As expected, the 2010 edition of the Luci Bonneau Mixed Doubles in Houston, Texas had yet another huge successful year, just as I mentioned it was ready to in a previous blog last week.
The festivities kicked off Friday afternoon with the bowlers practice session and BBQ catered lunch, courtesy of the incredible host herself, Donna Conners. Hard to tell who won the practice session this year, but I may have to go with Xeno Garcia, he struck a lot, and it continued into Saturday during the real thing, but more on that later. Following the practice session, the calcutta (or bowler's auction) was conducted, and teams were given the option to buy themselves for $1,000, and many of the big teams did, and after all was said and done, the calcutta brought right in the neighborhood of $18,000, and a nice hefty additional prize fund to the top 12 finals teams.
The first Pro-Am of the weekend followed at 6pm, which as usual, was a sellout, and a great time had by all involved, from the pros participating to the bowlers getting their chance to bowl with some of the best to all others who were just there to have a good time. It must be mentioned however that had somebody not stepped in, we may still be listening to bowlers introductions right now from Dino Castillo. He sure makes it entertaining as an MC, as he can go on about each and every bowler there. I do not know how much money was raised for Breast Cancer research that first night, but judging by all the big items being sold, can only imagine it was another hefty amount.
On a side note, my partner Crystal Schoneman and myself had the pleasure of bowling with a legally blind man on our first pair, and it was truly amazing to see how good he was after years and years of bowling, because he may have hit the head pin and spared at a higher percentage than any bowler all weekend. It was truly great to see someone not let anything slow him down from playing the game he loves.
The next morning the competition got underway with A squad bowling at 9am. What started as a full field of 80 teams grew to 82 as a team was caught in traffic and 2 alternate teams were added to keep all pairs with 2 teams. Early on, the lanes played much like practice session, there was plenty of hook out there on the 38 foot pattern, and allowed bowlers to play for many different angles early on to score. Crystal and I got off to a bit of a rocky start through the first half of game 1, but after an open in frame 4, she threw the back 8 strikes for 232, and I closed out strong for 219 and a nice 451 start. After another decent game, the transition and some tricky pairs reared their ugly heads and brought some scores down all over the place. After two sub 400 games, we rebounded decently with 4 games over 400 to finish at plus 137, and could have been so much more with a few breaks tossed in. (Check out some of the live blog updates from BowlingNewsTony to read about it).
At the completion of A squad, defending champs Parker Bohn and Carolyn Dorin-Ballard led at plus 300, followed by Liz Johnson and Sean Rash. Xeno Garcia and Tina Stickney stood in 5th at plus 196 after a bowling display by Xeno, and you had to believe that was very close to the cut number, but an arguably stronger B squad was still to come. We sat in 11th after two teams went around us in the final game, one being Ryan Abel and Jessica Baker shooting an amazing 568 to close.
B squad got going, and much like in our squad that morning, scores got off to a nice start through the first couple games, and the transition and tricky pairs kicked in during the middle games. Should be noted that the tricky pairs were mainly on the high end of the building, but all had to hit them and most saw similar struggles on them. As B squad was coming to a close, the intensity throughout the building built as teams were making their final push towards the cut and to catch on the the final checks.
When all was said an done with qualifying, 2-time champs Tommy Jones and Shannon Pluhowsky built a large lead at plus 454, with Bohn and Ballard in second at that plus 300. We also had a tie for the 12th and final spot at plus 199 between Brett Wolfe/Genie Franklin and John Szczerbinski/Elysia Current, and that meant a one-game roll-loff to determine who advances to Sunday. The final cash spots went to a tie as well at plus 156 for 19th and 20th, meaning Crystal and myself fell just short in 22nd place. Some very unfortunate breaks were our nemesis.
The roll-off was just as intense as the final game and a half and stayed close throughout, with Frankling striking out in her 10th, and giving teammate Wolfe a chance to mark to secure the win after Szczerbinski failed to strike out and put the pressure on. Wolfe nearly left an unfortunate 6-8 split, leaving only the 8 pin, spared it, and closed out the game with a strike for the 421-418 victory.
The second and final Pro-Am followed, and was every bit as much a success as the first one, maybe even bringing in more money for breast cancer. Again, I do not have those details, but I can say, another great time was had by all.
Sunday morning meant the return of the top 12 teams and 12 games of round robin finals play, with winning teams receiving 30 bonus pins, and teams who tie getting 15 bonus pins. Scores came out a fair amount higher quickly during the finals, due a lot to the fact that the bowlers remaining had the pattern figured out, many were the best in the world, and the lanes most undoubtedly break down a bit nicer with players playing more similar to one another. Wes Malott came out firing averaging 274.5 through the first 4 games, including games of 298 and 290 to help himself and teammate Shannon O'Keefe quickly climb up the standings.
However, the day itself was about Tommy and Shannon once again. At one point, there were more than 400 pins clear of 2nd place, before eventually winning their 3rd title in 4 years competing together with a 90 pin edge over second place Malott/O'Keefe. Rounding out the final standing were Rash/Johnson in 3rd, Carol Norman/David Haynes 4th, Bohn/Ballard 5th, Stefanie Nation/Chris Johnson 6th, Emily Maier/Mike Fagan 7th, Brinda Burks/Greg Black Jr. 8th, Kristy Krol.Charlie Mills 9th, Franklin/Wolfe 10th, Lynda & Chris Barnes 11th and Jessica Hirschman/Jack Zuniga 12th.
The tournament may appear to some to be very much dominated by some of the very best of the PBA, and in a way, yes it is, but in another way, that is a bit misleading. With the conditions put out there, the chance was there for all to score and potentially make it to the finals, the pros did not have a big advantage because of the pattern, especially judging by the logjam of scores from 2nd all the way down to the final cash spot in 20th only separated by 144 pins, and many more teams close. Where many of the best gained their advantage was they minimized their mistakes on the tough pairs and during the transition games, and that led to the difference in making the cut, and being less than 100 pins through 8 games out of the cut for many.
All in all, another amazing weekend and even put on by tournament organizer extraordinaire Donna Conners. This tournament wouldn't be anything it is without her donating countless hours and energy to put it on for the bowlers, fans and for a great cause. But as she said, it wouldn't be what it is without the bowlers, because without the bowlers, there is no pro-am, and without the pro-am, there is no money raised for Breast Cancer research.
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