A beautiful day outside, contributed to a smaller than expected turnout inside. There was some excellent scoring at what will soon be the "Old" Narrows Plaza. Their remodel starts in 2 weeks, so the next time we return to the "New" Narrows Plaza, the lanes and scoring equipment will all have been replaced. At Narrows, we also had some VERY unique statistics from the Top 5 finishers, in the "Best 3 of 4" format... NONE of them needed to "Throw-Out" a game!?!?! The Tossed-Out games (w/hdcp) were 231, 233, 235, 239, 252. That has NEVER happened before and that's not the end... All 5 would have still finished in the Top 5 if we counted all four games. The Champion would still have won, with either Format. Since we started the "Best 3 of 4" format, I've heard members who mistakenly think that this Format favors the lower average bowler. WRONG! This time, the Top 10 finishers ALL had handicaps that ranged from 19 to -8 per game. Usually, there are many high handicap bowlers mixed in, but not this 'unusual' weekend. It just goes to show that you can never predict what's going to happen at a Tournament.

The Narrows Champion is Tong Nguyen, our first repeat winner this year, winning a nice $1,692.00. After a 3 year "Dry Spell" from April 2005 to this month, Tong has hit one heck of a "Hot Streak", with his 2nd Title in 5 weeks. His fantastic 844 was seemingly unbeatable, but Joe Whiteley had a shot at him in the 10th frame of the last squad. Joe didn't carry the first shot, leaving him 11 pins short at 833. That was good for 2nd and $767.00. Kevin Ford set the bar pretty high early in the day, with an 826, appearing to be a winning score, only to watch 5 members take a run at him, ultimately dropping him to 3rd, which was still good for $433.00. Magic Bristol, Rich Eaton and Gary Woldt all shot great sets, making runs at the Top Spot, each cracking 800. David Rees won $100 from the Jackpot with his 5 No-Taps to start his 2nd game. His 6th shot ($500) went through the nose for an eight count.

Tong earned his 5th 9-Tap Tour Title since he joined in 2002. That puts him in a very Elite group of 5 time winners. His old Hammer "Offset" was the same ball he used to win at Daffodil, but it didn't qualify him for the $500 Bonus from Precision Pro Shops. So, Tong bought a new ball (from Precision) with his winnings, right after the Tournament.

With the 9-Tap Jackpot climbing to $4,178.00 we will again give another boost to the payouts. Watch for Wednesdays email for details.