One of the better bowlers in my city shot 237-300-300 - 837 today in singles at ABC.  I'm pretty good friends with him and his wife, I'll be bowling with them this fall, which is great!  Anyway, he made one mistake, he didn't enter any brackets.  Once he was done bowling, they figured up that his winnings would have been well over 10,000 if he'd have entered the brackets.  Still, he's the tournament leader in singles, and I highly doubt anyone will beat his score.  Most of you know that ABC isn't your typical house shot also.  Singles was after team, I believe, and the lanes had opened up a little for the singles set, but from what I hear, he wouldn't have missed the shot if it had been a board wide.  Over exaggeration, I'm sure, but he was very accurate to say the least.  I'm sure you'll all be hearing about it soon.  He shot it with his old Red Pulse.
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This post is A+ Hamster certified!

Kung Fu Hamster X, Jujitsu Guinea Pig, or Legend of Drunken Ferret?  New names still being pondered . . .

837 is usually a big enough number to win the Singles portion of the ABC Nats on ANY year!  Usually, you have anywhere from 0 to 4 bowlers barely crack the 800 barrier, and 837 sends a BIG MESSAGE to the competition.  I'd be very surprised if anyone takes down that score.

Also, Ron just might have pulled off the first consecutive 300 game trick in the history of the ABC Nats.  I don't know if this feat has ever been done before, but it will be interesting to find out if his is the first back to back 300 games shot in the history of the event.

Yep, the old red Pulse.....a very smooth, even arcing ball that likes to get into a roll in a hurry.  Evidently the Pulse was a very good choice for the lane conditions at Knoxville.

Yep, my initial guess that Ron was the first one to roll consecutive 300 games in the ABC Nationals was on the money.  And, the 837 is the second highest Singles score ever posted, coming in just behind an 847 that was shot some 6 years ago.  Here's the scoop from the ABC Nationals website:



                  Cover Stories
                                             Kansas Man
                                             Becomes First to
                                             Shoot Back-to-Back
                                             300 Games at ABC
                                             Tournament
                                             May 2, 2003

                                             Ron Bahr of Topeka,
                                             Kan., became the first
                                             bowler in American
                  Bowling Congress Championships Tournament history to roll back-to-back
                  perfect games at the Knoxville Convention Center on Friday. In addition,
                  Bahr led off his Regular Singles event with a 237 game, finishing with an
                  837 series to take the lead in that category.

                  Bahr’s 837 is the second highest ever in Regular Singles, trailing only the
                  847 by John Socha of Milwaukee in winning the 1997 singles title.

                  “It’s almost impossible to do what I did today,” said Bahr, a 45-year-old
                  customer service technician. “We’re talking about millions of games by
                  millions of men who have passed through these walls in the 100-year history
                  of the ABC Tournament.

                  “It’s an honor for me just to have my name mentioned because all of this is
                  forever.”

                  The record feat came with a huge crowd gathered behind Bahr’s pair of
                  lanes. After each shot, more and more people found their way behind lanes
                  one and two, where Bahr was competing.

                  “I didn’t even notice the crowd, but when I was up there I noticed that it
                  got quiet,” said Bahr, who added 651 in doubles and 567 in team for
                  2,055 all-events. “I gave my team high five’s after each strike and went
                  right back to my chair.”

                  Bahr’s 800 series was just the second of this year’s Tournament. In March,
                  Derek Sapp of Macomb, Ill., set an ABC Tournament record for individual
                  series with 857 in taking the Regular Doubles lead with Sean Rash of
                  Anchorage, Alaska, with 1,540.

                  The 837 series knocked Shawn Thielen of Cold Spring, Minn., to second
                  place with 796. Thielen had held the lead since Feb. 18.

                  But it wasn’t the 800 series or even taking the singles lead that made
                  Bahr’s day.

                  “It was rolling my first ABC Tournament 300 game,” Bahr said. “It didn’t
                  matter what I would have shot that last game – I am officially part of the
                  Tournament 300 club.

                  “I guess it was just my day.”

Yep Kung Fu Hamster, the picture that you are talking about (with Ron in front of one of the 300 games) is on the ABC Nationals tournament website (bowl.com).  Needless to say, he caught the attention of the ABC enough that they put his picture up on their website.  Given the lane conditions that you experience at the ABC Nationals, shooting consecutive 300 games is absolutely unbelievable....why shooting even one 300 game in the ABC Nationals is something that only a very elite few individuals can speak of.

As for the brackets deal, just thinking about the brackets might have been a distraction to Ron.  I'm sure that once it all soaks in, he will be just as happy that he didn't enter the brackets.  I would be very surprised if someone overtakes him on the Singles leaderboard.....837 at the ABC is just a number you don't see.  If his score holds (which I'd bet it will), he will be bringing the ABC Eagle home to Topeka in another 2 months or so.  He picked the right time and the right place to "have a good day".

Since he was using a Columbia Pulse, I'm sure that the Columbia reps there have already been talking to him.  The Pulse core also found its way into the Total Chaos a while back, and you had the remake of the Pulse a year or two back.