The expected intense 'battle' for the largest Winner's share in two years, certainly lived up to expectations.  We wondered who would 'Get Hot' this week and the answer was that several bowlers got incredibly HOT.  For a short time, Ladies held the Top 3 spots (Mai-Lee Bowyer, Sheila Hardman & Raye Stevenson), until Dex DeCastro moved in front with a nice 1027.  But that wasn't the end of the Battle, as several more Members quickly put themselves in position to take the lead (see below).  In the end, SEVEN bowlers Topped 1000, although the Cut-Line was a little below normal at 893.  We THANK the whole Daffodil Staff for helping the day run so smoothly and theSaturday night League for their patience, as we caused them a very late start.  As smoothly as everything ran Saturday, we still got behind schedule when we had the Largest Squad in Tour history, with 85 bowlers entering the 2:30 squad.  The Record Smashing turnout (213) added so much new cash to the Pots, that the Progressive Pot only dipped to a still enormous $3,419.00 and the 9-Tap Jackpot grew to $9,194.00, despite paying out$750.00.  Mai-Lee Bowyer & Chandra Martinez each earned$375.00 for the Front 5-Taps, both also had a Tap in the 7th frame, Mai-Lee having a real strike mess-up her Jackpot run and Chandra got derailed by an 8 count.  Not surprisingly, the$13,773.00 total paid-out also exceeds every previous One-Day Tournament total and even some past Two-Day Added Money Tournaments.

 

GREAT finishes always make 'Winning' a little more Special.  Emerging from a Top 4 who ALL finished with Awesome games,James Strand got it done when he needed it the most.  Jamesneeded nearly all of his finishing 300 (277 scr.) game, to win by a mere 10 pins.  The 3 bowlers who finished right behind him also threw great final games of 284, 302 & 273.  That's what you call a real 'Battle' for the Title!  This was James second Tour Title, after winning his first at Skyway nearly a year ago.  The Fred Meyer employee, earned the largest Winner's Share in 2 years, taking home a sweet $3,147.00 for his effort.  He said that he'd use his winnings for a vacation this summer and for "Spoiling" his daughter Alyssa and wife Tara.  It was hard to tell who was more excited when the results were posted Saturday... bowling partner Tara, #1 cheerleader Alyssa or James.  James struggled through the first three games in his first entry, but started heating up in his last game.  On his re-entry, he started out in a 'Zone' and added to the list of Records falling at Daffodil, by beating his Personal Best series by 7 pins and finishing with a great 1062 series.  CONGRATS James on Win #2.

 

James Black finished with two Spectacular games of his own, but fell just 10 pins short with his 1052.  James was also going for his 2nd Career Title, but had to settle for one of the highest ever 2nd Place checks of $1,379.00.  Dex DeCastro continued his hot streak after Winning at Secoma last month.  He had the Biggest final 2 games of the group, but had a larger deficit to work out of.  Dex's 1027 earned him a nice $722.00 for 3rd and his scratch 290 game even earned him some extra cash from the Scratch Pot.