The Tour wrapped up the 1st Quarter at Secoma Lanes this last weekend with our biggest turnout in quite some time for the South Tacoma Honda/Miller Lite Open 1st Quarter Championships!  With an incredible 160 Entries and well over $11,000.00 in Total Payouts, we hadn't had this big of a turnout since our 3rd Quarter Tournament 19 months ago back in 2015!

 

Lots of excitement was in the air this week for whatever reason, we think it had something to do (perhaps) with the sniff of Spring in the air AT LAST!  Let's start with the perk of being Saturday's Top Qualifier...Walt Dalrymple's 1025 set was enough to get him, not only the certificate from Storm Bowling for a new ball, but a BYE in Sunday's first round of the Finals!  Willie Manning, Jr., wound up being the Tournament Top Qualifier with his 1033 set, earning him the 'Top Qualifier' jacket and a 1st round BYE as well!  With the BIG turnout, we were able to award EIGHT total 1st round BYE's, so joining Walt & Willie were Scott Fulp, Steve Bowyer, Samson Ibale, Brian Peters, Duane Benn & Dan Grass. 

 

Big Thanks to Storm Bowling for contributing the Top Qualifier ball, below is a picture of the winner, Walt along with some of the newer releases he gets to choose from:

 

Shout out to Raymond Sedeno & Rob Richards for sharing the 9-Tap Jackpot Consolation of $250.00 for hitting the front 5 taps, earning$125.00 apiece.  With the great turnout, both the Jackpot and Progressive Pots jumped or stayed steady for next week at Paradise Bowl.  See updated amounts below!

 

When the dust settled a bit after the 1st two Monster Bracket knockout rounds, the 32 Finalists were whiddled down to 16 for our head to head bracket matchups.  In that 1st bracket round, winning scores were all over the place with 301 winning one match, while 164 was enough to win another!  Our Elite Eight consisted of four bowlers with single-digit handicaps and four ranging from 12 to 58 pins, so anything could happen...

 

 

The two Final Four match results weren't much competitively speaking if you look at the scores alone but Willie Manning, Jr., & Rick Thompson both bowed out after having HUGE days and were beaten by bowlers that were simply just maybe more 'In The Zone' than they were!  Manning, Jr., & Thompson both earned 3rd Place checks for $419.00.  Good job, guys!

 

Even though Tara Strand was beaten in the Final, she showed a lot of character and self confidence, plowing through the competition all daySunday as she made a run at her 3rd Title.  Tara threw EIGHT games on Sunday and every game counted towards her runner-up $1,035.00 check!  In the seven games leading up to the Championship match, Tara averaged 248, including a 301 game.  Great shooting, Tara and congrats!  Anytine 2nd Place pockets over $1,000.00, it's a good thing!

 

Let's talk about Duane Benn...Was it his cheering section consisting of his Wife (Monique) and youngest Daughter (Ali)?  Was it the competition?  Was it the House?  Who knows what it was, but it's certainly fair to say he picked a great time to get HOT!  Averaging over 246 for his eight games (including qualifying), he picked the perfect time for his lowest game of the Tournament (210) as his opponent did the same!  Winning his first Career Tour Title, Duane earned $2,289.00 and said simply, "It'll pay the rent!"  Duane said that his main priority is taking care of his family and then finding time to bowl comes well down on his priority list.  Times like these make it all worth it!  He said that he's won small tournaments "Back in the day" and that he has missed the excitement of tournament competition.  Duane used a small aresenal of balls to do the job this weekend, including his 900G 'Drift', 'Truth' and Storm 'Lock' all drilled by Sam at Big Sam's Strike Shop at West Seattle Bowl.  He also credits Bob Davidson for his success and thanked the Tour and his fellow member's for their support.  Great Job, Duane!