held on Feb. 7th at the Gold Coast is in the books. Congratulations to 11 year old Grant McKay who emerged as the Champion with an $80 gift certificate in just a few short weeks of bowling and only a handful of lessons. Second place and $50 went to senior bowler Ron Kennedy. Third place went to Gil Wilson who took home $30, and fourth place and $20 went to Mike Wilson. What a great turn-out we had and I hope everyone had a lot of fun. Thanks to everyone who came and to those who brought snacks which added to the good time. Thanks also to K & K Bowling Supply who donated some t-shirts that we gave away. Our caricature artist John from Draw U Party Pictures.com did a great job drawing pictures of all the bowlers. Check out the picture of Marlene in pdf format. I hope everyone enjoyed their day and just as important, gained some bowling experience and learned a little bit.

After 5 games of qualifying, super senior Ron Kennedy was blowing away the field and was the #1 qualifier going into the step-ladder finals. However, Ron had a Super Bowl party to go to and couldn't stay for the finals. Ron forfeited the final match and had to settle for 2nd place prize money of $50. We're very sorry that we ran over our anticipated finish time, but we started it later as many people said 8 am was too early. My biggest regret is that I didn't assign everyone a lane immediately upon check-in, but I'll remedy that situation next time. We still got started just a little past 9 as was our plan. Sorry for any hassle this caused. I thought it was great to have 6 on a pair. I love to bowl trio leagues as it was always my favorite for the many years I bowled leagues. You get just enough of a break to sit before your next shot, yet it's a much faster pace than your typical 4-person leagues. I expect it was the first time for many people to bowl in a 3-person league format. How did you like it? Want to have a Learn to Bowl.com trio league next year?

Anyhooo...back to the tournament. The tournament condition seemed to be playing very tough. The balls weren't hooking very much and it was extremely oily. This does not always mean a hard oil pattern, but it usually requires slower ball speed and a ball that is geared for oilier conditions. Ron Kennedy was the tournament leader after qualifying and was bowling extremely well. Ron sports an average of 165 and has been a regular on Sunday afternoons doing lessons almost every week for at least 6 months or so. I'm very proud of the accomplishments he has made. Ron bowled games of 210, 229, 202, 247, and 222. FYI: Game 2 was 9-pin no tap and game 4 was a free strike in frames 3-6-9. Nonetheless, he bowled well over his true average and has worked very hard on his game in order to achieve the results he got.

Second place qualifier was Grant McKay who entered the tournament with a 100 average. Grant bowled all 5 games over average (140, 113, 129, 162, 163) and didn't let the pressure of his first tournament affect his game in the least. Third place qualifier was newcomer Gil Wilson who entered the tournament with a 166 average and bowled games of 219, 257, 144, 189, and 182. Great bowling Gil. It should be noted that Gil hasn't bowled for about 13 years since losing part of his right thumb. He has adapted well and is getting his championship form back to where it once was.

Just out of the step--ladder finals was 4th place finisher and another newcomer was Mike Wilson (Gil's son) with his 156 average. Mike was on his game today also as he amassed a 5 game total with handicap of 1219 by rolling games of 186, 211, 149, 199, & 189. Just out of the money and finishing in 5th place was the lovely and talented, 11-year old Natallie Kowalski, otherwise known as Natty Kat. Natty bowled great and showed her picture perfect form to many of the veterans. Don't be surprised to see Natty near the top of the leaderboard for years to come.

The step-finals match between Grant and Gil was very exciting and went down to the final frame, as Gil needed to make the 2-4-5-7 spare in the 10th frame to win the title. As Grant looked on, Gil threw a good shot but unfortunately left the 7-pin standing which gave the title to Grant. It couldn't have been any closer or any more exciting to determine the Super Bowling Champion for 2010.

Congratulations again to 11-year old Grant McKay!