Really nice weather and some serious traffic challenges curbed the turnout slightly, which seems strange to say, when we had a fantastic 160 entriespaying 33 places (last place tie added 1 spot) and we paid out a very impressive $11,258.00 for the day!  The BIG payouts included the largest 1st Place check earned since 2013 ($2,704.00) and an extra large Mom's Side-Pot, thanks to an extra $100.00 donated by a generous 'mystery member'.  Saturday's TOP MOM was Christina Miller who came thru with a great 285 (w/hdcp) to earn $145.00 from the Pot, followed closely by Ashley Kochel 280/$110.00, Jeanierose Tabulina 277/$80.00, Lisa Seifert 267/$60.00.  We had a very strange phenomenon with the conditions Saturday... previous scoring at HiLine had been just a hair on the low side and the 1st Squad seemed to reflect another similar day.  The strange part was, as the day grew warmer, the scores steadily got lower?!?!!?  4 of the top 5 scores, including the Champ, came from the12:00 squad and we couldn't believe that no one was topping those moderate numbers in any of the last 3 squads.  BOTH Pots remain well above average size for next week at Skyway.  The 9-Tap Jackpot grew to$8,420.00, after Huyen Thai was alone with 5 Taps, earning him the$375.00 Consolation.

Randy Laed, an original 2002 Member, won his 3rd Career Title... BUTthere's a very unusual pattern to Randy's Wins.  Like 'Jack & the Beanstock', Randy's become the Tour's 'Giant Killer'.  The $2,704.00 Winner's shareSaturday, was the largest payout in over 5 years, but it was the smallest payday of Randy's 3 Titles.  In the early days of the Tour, the Progressive Pot onlypaid out to the 1st Place finisher... so after two weeks where the Winner had $0 in the Pot, the Pot became a GIGANTIC MONSTER.  So, at Kent Bowl, 4/13/2003, Randy's 1st Title was by far the largest payday ever on the Tour, an unbelievable$7,324.00.  He didn't Win his 2nd Title until 2011 and again, it was another BIG payday of $2,712.00, slightly higher than this Win.  Randy recently (6 weeks ago) returned to the Tour after being away for few years with his young kids.  His oldest son Rathyn was 9 months old and present at his last Win in 2011.  It took Randy a few games to get into the 'Zone', but his last two games 297-299 w/hdcp paved the way to the Title by a huge 68 pin margin of victory.  He wore his Dexter shoes and his 'Cyclone' was drilled at Somoff's Secoma Pro Shop.  CONGRATS Randy!

Karol Knight shot her 970 series in the 2pm squad, commenting at the time, "I just hope it holds on for a Top 10 finish".  I told her that it should, but neither of us thought it would hold for 2nd and a lofty payday of$1,192.00.  Walt Dalrymple & Paul Mann shared 3rd Place and each pocketed a nice $437.00.  Both scored well in that dominant 12:00 squad, each reaching 964 from opposite directions... Walt finished his first entry with his high game of the day (incl. later entries), while Paul's 2 biggest games came early in his entry.  We had plenty of BIG games the rest of the day, but no one seemed able to hold onto a 'hot line' long enough to make a run.