Top Qualifier Kevin Ford

 Only 4 qualifiers cracked the 1000 mark on the challenging conditions this weekend. Yet there were a lot of BIG games thrown with six 300 games (no-tap) and we almost had our 1st Natural 300 game thrown by Rob White. Kevin Ford dominated the Qualifying with a GREAT 1070, winning the Hammer "Toxic" ball, $100 Saturday Bonus and the 9-Tap Tour Jacket, in addition to his 9th place finish. There were several close matches in the Head-to-Head brackets, including Phil Bevacqua getting edged out by the eventual Champion 224 to 225. And a "Final Four" match that saw Gene Jeppesen squeak by Rondau Decker 227 to 228. Daffodil will be going through a major upgrade this summer and we'll look forward returning to check out the new equipment. Our THANKS to Miller Beer & Venture Bank for their support of the Tour and this Special Event!

The Miller/Venture Champion is Tong Nguyen, For the second week in a row, a Life Member from the Tour's early days, takes the Title. Tong has the record for the most Tournaments entered in the history of the Tour. In 2006, Tong had a couple of 2nd place finishes, but this is his first win since April 2005. His 4th win since 2002 qualifies him for the GOLD Champions shirt. Despite just sneaking into the finals with a 913 qualifying score, he got HOT and shot some GREAT games in the Brackets (266-277). But, he did have the one BIG scare in the ONE pin win over Phil. Tong originally came to the U.S. in 1981 and started bowling as a Junior league bowler in 1985. For this win, he said that his Hammer "Offset" was the only ball he used, for the whole day. Tong said he may use the $2,221.00 he won, to take a trip to visit family back in Vietnam. He wanted to thank Jon Schneider for his support and for his long friendship through his years on the Tour. CONGRATULATIONS TONG!!

Our 2nd place finisher Gene Jeppesen is the opposite of Tong, having only recently joined the Tour. But, Gene just like Tong, also had to survive a ONE pin win, to make the Final match. His $1,006.00 for 2nd place makes for a mighty SWEET payday. Rondau Decker and Karen McDonald both tie for 3rd place. The 4 finalists had agreed that the Progressive Pot money would go to the higher scoring 3rd place finisher, which boosted Rondau's winnings to $503.00, with Karen taking home $300.00.

Next week: The Tour, and many of our members, 1st visit to Acme Bowl. This beautiful new facility is across the street from the east end (Renton side) of the Southcenter Mall. This could easily be another record setting Saturday. We added a 10:00am squad to help handle the load. If you can make that squad, please do, it will help take the pressure off the other squads. We have a Special side Pot just for Mom's that we're adding $100 to get it started. This should be a FUN event!!