In the local association tournament I don't have a problem with it being handicap.

All the houses in town pretty much run the same THS so everyone has an average based on that. If someone gets hot with a lot of handicap all you can do is congratulate them.

They also award the top scratch scores. The scratch all events has an entry fee and its own prize fund.

The only issue I have seen is another regional tournament held here. There is a small town about 180 miles from here that has several good bowlers but the local house where they bowl is a brick yard. They average 180 to 190 there and shoot 2100 to 2200 all events here virtually every year. I do believe that little house has now been shut down and their averages have gone up and lost that advantage.

A lot of scratch bowlers are whiners. They think they should win every time out. If they bowl good in the tournaments they will cash easier than the handicap bowler. And most of them want easy conditions so they can shoot their averages.

Yes once in a while a handicap bowler will shoot a high 800 to 900+ with handicap but it is a rarity.

If I were going to run a tournament I would use+/- 80% of 200.  Nothing kills the multi entry tournament faster than scores that appear crazy high.  If the guys over 200 can't do the math and see they still have an advantage with negative handicap then they can choose not to participate.  There is absolutely no reason in a handicap tournament for people over the handicap base to have even more of an advantage.  I would also set aside a portion of each entry for scratch prizes, but you would only be allowed to cash once, whichever position  pays higher.

The one concession that should be made in a handicap tournament for all those involved is capping scores with handicap at 300/game.  A scratch bowler getting 0 pins cannot shoot over 300.

Mega buck tournaments in Vegas have made a comeback since adding handicap divisions.  Also Strike Force Tour in Phoenix area gets excellent turnout from both scratch and handicap bowlers without a separate scratch division.  They run all tourneys on sport patterns, and adjust high average scratch bowlers down using formulas and past results in their tournaments