Retired PBA Tour champion Jeff Carter years ago created one of my all-time favorite bowling words: frictitious.
It’s only to be used when the lanes are way beyond merely hooking.
I am rightly using it to describe the pattern at this week’s PBA Senior South Shore Open presented by DV8 at Olympia Lanes.
There is some question as to whether it’s a 39-foot or 37-foot pattern — I ignored that minor controversy to focus on my bowling — but however long it is isn’t really the issue: the friction is.
(Update: The pattern distance issue was because USBC compliance graphs include one 2 feet short of the end of the pattern so one graph is at 37 feet on a 39-foot pattern, and those who questioned it didn't understand that USBC rule.)
In my decades of bowling and hundreds of PBA events, I am not sure I’ve seen lanes with this much friction — at least in the resin era.
Bob Learn Jr. totaled 1,874 for eight games (234.2 average) to take the first round lead and here was his description in this PBA news release:
“It was a low-volume (lane conditioning) pattern, so the best thing for me to do was to throw with a lot of speed and straight. I think I was consistently throwing the ball well over 20 miles per hour for most of the block. I like to throw it hard and I had a ball that rolled more end-over-end so I was pretty well prepared.”
Hall of Famer Wayne Webb is second at 1,859, followed by Rick Minier at 1,845, and Hall of Famers Tom Baker at 1,826 and Johnny Petraglia at 1,825, three pins ahead of me.
Petraglia was crossing behind me and I jokingly asked whether he was throwing an LT-48. He responded with what I figured — that it was plain old urethane.
Luckily, I brought a Storm TROPICAL BREEZE for this trip because we bowled on a short pattern at the Mary Teubner Memorial Team Challenge last weekend.
I never imagined I would need it for the PBA Senior stop, but if I didn’t have it I’m not sure what I would have done this week.
I started Tuesday with the BREEZE firing (by my slow standards) up about 5. My reaction was flush or brooklyn pretty much and I used a couple of brooks for a 229 start.
The next pair had a little skid around 10 so I moved in a touch and went about 10 to 5 actually rolling it and bowled a much better game (by process) for a 193 that included a 10-pin, 7-pin and solid 9-pin on strikes. Classic bowling justice!
The third pair hooked more but I was able to move in a bit and go around it with the BREEZE for 235. The fourth pair hooked way more and I was in brook mode again as I eventually made a giant step left and lucked out 223.
In the 10th frame fill ball, I tried a high-pin shiny old REIGN SUPREME using my “one-finger sling” shot — something I haven’t used in a long time.
I take the ring finger out of the ball and use just my middle finger and thumb, allowling me to use a stronger ball (for carry) as my rev rate drops from about 325 to about 180 (measured by Mike Shady using a video system). I was spinning it from around 15-board at the arrows going out around 10 and had tons of swing and fantastic carry.
The fifth game I started flush strike, Greek Church, 3-6-7-10 and had 37 in the third and was thinking maybe I had to go back to the BREEZE. But I decided to move in a couple more with my feet and it was the right decision: a six-bagger and a spare later I had salvaged 215.
We then flipped ends and I found a little more skid, leading to a 268 thanks to another brook in a string.
The next pair had almost no skid and after an early open, I managed one double and made a collection of ugly spares to grind out 189.
The last pair was tighter again and after a 2-pin and spare, strike, 4-pin and spare start, I struck out for 270.
My spare shooting was almost perfect for the day — a 3-6-9-10 and a 2-8 were my only misses — and I took advantage of my six or seven brooklyn and nosedive strikes while bowling smart.
All in all, not a bad start to my Senior Tour debut.
Anyone who says the lanes on the Senior Tour are easy all the time wouldn’t say that if they were at Hammond this week.
To tell you how much they were hooking and how tricky they were, I crossed with Hall of Famer Amleto Monacelli and he was under with two games to go before bringing it back to 1,639.
Amleto was throwing it harder than any Senior Tour bowler I’ve ever seen it’s amazing how fit he still is — but even firing rockets he had lots of shots that hooked way early and went high. And he also had some of the worst carry ever — the capper being a blower 7-pin, flush 7-9 back-to-back in game 6.
I beat him by almost 200 but probably outbowled him by maybe 50 — that’s how opposite our breaks were.
My other crosser was Harry Trumbull, an amiable 73-year-old who kept me chuckling all day and fired a 269 the last game for 1,687. I’d take being as good as Harry is when I’m 73! Heck, I'd take just being alive at 73!
