From being there this week and riding with some friends who bowled last year, the volume was up from last year..Watching Belmo play the fresh how he did was amazing..He just had the ball speed and rev rate to clear the heads and control the back end.. I crossed with Norm Duke and watched him go through a variety of bowling balls throughout a single squad (Hyroads, Nomad Solids, Pluto, and Mars)..I couldn't tell you what Belmonte was throwing, looked like a Hyroad to me, but he never really made any ball changes throughout the week..the only time I did not see him was on wednesday when he was on the burn...Tuesday night when I went back to the bowling center to watch C squad on the Re-Oil..he was pretty far left, only person left of him was McCune..and he controlled the lane better than most, if not for a few splits that squad, he would have been outright leader from day one..
Jack Jurek was the most locked in for the first two days out of everyone. When I got home last night to check the standings, I was shocked to see him as far down as he was.
Bill's second day was absolutely amazing..watching him put up the numbers that he did was unreal from a competitor's standpoint. It is really no surprise that he is tracking down belmo..
What might keep Belmonte from running away with the event right now is the lack of trash traffic that we had in qualifying. I finally was able to see what makes bowlers like Norm Duke and the other elite bowlers so good. They don't take a lot of time figuring out their moves..What killed me this week was the pair to pair differences. I struggled up front every game it seemed. I threw a good number of second half strikes. but splits and less than 8 count spares puts you in the 170-180's hole when you don't strike until the 6th frame.. Norm would seemingly get it going when he crumbled the strikes in and make an instant adjustment..And some of the bowlers that we were following left us some fun conditions to contend with, especially on the high end...
On a side note: Now that I have entered and bowled in the tournament, I guess I have the go ahead to be critical of some bowlers. Saying that, there were a lot of bowlers who ( and bless their hearts) just need to understand this is not an experience tournament..The last place guy was on my squad, and during the practice session on Monday, when he came up with his two ball bag and threw his ball straight down the middle from shot one...you kinda had a feeling where he was going to end up.. I understand the tournament needs bowlers who are just living in a dream world to help the prize fund, but it seemed like the average requirement of 190 was just scrapped to allow more entries. Better yet, it seems like the average requirements to become a PBA member have been scrapped too as a few card holder in the tournament joked about only averaging 180 and were surprised when the PBA accepted their applications
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Justin Buford
Brunswick, Georgia
Cliff Barnes Pro Shop-
Strike Zone, Brunswick,GA
Gold Cup Russell Parkway, Warner Robins, GA
Baldwin Bowling Center, Milledgeville, GA
http://www.cliffbarnesproshop.comhttp://www.myspace.com/wildcat300
