Well, I'm finally back after competing this past weekend at the Lilac Tournament in Rochester, NY. I bowled 2 sets of doubles and singles at Olympic Lanes (one Friday afternoon, one Saturday afternoon), 2 sets of teams at Gates Lanes (one Friday night, one Sunday afternoon) and also bowled the Western Trios at Terrace Gardens on Saturday night (4 games).

Let me tell you- if you want to see a good barometer of where your game is at, bowl the Lilac Tournament. Every house puts out a different pattern than the previous house. What will work at Olympic (shiny equipment, slower ball speed, heavy roll, wider angles) will not work at Gates (duller equipment, straighter down and in paths to the pocket, no coverage more than 5-6 boards). Terrace Gardens played even harder if you bowled the No Tap tournament,as they put in the heaviest pins legally allowed as well as a flooded modified sport shot to try to naviagate around- while for the Western Tournament the condition played flying on the newly installed synthetics.

My low sets were at Olympic (508,545,548) but I did manage to have a 632 in doubles, keyed by an opening 252 game in that set on Saturday morning. I tried everything in my bag, had a hard time getting anything to not read the mid-lane early and when I tried to speed my shot up I threw all those shots through the breakpoint. My Columbia Panic at out of box surface seemed to read the lane the best, playing more of a 15 to 8 line. I could also use my Slash if I wanted to play deeper in the oil, but once again if I didn't repeat my shot with a heavy roll or the right ball speed, instant 3-6-7 type split.

My best sets were at Gates (632, 700). Since I love playing down and in, it didn't matter that boards 1-5 were out of bounds. I played straight up 7 or 8 with my out of box surface Hot Wire and stayed in the pocket all 6 games. If you tried to cover more than 6 boards across the middle of the lane, you were in for some big splits or if you cranked the ball...it never made the head pin.

I had an awesome time bowling there- you really get to see some great bowlers from across the USA.

Matt

Interesting observations Matt!

I typically find the shot at Olympic to be the best, though it does depend on which squad you are bowling.  Odd that the shot over at Gates is playing tighter like that...was there really that much more oil?  Last year I had good sets at both houses with my polished V2.  Though my first D/S set was on Friday night and they were hooking pretty hard.

I'll be out there myself July 8th so I guess we will just see how they play for me.  Going to be nice to be bowling tournaments again after my 3 month "vacation" from bowling due to that injury of mine.  Ofcourse bringing an entirely new arsenal out in the process will make things that much more interesting (drop'd to 15's).

Make any money in brackets and what not?  What do the leader boards look like right now?  Any good deals at the shops this year or the seperate area where they were selling AMF balls last year?
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-Chris: DJ's Pro Shop : Auburn, MA