After one day, I already know I’m going to be wishing I had more vacation when there are Senior Tour stops next year that I can’t make.
The second round of qualifying is Wednesday and match play is Thursday.
Lennie Boresch Jr. of Kenosha is 10th at 1,803. Jim Knoblauch of Waukesha is 13th at 1,776. Dale Traber of Cedarburg is 28th at 1,705. Madison Bowling Association Hall of Famer Joel Carlson of Omaha, Neb., is tied for 39th at 1,653. Norb Wetzel of Fond du Lac and Bill Sell of Menasha are tied for 67th at 1,604.
PBA SENIOR SOUTH SHORE OPEN PRESENTED BY DV8
Olympia Lanes, Hammond, Ind., Tuesday
1, Bob Learn Jr., Erie, Pa., 1,874.
2, Wayne Webb, Columbus, Ohio, 1,859.
3, Rick Minier, Cypress, Texas, 1,845.
4, Tom Baker, King, N.C., 1,826.
5, Johnny Petraglia, Jackson, N.J., 1,825.
6, Jeff Richgels, Madison, Wis., 1,822.
7, Dave Bernhardt, Romeo, Mich., 1,820.
8, Dale Csuhta, Wadsworth, Ohio, 1,818.
9, Walter Ray Williams Jr., Ocala, Fla., 1,816.
10, Lennie Boresch Jr., Kenosha, Wis., 1,803.
11, Hugh Miller, Seattle, 1,795.
12, Sammy Ventura, Syracuse, N.Y., 1,784.
13, Jim Knoblauch, Waukesha, Wis., 1,776.
14, Ron Profitt, Brookville, Ohio, 1,773.
15, Mike Dias, Lafayette, Colo., 1,771.
16, Kenny Parks, Hammond, Ind., 1,767.
17, Dale Eagle, Tavares, Fla., 1,752.
18, John Chapman, Canada, 1,734.
19, Charlie Tapp, Kalamazoo, Mich., 1,732.
20, Ron Winger, Las Vegas, 1,729.
21, Dennis Lane, Kingsport, Tenn., 1,727.
22, Paul McCordic, Sugar Land, Texas, 1,717.
23, (tie) a- Doug Spicer, Canton, Mich., and Ron Mohr, Eagle River, Alaska, 1,716.
25, Robert Flaws, Chicago Ridge, Ill., 1,711.
26, Bill Neumann, Rensselaer, NY, 1,708.
27, Henry Gonzalez, Colorado Springs, Colo., 1,707.
28, Dale Traber, Cedarburg, Wis., 1,705.
29, (tie) Don Holmes, Itasca, Ill., and Mark Williams, Beaumont, Texas, 1,696.
31, Harley Trumbull, New Boston, Mich., 1,687.
32, Peter Knopp, Germany, 1,680.
33, (tie) Larry Popp, Marion, Ohio, and Dick Gran, Hartville, Ohio, 1,668.
35, John Shreve Sr., Elyria, Ohio, 1,666.
36, William Peters, Dayton, Ohio, 1,664.
37, Marc Lineberry, Camanche, Iowa, 1,663.
38, Ted Staikoff, Black Hawk, S.D., 1,658.
39, (tie) a-Peter Minaudo, Chesterfield, Mich., and Joel Carlson, Omaha, Neb., 1,653.
41, Harry Sullins, Chesterfield Twp., Mich., 1,651.
42, Michael Chrzanowski, Shepherd, Mich., 1,650.
43, Daniel Miner, East Moline, Ill., 1,643.
44, (tie) Mark Jones, Amelia, Ohio, Tom Carter, Rockford, Ill., and Amleto Monacelli, Venezuela, 1,639.
47, (tie) Bruce Hall, Los Altos Hills, Calif., and Michael Henry, Brunswick, Ohio, 1,638.
49, Dave Sill, Titusville, Fla., 1,637.
50, (tie) Richard Nardozza, Clearfield, Pa., William Banks, Laurel Hill, N.C., and Don Blatchford, Santa Monica, Calif., 1,636.
53, Dave Soutar, Bradenton, Fla., 1,635.
54, (tie) a-Jake Greene, Chicago, Ill., and Christopher Keane, New City, N.Y., 1,634.
56, a-Kevin Humble, Lake Mary, Fla., 1,633.
