The Tour's impressive 2014 start continued this week.  Saturday, we had a1st Time Champion for the 7th time out of 14 Tourneys (13 singles - 1 Doubles).  Considering the large number of former Champs that are active on the Tour, that 50% ratio would be awesome to sustain (or exceed) throughout 2014.  Additionally Saturday, we had our 11th Champ who earned over $2,000.00, out of those 13 Singles events.  As the 9-Tap Jackpot continues to grow toward it's next plateau, the assaults seem to increase.  This week we had a couple of serious 'strings' of Taps that caused the cameras to come out.  In the 2nd squad, Chuck Gonsalez and Ganny Angeles both started games with the front 5 Taps, only to both be derailed by perfect strikes on the 6th try.  They shared the $250.00Consolation, leaving the Jackpot to grow to $4,796.00 for next week.

 

FINALLY, Divina Novelo broke through for her 1st Tour Title Saturday!  Divina has one of the last 3 digit Member numbers (#998), having bowled on the Tour, off & on, since 2006.  Actually, she's done very well over theyears, with numerous Top 10 finishes, including a 2nd Place (also Imperial) & 3rd Place in 2013.  Divina's first game of the day was her 3rd highest game ever on the Tour (233 scr), but she knew she could improve on her 904 series.  Her re-entry was a masterpiece of consistency, with no huge games, but she topped 200 all four games for the first time, leaving her with a Personal Best series by 24 pins.  Thanks to not having that really big game, Divina said she had, "No idea", that she was close to Winning.  The solid 1033 total was enough for a 17 pin margin of Victory.  Divina is another Storm ball supporter, using her 'Tropical Storm' drilled by Ed Dolfay at Skyway, for the Win.  The $2,209.00 Winners share will come in handy, since next month she has a birthday & a trip back to the Philippines.  The successful businesswomen was born in Makati, Philippines, has 5 Sons and 14 Grandchildren.  Divina said that she enjoys ALL the friendly people on the Tour, so she asked us to Thank them for their support and friendships, along with her fellow Filipino League (Skyway) bowlers.  CONGRATS Divina on Win #1!!

 

James Strand was making a bid for his 3rd Career Title, hoping that his 1016 might hang-on.  James shot a  GREAT series, after having to comeback from a 169 second game.  His nice 2nd Place check of $983.00, pushes his 3 year Career Earnings to $11,522.00.  Yakima's Chuck Gonsalez shot the only other 1000+ series of the day, with a solid 1001, good enough for a $522.00 3rd Place check.  Chuck was also gunning for his 3rd Title and his 2 year Career Earnings is getting very close to the $10,000.00 CLUB.