I won an auction for a NIB one of these a little over a month ago (half price...I was surprised too).  For reasons of my own I debated whether I was actually going to give it a try. The thought had occurred to me to try to flip it for a little profit and try some other piece I've had my eye on. After continuing to read positive things about it and reminding myself I got a great deal on a ball that's already purported to be a great deal, I got off the pot and decided to have it drilled.

So I took it to Lee at BowlerX (as my son was taking his lesson) and he drilled it up for me. Sorry but I don't know the specific layout by numbers etc. Lee takes care of me and I just trust him to hook me up. If I can figure it out I'll post a picture of layout below. That was Monday.

Since I didn't have a lane when he drilled it, I took it to a local house last night to roll a game just to make sure thumb was good (it was, Lee is the man). This place is notoriously oil challenged. And the lane was particularly burned up. The were oiling the lanes for league when I got there but the one I was on had not been conditioned yet. So right now I can only give my initial impression.

It was stronger than I expected but that could very well be a product of the high friction conditions. I had to adjust my line a bit to get it to stay on the right side. First ball was a jersey side strike (in eastern PA we say jersey). When I zeroed in and got it to pocket it just leveled the deck. Even on a couple light pocket hits they all went down. So tons of energy left in the ball even though it was working hard. It has me very excited to see what it does at league tonight.

I ended with a 199 (current avg is 191) with the layout I have it was a very even and controllable action. Best yet it seemed to hit real hard. I am not making any lasting judgements until I can roll it a bit more, but I really liked what I saw last night.

In fact, I had picked up a Times Up solid from buddies when they were $35. Didn't have that drilled either and I currently have it on quasi consignment. I  now rethinking that. If tonight confirms what i saw last night, I will probably pull the times up back and drill it as a complement.

For the record, the Torrid Affair marks the first time I have ever thrown a brand new ball. I have previously been using redrilled used balls. Not sure how much of a factor that plays into my perception.

Picture file too large. Sorry.

Edit: looking at the radical symetric drilling instructions sheet. It's essentially the first picture. Pin under no balance hole. Although in practice the pin can almost be described as pin beside.