Foundation Games XII
July 2002 PBA West Regional Dublin, CA ( At Earl Anthony's Dublin Bowl )
1. Wayne Webb, Las Vegas, Nevada
2. Mike Devaney, Escondido, California
3. Eddie Williams, Van Nuys, California
Earl Anthony's Dublin Bowl (July 26-28, 2002): PBA Hall of Famer, Wayne Webb of Las Vegas, Nevada, showed his greatness to a field of 94-bowlers in the PBA Western Region Earl Anthony Memorial Foundation Games XII event, this past weekend. Webb, with 20-PBA National titles under his belt, was in complete control from start-to-finish in this unique event. Foundation Games are scratch events that put a premium on: Shot-Making, Accuracy, Power and Versatility, and Webb was more than " UP" for the challenge. He averaged a blistering 221 and waltzed away with the Gold Medal along with an all-expense paid trip to the International Foundation Games championships to be held next year. That site has yet to be determined.
The format for this tournament was for the entire field to bowl two, 5-game blocks with all of the bowlers being on the same squad, thus ensuring squad equity, which is usually a problem. The first 5-games would be on a "Short Pattern", which was to a distance of 31-feet and a volume of oil of 19.08 mL (which is about 2/3 of an ounce per lane). The lanes would then be cleaned and re-oiled with the " Long Pattern", to a distance of 43-feet and a volume of 21.21 mL. These two distances would create two different break-points for the bowlers to contend with, along with posing the problem of changing bowling balls of which the players would have to figure out which piece of equipment to use. Not only does this type of format put a test to the player's physical skills, but it also tests their focus, concentration and their overall mental game.
DAY 1 - Friday: Foundation Officials Len Nicholson and John Forst met with PBA Regional Director Mike Friedrichs, PBA laneman Gary Hicks, Dublin Bowl Proprietor (and PBA Hall Of Famer) Ted Hoffman and his laneman/mechanic Bill (Tin Cup) Cooley, to arrange the complex schedule for the 3-days of the tournament. The lanes were double stripped and the 2-patterns were applied for the Practice Session. The patterns were the exact same ones that were used in the recent Foundation Games tournaments (X and XI) in the PBA Midwest and Central Regions.
DAY 2 - Saturday: The lane crew met at 5am and stripped all 40-lanes bone dry and squeaky clean. Topography readings were taken along with the temperature, humidity and lane surface hardness. The Sanction machine was thoroughly checked, adjusted and programmed with the " Short Pattern". Process verification was administered and everything was set for the first squad of the day. Webb led the first round with a total of 1125 for the first 5-games, a 225 avg. One of the highlights of that first round was a 300-game by Eddie Williams, a powerful lefty who eventually finished third in the tournament. It was only the 7 th 300-game in the 13-Foundation Games tournaments thus far. 16 th place (the cut to the finals) was 1026, a 205 avg.
Upon completion of those 5-games on the "Short" , the lanes were cleaned and re-oiled with the "Long Pattern". Tapes were taken of the "after-bowling", along with tapes on the 'Long' of the "before-bowling". This second squad would see some shifting of positions on the leader board as many adjustments would have to be made by the players. Surprisingly, the scoring "pace" was very similar on the "Long" as it was on the "Short", with the actual cut to the finals being; +2053 for the 10-games, also a 205 avg. The leader after 10-games was talented Marv Sargent at +2186, a 218 avg., with Webb now in 2 nd , and the young Chris Preble in 3 rd place. The 16-finalist showed a vast assortment of styles and very rich in talent, with 14-champions advancing.
Day 3 - Sunday: The lane crew, spear-headed by world renowned laneman Forst, met at 5:30am and performed all of the same procedures as the day before. The lanes were stripped, and then half of the lanes were oiled with the "Short" and half of the lanes would be dressed with the "Long". Today would be a real challenge of all of the player's physical and mental games. They would be bowling 16-games of head-to-head match-play competition across all 16-lanes. A 30-pin bonus is awarded for winning each match. The actual 16 th game would be a position round match (like league play) affording each player one last opportunity to improve his position. The hope would be to advance to the "Foundation Games Step-Ladder Finals". As the match-play finals wore on, you could see the cream-rising-to-the-top, with Webb eventually leading the tournament by over 300-pins. In the step-ladder finals, Williams was the 5 th qualifier and he would face Tour champion, Dave Arnold. Arnold , the higher qualifier got to choose the pair that he wanted to bowl the match on and he chose the "Short". Williams won that match in a real nail-biter, 215-212. The next match saw Sargent take Williams to the "Long" where the likeable lefty struck-out in the 10 th frame to edge the more experienced veteran by just 1-pin, 223-222. Mike Devaney, the Tour veteran then came on and walked Williams back to the "Short". This was a match that appeared as no one wanted to win, as both players struggled early and often. Unfortunately for Williams, he opened in the 10 th to hand the win to the shocked Devaney, 189-184. Webb then strode immediately and confidently up to Director Friedrichs and declared he would bowl Devaney on the "Short". The great Hall Of Famer took an early lead and never looked back, winning by a score of 237-182.
The Presentation: The top three-players received their Gold, Silver and Bronze Medals on a beautiful Olympic-style podium constructed by Cooley. Webb received the all-expense paid trip and Devaney and Williams received paid entries into the Championships along with their PBA winnings. Williams also received a beautiful Lucite trophy for his 300-game. The special award is called: "The Earl Anthony Award Of Excellence", and are hand made, one-of-a-kind trophies, with a perpetual plaque on display at The Kegel Training Center in Sebring, Florida . Susie Anthony (Earl's widow) was on hand for the presentation, as well as being there throughout the entire event. Kathy Nicholson (Kat Travel), is the sponsor of this great award, was also on hand. Webb gave a majestic victory speech saying, "This is a special victory for me to win. It is especially gratifying to win a challenging event like this." In his victory speech he also mentioned that in his opinion, Earl Anthony was the greatest bowler that he ever bowled against. Ted Hoffman, the consummate professional, closed the show by thanking all of the bowlers for supporting the tournament, the Pro-Am bowlers who participated, and the sponsors. He also announced that plans are underway to come back again next year and making it into an annual event. The Foundation will be more than happy to return. Thanks, Ted, another job well done!!!