he said.

The Generations Pro Bowling Tour will now evaluate its first season, and announce its second year schedule in a few months

Stepladder Matches

Match 4: Vinnie Atria def. David Ozio $4500 [245 - 224]

Match 3: Vinnie Atria def. Dennis Psaropoulos $2700 [245 - 212]

Match 2: Dennis Psaropoulos def. Mark Estes $2000 [288 - 170]

Match 1: Mark Estes def. Dale Eagle $1500 [247 - 213]

FROM DISAPPOINTMENT TO A HUGE SUCCESS

When the Qatar Bowling Federation decided to pull out of hosting the 2007 World Ranking Masters, just a couple of months prior to the published dates, it looked as though the event would die a sudden death and then lay dormant for the following years. The Qatari’s cited roof repairs to the host center coinciding with the tournament dates as the reason for the cancellation.

The WTBA’s secretary general, Christer Jonsson, sent out a bulletin to all federations asking if any would be interested in hosting the 2007 event, even at this late stage, and to the surprise of all, requests came in from several sources, including Finland, Indonesia and the United States.

As the latter came from none other than the prestigious Kegel Training and Tournament Center in Lake Wales, Florida, co-sponsored by USBC, it was no surprise that the event was allocated to John Davis and his merry band of dedicated followers. The Davis clan had hosted the World Ranking Masters twice before, with huge success, but this time with the backing of the USBC, it actually became like the old cliché, bigger and better than ever, running from May 3 - 7.

The format as before, 24 qualifying games in three blocks of eight, the first on the short oil pattern, the second on long and the third with short on one lane, long on the other, just to make sure the players were paying attention.

The field consisted of the top eight players from each of the three WTBA zones, Asian, the Americas and Europe, male and female, plus the host picks of one man and one woman. Bill Hoffman and Diandra Asbaty were the honored American pair, but ‘Hoff’ had an injured foot, so gave way to David O’Sullivan, the American National Amateur champion and was forced to watch from the sidelines, hobbling from lane to lane.

Lefties Remy Ong of Singapore and England’s Paul Moor topped the field, tied at 1969 for the long oil squad, with Ong taking the $1,000 squad prize with the highest last game. In the ladies’ division, the money went to Canada’s Caroline Lagrange with 1885. Then came the onslaught from the two-handed delivery of Osku Palermaa from Finland, the 2006 WBW Bowler of the Year, with 1943 on the short oil pattern and Diandra Asbaty, also WBW 2006 BoY, stamped her authority with 1901 for the ladies’ cash. She was in an unaccustomed 25^th place after the first game of the tournament and was quickly scything her way through the field.

The dual pattern brought Palermaa back into the frame once again, this time with two prizes of $1,000, one for top squad place (1946) and the other for being the highest qualifier (5748). His two-handed delivery brought him fairly even scores over the three different patterns; 1909, 1943 and 1946. The ladies’ prizes went to Caroline Lagrange as top qualifier (5501) and Diandra Asbaty as top of the squad (1924).

The top eight in each division now advanced to best-of-three knockout games and the conjecture was that the 2-handers Palermaa and Belmonte (as seeds one and two), could very well meet in the final. But that theory was dashed in the very first round (the quarter-finals), as Palermaa was beaten, 2-0, by Thomas Gross of Austria, whilst Belmonte also suffered 2-0 at the hands of Sweden’s Peter Ljung. The other two matches saw David O’Sullivan lose 2-0 to Stuart Williams of England and Paul Moor (also from England), take out Martin Larsen of Sweden, also 2-0.

Two of the ladies’ matches were decided 2-1; Alicia Marcano of Venezuela defeating Caroline Lagrange and Aumi Guerra of the Dominican Republic taking out Malaysia’s Wendy Chai, the 2005 runner-up. Two-game victories for Diandra Asbaty over Germany’s Patricia Schwarz and from Zara Glover of England, beating Zandra Aziela of Malaysia.

