I bowled in the Virginia state bowling tournament this weekend. There were two men there with averages of 99 and 152. They were using summer averages from the 2014-2015 season. The number of games bowled were 21 and 33 respectively. If the story is true, this was the first season they bowled. The went into the 2015-2016 season and bowled 3 leagues each. They bought equipment, and tried to get better.
The tournament uses a 100% handicap based on 230. (yes, I agree it is ridiculous, but the state is run by a bunch of 180 average bowlers) They shot 1741 in doubles. One of them had a 935 in singles. The tournament "apparently" does not use a 10 pin rule.
Amazing how this is totally on the up and up, and legal. Re-rating can only be done prior to the start of bowling as well. So technically they cannot be re-rated.
This is a sad statement of the state of bowling if this holds up, in my opinion.
I for one only bowl in this tournament because of the scratch side-pots, but I feel bad for the people in the tournament who had great showings ... or those who put money into handicap brackets.