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onefrombills
02-18-2009, 03:52 AM
If you are already planning a trip to Las Vegas to bowl in the 2009 USBC Open Championships, be sure to take advantage of the opportunity to tune up your game and make some extra prize money by bowling in the 7th Annual BTM Tournament, which will be held at the Silver Nugget Bowling Center Feb. 19 - Aug. 2.

Over the past six years, the BTM Tournament has become a must-bowl event for many USBC Open Championships bowlers. Contested on extremely challenging USBC Sport Bowling-certified lane conditions, the BTM Tournament provides a true shot making challenge that forces bowlers to break away from the typical league bowling mindset and begin focusing on making quality shots frame after frame.

Bowlers who demonstrate the ability to control their ball reactions, master lane transitions and make spares are rewarded with significant prize money - this year's first prize is $7,777.77 - and an appreciation of the type of quality shot making that is required in order to be successful at the USBC Open Championships.

"The goal of the BTM is and always has been to offer a tournament that is fair to both lefties and righties, straight and cranker, over 50 and under 50, something that presents the same challenge regardless of what day or what time of day it was bowled," said Jim King, a Bowling This Month Magazine employee and co-founder of the BTM Tournament. "An oil pattern with a one-to-one ratio was the best way to accomplish that. It rewards good shots and penalizes bad shots; that's why we've had fewer than five clean four-game blocks since the event began."

With demanding Sport Bowling lane conditions, an outstanding purse and singles, doubles and mixed-doubles competition, the BTM Tournament truly has something to offer every bowler. Click here for more information regarding the 2009 BTM Tournament.

"When it comes to the challenge of this event, the positive feedback outweighs the negative 20 to 1," King said. "Bowlers keep coming back year after year to challenge themselves and prepare for the Open Championships because they never see patterns like this one. The only thing close would be the U.S. Open. It's not often you can average 185 and still get a check."

But what about bowlers who struggle to average 185 regardless of the condition they are on? How are they supposed to compete in the BTM Tournament? The answer is that they no longer have to.

In order to accommodate bowlers with lower averages, King and his fellow tournament creators are prepared to kick off the inaugural 1-2-3 Tournament, which also will be held at the Silver Nugget Bowling Center Feb. 19 - Aug. 2.

Like the BTM Tournament, The 1-2-3 Tournament is open to all USBC members and will be contested on a very challenging oil pattern - the same pattern being used at Cashman Center for the 2009 USBC Open Championships.

But unlike The BTM, which is almost-exclusively a scratch event, the 1-2-3 Tournament is a handicap event, a fact that will help level the playing field for bowlers with lower averages.

"The idea for the 1-2-3 Tournament came about because some of the lower-average bowlers who bowled The BTM just could not be competitive in a scratch event on that pattern," said King. "As such, we've been searching for a way to accommodate those players. In Baton Rouge, we offered practice on the USBC pattern, and it was well received, so we decided to offer a tournament that anyone could bowl in and have a chance to win."

Another unique element of this event is its non-restrictive nature. Bowlers will be allowed to compete in any combination of the three events offered - singles, doubles and team (trios).

"We wanted to make it possible for bowlers to walk in by themselves and have something to bowl in, but if they had one or two buddies with them, they could all participate if they wished," King said. "That's why we called it The 1-2-3; you can bowl singles, doubles or trio teams...any one, any two or all three."

Click here for more information on the 1-2-3 Tournament.

Do not allow your yearly trip to the USBC Open Championships to fly by in a matter of 30 short, frustrating frames. Bowl The BTM and the 1-2-3; they will get you ready to crush pins at Cashman Center.