In the semi-finals Stuart Williams booked his place in the T.V. final with a 2-1 win over Thomas Gross and his opponent was to be Peter Ljung as the Swede took out favorite Paul Moor, 2-0.

Diandra Asbaty defeated Alicia Marcano, 2-1, for her final place and Zara Glover came into the spotlight with a 2-0 win over Aumi Guerra.

The final day showcased the televised finals, again the best of three games, the lanes being set with one lane being short oil and the other long, with the top seeds deciding the starting lane. Therefore, each game was played on just the one lane. In both the men’s and ladies’ finals, the top seeds, Asbaty and Williams decided to start on the long pattern.

It was no surprise that Asbaty was in a striking mood, bagging seven in all in the first game, but it was a shock that Glover absolutely floundered and the American took the first game, 233-148. Moving to the short pattern, Glover set the pace but a 6-7-10 split in the third frame brought arrears and despite both girls hitting four strikes in a row, Asbaty came clear for a 235-220 win and a convincing victory. What a feat to come from 25^th on day one, to first place at the end.

Ljung and Williams fought long and hard in their 3-gamer. Ljung started with an unconverted split whilst Williams built a lead. Then the burly Englishman missed a 10-pin in the 5th frame and gave Ljung a glint of daylight. It was enough for the Swede to win the first game 236-233.

Game # two was on the short oil and the advantage to Williams, 235-224. Game three, went back on the long, and Willams had the bit between his teeth. An onslaught of 8-spare, five strikes, 9-spare and another five strikes for a 269 settled the issues and Ljung conceded victory to England, 269-240. It was a great finale that will certainly make good television.

All credit to the Kegel crew and facility, especially to John Davis for his passion for the sport, and the USBC, for staging such a successful event at really short notice. It was certainly as near perfect as any event could be. “I’m thinking about bidding for the WRM in 2009,” John told me. I’ll certainly come out of retirement for that.

Final Standings – Men: 1.Stuart Williams, England $10,000; 2. Peter Ljung, Sweden $5,000; 3-4: Paul Moor, England, Thomas Gross, Austria, $3,000 each; 5-8: Martin Larsen, Sweden; David O’Sullivan, United States; Jason Belmonte, Australia; Osku Palermaa, Finland $1,500 each; 9. Remy Ong, Singapore $1,000; 10. Mark Buffa, Canada $500.

Ladies: 1. Diandra Asbaty, United States $10,000; 2. Zara Glover, England $5,000; 3-4: Alicia Marcano, Venezuela, Aumi Guerra Dominican Republic $3,000 each; 5-8: Zandra Aziela, Malaysia, Wendy Chai, Malaysia, Patricia Schwarz, Germany, Caroline Lagrange, Canada $1,500 each; 9. Helen Johnsson, Sweden; 10. Putty Armein, Indonesia $500.

Reprinted and edited for space with permission from Keith Hale, European editor, Bowlers Journal International.

The “Long” and the “Short” of it

By: Ted Thompson

An ultramodern proprietor, Ronald Dol of Bowling Dolfijn, along with avant-garde event organizer Luc Jansen of The Netherlands, and the forward thinking European Bowling Tour (EBT) have just completed a major bowling tour event which employed lane conditions like never before, at least on purpose.

During the entire 2007 EBT Bronzen Hammer Schietspoel Open, every left lane was conditioned with a 45' oil pattern designed to play more towards the inside part of the lane and every right lane was conditioned with a 35' oil pattern designed to play towards the outside part of the lane. Paul Moor, the reigning three times defending European Bowling Tour Ranking Champion proved those titles are well deserved as he defeated Osku Palermaa, Peter Smits and Maarten Pittens in a final two game shootout of this ground-breaking, major event.