57, Bill Idzior, Crown Point, Ind., 1,631.
58, Larry Graybeal, Elizabethton, Tenn., 1,628.
59, Roy Buckley, New Albany, Ohio, 1,624.
60, Vince Honeycutt, Buford, Ga., 1,619.
61, Timothy Kauble, Marion, Ohio, 1,618.
62, (tie) Richard Hunt, Valparaiso, Ind., and Vince Mazzanti Jr., Levittown, Pa., 1,612.
64, Mark Everette, Aliquippa, Pa., 1,611.
65, (tie) Mike Edwards, Tulsa, Okla., and Michael Truitt, Orland Park, Ill., 1,606.
67, (tie) Norb Wetzel, Fond du Lac, Wis., and Bill Sell, Menasha, Wis., 1,604.
69, Bill McCorkle, Westerville, Ohio, 1,598.
70, Don Sylvia, Reno, Nev., 1,595.
71, (tie) Robert Harvey, Boise, Idaho, and Emilio Mora Sr., Defiance, Ohio, 1,594.
73, Bob Kelly, Dayton, Ohio, 1,590.
74, Freddie Childress, Bassett, Va., 1,583.
75, (tie) Dave Osim, Roscommon, Mich., William Keenan, Jr., Orlando, Fla., and Frank Miceli, Elk Grove Vlg, Ill, 1,580.
78, (tie) Bo Goergen, Sanford, Mich., and Tim Pierce, Portland, Ore., 1,576.
80, Gary Hiday, Indianapolis, 1,575.
81, Barry Witmer, St. Charles, Mo., 1,574.
82, Bill Spigner, Vernon Hills, Ill., 1,573.
83, (tie) Bob Andersen, Forest City, N.C., and Dannie Hettinger, Circleville, Ohio, 1,569.
85, Frank Gallo Jr., Jacksonville, Fla., 1,567.
86, (tie) Bill Nichols, Roseville, Calif., and Barry Gurney, West Hills, Calif., 1,563.
88, Randy Shewmake, Ft. Worth, Texas, 1,557.
89, (tie) Tom Howison, Chillicothe, Ohio, Patrick King, Yankton, S.D., and Rudy Garcia, Ft. Worth, Texas, 1,553.
92, (tie) Rick Woloszyn, Griffith, Ind., and Ricky Beck, Box Elder, S.D., 1,552.
94, Ron Garr, Ridgedale, Mo., 1,551.
95, R.J. Alman, Murrysville, Pa., 1,549.
96, Bill Henson, Westerville, Ohio, 1,548.
97, Donald Breihan, Columbia, S.C., 1,543.
98, Kent Wagner, Palmetto, Fla., 1,535.
99, Dave Dunphy, Canada, 1,510.
100, Keith Hennricks, Green Bay, Wis., 1,508.
101, Galen Keas, Alda, Neb., 1,506.
102, John Dudak, Orland Park, Ill., 1,503.
103, Brendan Bierch, Grafton, Mass., 1,497.
104, Andy Anderson, Falls Church, Va., 1,480.
105, James Souder, Greeneville, Tenn, 1,478.
106, Todd Kjell, Roscoe, Ill., 1,475.
107, Michael Camerano, Brookfield, Ill., 1,471.
108, Ken Waters, Kingsport, Tenn., 1,468.
109, a-Norm Ginsberg, Kissimmee, Fla., 1,464.
110, Harv Pallas, Stevensville, Mich., 1,455.
111, Jim Sanford, Painesville, Ohio, 1,447.
112, Dan Clausse, Reno, Nev., 1,444.
113, (tie) Garry Blanton, Owensboro, Ky., and Rich Wilkinson, Bennington, Neb., 1,443.
115, (tie) William Zwit, Galesburg, Ill., 1,433.
116, Sam Perrotta, Lincoln Park, N.J., 1,415.
117, Allen Brothers, Punxsutawney, Pa., 1,387.
118, George Lord, Lakeland, Fla., 1,382.
119, a-Bill Carpenter, Middletown, Ohio, 1,381.
120, Edward Szklarski, Burbank, Ill., 1,362.
121, Allen Meskan, Addison, Ill., 1,320.
122, Ronald Gustainus, Lake Worth, Fla., 1,316.
123, Ray Randall, Dearborn, Mich., 1,302.
124, Robert Teeters, Lapel, Ind., 1,258.
300 Games - Rick Minier
Bottom of Form
