PSBA10
01-19-2009, 03:16 AM
I had a wild experience this weekend. My wife, another couple and I participated in our local county mixed tournament. The tournament was held in a remote 10 lane house. This was a serious trip into yesteryear. The house has manual scoring, above lane ball returns and the most interresting feature of this house are the wood lanes with 3/4 inch boards. Talk about culture shock. About 15 years ago I bowled league in this house. The owner is very anal about maintenance. I have been in numerous times for certification inspections. It is always perfect.
Now for the tournament. I have never bowled anywhere that I could not move the ball 5 boards (3/4 inch boards at that). Well I can't say that anymore. This house was 60 feet of oil. We had so many out of range pins that the mechanic was constantly busy resetting them. There were 2 regional pros bowling who didn't break 500, infact one shot a 427. My 519 and 521 actually looked pretty good. The only way I could score was to use my spare ball and point it off the corner. I didn't have many strikes, but I had mostly makable spares. With my scores it's obvious that I missed many. The 3/4 inch boards make targeting next to impossible. My spare shooting system was worthless. All I could do was guess.
Anybody have any other ideas of how I could have played these lanes?
Now for the tournament. I have never bowled anywhere that I could not move the ball 5 boards (3/4 inch boards at that). Well I can't say that anymore. This house was 60 feet of oil. We had so many out of range pins that the mechanic was constantly busy resetting them. There were 2 regional pros bowling who didn't break 500, infact one shot a 427. My 519 and 521 actually looked pretty good. The only way I could score was to use my spare ball and point it off the corner. I didn't have many strikes, but I had mostly makable spares. With my scores it's obvious that I missed many. The 3/4 inch boards make targeting next to impossible. My spare shooting system was worthless. All I could do was guess.
Anybody have any other ideas of how I could have played these lanes?