In the year 2000, then WTBA President PS Nathan, called for a World Symposium in Malaysia to address many perceived problems related to the sport of bowling. Out of that symposium, the World Tenpin Bowling Association (WTBA) Technical Committee, which was headed by Sid Allen at the time, concluded "that a single condition format was unfair, since it favored a particular style of play regardless of how the lane was oiled."

Until now both the EBT and the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) Tour formats make use of a single oil pattern for all rounds of competition. With these single condition events, at times come social acceptance if the outcome is perceived fair by the bowling public. However, far too often the opposite is true. This social unrest comes as the winner of the event is perceived to have "matched up" because of their dominant style of play (and or type of equipment used) instead of just plainly performing better than the rest.

During that symposium in Malaysia, the WTBA Technical Committee also felt the question of "who is the best bowler?" needed to be further examined and. Through discussion and digging deeper into the question, the WTBA defined what they feel the traits that make up a World Class bowling player should be. The committee created what is known as VPARK: Versatility, Power, Accuracy, Repeatability and Knowledge. There was one trait however that was at the very top of each members list, Versatility.

The members felt that "the ability to bowl over a wide range of conditions elevated a player from one of quality to that of greatness", and therefore led to the conclusion "that WTBA's present oiling procedures were not conducive to identifying and rewarding great players, but instead only identified the specialists." Then committee member Craig Woodhouse suggested the concept of multiple conditions and it was unanimously agreed that this is the path for all future World Championships.

An over-whelming majority of single condition events employ conditions in the thirty-seven to forty-two foot range. The WTBA dual condition events however use oil patterns thirty-five feet or shorter and forty-three feet or longer. So where does that leave the bowling players of the world to prepare for these World Championship events? The answer is you either need to own (or have parents that own) a bowling center or have a Federation that supports such training. Not many participants have either.

For the EBT Tilburg dual condition tournament to be successful and socially accepted, it was evident that during the event some educational seminars dedicated to playing the short and long patterns were needed. With the help of Hammer's Mike Quitter and bowling ball expert Denny Torgerson, material about what bowling ball types and layouts should be used was presented. With the help of Kegel and this writer, material about the bowling lane, oil patterns and keys to playing those patterns, was also presented. With almost ninety tournament participants attending the seminars, the tournament players and coaches got a head start of what to expect.

Fully realizing "baby steps" needed to be taken, the design of the patterns were on the forgiving side and such that the widest variety of bowling balls could be used. In contrast to some of the early dual condition Championship events, it was refreshing to see the players in Tilburg clearly understood how the patterns needed to be attacked.

The feedback from the players according to Ronald Dol confirmed what Sid Allen's group had concluded in that year 2000 symposium, that: "dual lane conditions are fairer than a single condition event." Will dual conditions be a thing of the future? Ronald Dol sure believes it will and he felt: "they had a tremendous event with a great deal of enthusiasm from the players and spectators." Dol and Jansen have already confirmed the 2008 EBT event in Tilburg will be dual lane conditions again.

It's only a matter of time before more tournament organizers follow the lead of the innovative group in The Netherlands. Dual conditions may not be the answer the sporting players are looking for at each and every event. Or, might it? After all, it does satisfy the most essential criteria of becoming a world class bowling player…VERSATILITY.

(NOTE: This article was re-printed with the permission of the writer, Ted Thompson. It has been edited and formatted for space in The Cornerstone Newsletter.)

OZIO TAKES TEXAS OPEN FOR HIS THIRD GBT TITLE

Round Rock, TX - David Ozio is in the driver’s seat now toward becoming the first Generations Pro Bowling Tour Bowler of the Year. He defeated last week's winner, Dave Soutar 239-212 at Interstate Lanes Monday evening to win the $8,000 top prize and his third GBT title. He is now tied with Dale Eagle with three titles, and one of his was a major in Toledo early in the season.

