USBC Open Championships, Las Vegas, NV, July 6 and 7, 2017
This was my 25th year bowling in the ABC/USBC Open Championships. My team and companion team bowled the 5:30 pm team squad on Thursday (Lanes 29 & 30) and the 1:00 pm minors squad on Friday (Lanes 13 through 16).
We stayed at the South Point Hotel which was a good experience and simplified transporting bowling equipment from room to the tournament bowling complex. Our rooms rates were excellent ($57/night plus resort fee and taxes), our rooms were comfortable, the staff was friendly and professional, and we were able to add a room upon checking-in, even though the hotel was booked full. The parking garage had plenty of space and we were able to park close to the elevator by parking on the upper levels. Moving equipment and luggage from the parking garage, down the parking elevator to the north end of the casino, then to the hotel elevators (mid-casino) was similar to moving the same equipment/luggage from the parking garages to Harrah’s, Eldorado, or Silver Legacy in Reno. From our hotel room (22nd floor) we had an elevator trip down to the casino level, a short walk to the horizontal people mover/escalator, then an escalator or elevator up a level, then another short walk and jog left to the bowling tournament center escalator/elevator, and we were there.
The pro-shops, vendors and BowlingBallExpress were all in an efficiently-sized area, followed by the check-in counter and scales/squad room. Self-help kiosks for past OC history and current event print-outs were located just outside the check-in counter. 60 lanes (1 to 30 and 31 to 60) are adjacent to the squad room and vendor area. All-in-all, a quite efficient and compact design.
For competitors not staying at the South Point, the distances are longer than parking in the parking garage at the National Bowling Stadium in Reno but on par or closer than hotels in Reno and other cities we have competed in.
Kudos to the South Point Hotel, Casino and Spa for their vision and commitment to bowling. Also to the equestrian/rodeo community. My perception is that the South Point is all-in on bowling, bowlers, the equestrian community and rodeos: 64 lanes in the South Point Bowling Center and another 60 lanes in the Tournament Center. The world-wide bowling community is all the better for having the South Point Hotel in Las Vegas and the National Bowling Stadium in Reno available to showcase our sport.
Dining at the South Point was very good. The South Point’s buffet was a good value with a wide variety of high quality food and drink items available, especially with discount coupons in the South Point’s coupon book and discounts for South Point card members. Steak and Shake also has a restaurant in the South Point: Excellent steak burgers, sandwiches, shakes, etc.; similar to Freddie’s Frozen Custard and Steak Burgers for those who may not be familiar with Steak and Shakes’ excellent fare. Their higher end restaurants were pricier but fair value for their upscale menu choices.
The open championship lane conditions were challenging: Similar to El Paso 2015 and Reno 2016 in volumes, length and cross-lane ratios for team event (my perception). Pattern length in doubles and singles seemed to be a couple of feet longer, with similar volumes and cross-length ratios: Somewhat tighter and more challenging than Reno 2010, 2011, 2013 and 2014, and Baton Rouge 2012. I brought along a pin-up Radical Guru (60 x 5†x 30) hand-surfaced with a 360-grit pad, a pin-up Ebonite GameBreaker2 (60 x 4 ½†x 40) hand-surfaced with a 500-grit pad, a pin-down Radical Zeno (65 x 4 7/8†x 65 with a P3 extra hole) hand-surfaced with a 1000-grit pad, a pin-up Radical Ridiculous Asym (50 x 5†x 40) hand-surfaced with a used 1000-grit pad, a pin right of ring finger Radical Rack Attack Solid (45 x 3 3/8†x 45) hand-surfaced with a 2000-grit pad, and a factory-polished Ebonite Maxim spare ball (label layout).
I used the Guru down the five board in practice both days followed by the Zeno to begin tournament play. The Zeno wanted to go left too hard off the end of the pattern. In wanting to stay right as long as I could, I switched to the Rack Attack Solid both days with good results. I had a down and down or a down and in line with my lay-down point around board 6 to 7 and the ball at the 9 or 10 board at 40 feet.
One of my teammates used a urethane Storm Pitch Black (hand-surfaced with a 500-grit pad) with good success in team event (12 to 10 or so). He used a GameBreaker2 Phenom (2000-grit by hand) in doubles and singles, again with good results; 15 to 10, 20 to 10, 25 to 15 in progression. The other bowler in our group that had good success used a Storm Snap Lock with a hand-surface 2000-grit pad followed by some lane shine, 5 board lay-down, 9 to 10 board at 40 feet, 19 mph or so with a lot of forward roll. We also had a couple of good lefties that had a decent look 13 to 10 and 15 to 10 but they were not able to develop much area. The other righties ranged from 20 to 15, 15 to 10, 10 to 10 and one 500 rpm bowler with a lot of axis rotation playing 25 to 10, 30 to 10 and so on: Not quite enough bowlers in the same area to break down the shot.
Lessons for next year: (1) The spare ball and the Radical Rack Attack Solid are in. (2) I need something one step above the Rack Attack Solid. (3) I need to work on all spares using the spare ball. I missed more than I should have using strike ball going for left-side spares.
I averaged over 200 for my first decade in the OC, over 190 for the second decade, around 180 in my third decade, but am still classified in the Regular Division. Age is a factor but the combination of lane surfaces, conditioner lengths, dry back-ends, flat cross-lane ratios, and performance potential of the current universe of bowling balls makes it extremely difficult to score well without bowling with others who are adept at managing the pattern to their advantage. Though, I’ll continue to compete, I certainly understand those who have chosen to do otherwise.
Regarding keeping the patterns a secret: I understand the logic and desire to level the playing field but I do not believe this is being accomplished. Those competing early in the tournament are at a disadvantage with no knowledge of the patterns. As more bowlers compete, knowledge is gained and communicated piecemeal. By May, June and July, there is enough knowledge available from bowlers who have competed, by video snippets from the stadium, from on-line discussions and the like, that I was not surprised in the least in what we bowled on in both team and minor events. Thus, those bowling early on (March and April) were at a decided disadvantage with little information available until the social networks worked their magic.
That’s a wrap for this year. Looking forward to 2018 and beyond, the good Lord (and teammates) willing!