In the title Match, Ozio took a commanding lead through the first six frames, but a 1-2-7 washout in the seventh frame gave Soutar a chance to get back in the match. Soutar jumped on the opportunity with three strikes in frames 7-9, but Ozio recovered to get a huge strike in the ninth for a double. He then added the first one in the tenth to wipe out Soutar's chance to catch him. 'Soupy' earned $4,500 for second.

"I just told myself when I got up in the ninth, throw a world class shot," said Ozio. "I threw a terrible shot in the seventh, and being the great champion he is, I knew he would jump on my error. I have a hard time repeating good shots when I have to throw it slow, and that's what happened in the seventh. Lucky for me, I had room to come back and shut him out.”

Soutar almost didn't bowl the event because of a recurring back ailment, but it got better during the practice session and he ended up bowling for the title two weeks in a row. "He let me back in with the washout," said Soutar, "and I was hoping he would give me a chance at the end , but he threw a great shot, and that was it. Still, starting out the week with a bad back, I'm happy. It's been a pretty good two weeks."

In earlier matches, Ozio defeated Jimmy Young 226-223 and Young defeated Mark Roth 256-212 and Jim King 248-178. In the Classic division, Soutar defeated Dale Eagle 226-221 and Gary Dickinson 192-179. Prior to that Dickinson beat Roger West 225-160.

The Generations Pro Bowling Tour will conclude its inaugural season with the final event in Houston April 19-23 at Emerald Bowl.

Championship Match

David Ozio def. Dave Soutar [239 - 212]

Senior Standings: Stepladder Matches

Match 3: David Ozio def. Jimmy Young $3000 [226 - 223]

Match 2: Jimmy Young def. Mark Roth $2000 [256 - 212]

Match 1: Jimmy Young def. Jim King $1500 [248 - 178]

Classic Standings: Stepladder Matches

Match 3: Dave Soutar def. Dale Eagle $3000 [226 - 221]

Match 2: Dave Soutar def. Gary Dickinson $2000 [192 - 179]

Match 1: Gary Dickinson def. Roger West $1500 [225 - 160]

Membership Report

We have members in all 50 states,
and the District of Columbia

We have members in 49 countries, including the United States:

Argentina Australia Bahrain Belgium Brazil Canada China Columbia Costa Rica Denmark Ecuador Egypt Finland France Germany Great Britain Greece Guam Guatemala Ireland Israel Italy Japan Korea Latvia Malaysia Mexico The Netherlands N. Ireland Netherlands Antilles
New Zealand Panama Philippines Puerto Rico Peru Qatar Scotland Singapore Slovenia South Africa Spain Sweden Switzerland Thailand Turkey U.A.E. Ukraine Venezuela

Corporate Sponsors

The problems that exist in our Sport are “industry-wide” problems that must be addressed by the entire Industry. The Foundation does all that they can to help, but we can NOT do it alone.

The Foundation has well over 1000-Members who have joined-in to assist. Some Members (Founding and Charter) have paid to show their support. Some Members (Associates) have just lent their “voice”. ALL of the members are important.

Even though The Foundation has NOT actively solicited bowling-related companies for help, some realize the importance of our “Mission” and have come forward with donations. We recognize the following companies for their loyalty and support to bowling.

KEGEL

KAT Travel

I.B.P.S.I.A.

EBN Services

Storm Bowling

Classic Products

Bobs’ Business, Inc.

Vincennes University

BowlersParadise.com

Virtualtournaments.com

Wichita State University

David Driscoll & Associates

International Bowling Industry Magazine

Stars and Strikes Bowling Newsmagazine

_________________________________________

Please send change of address or email address to the address below, to ensure uninterrupted subscription to the Cornerstone newsletter.

The Cornerstone,

The Foundation’S Newsletter

The Foundation

c/o Kegel

6800 US 27 North

Sebring FL 33870

Phone: 863-382-2643

Email: savrsprt@yahoo.com

The Foundation / The Foundation / The Cornerstone Newsletter / Cornerstone Newsletter June 2007 / Latest Posts

Cornerstone Newsletter June 2007