My tournament idea

[sprocket]

My idea is for a Sunday morning sweeper held once a month or maybe every two weeks. Five games across 10 lanes. Top four bowl stepladder.

Handicap is 80% based on 250 scratch. Handicap is limited to 50 pins per game. Tournament director (me) reserves the right to rerate a bower's average. I may keep a running tournament average for all bowlers, like a league.

I've ran this tournament in the past but not with this handicap system. I couldn't draw as many bowlers as I wanted. This is an attempt to draw fairly serious bowers to a tournament where they all feel they could win against anyone else bowling. The 230 average bowler would only have a slight advantage over the 190 average bowler and only if he is really on top of his game that day.

For me personally, I don't bowl any tournaments right now. I feel they are all either too expensive or take too much time or I can compete well with my average. I would love to see something like this. I would bowl for sure. I won't though, if I am the director, but I know there are others like me who would be very interested.

I would keep the cost fairly low. I know money is tight for most folks right now. I just want it to be low enough to get them to show up, but high enough to make it worth it.

[ecub]

Sounds like King of the Hill, but with handicap. Interesting, but marketing is the key to get people to join.

[billf]

I would do it. Then again I do as many tournaments as possible lol

[swingset]

Sounds fun. I'd like to bowl in something like that.

Now, if you do this tourney like they do all the ones around here no one but a select few will ever hear about it. There will be no flyers, the house staff will be ignorant of it, and there will be no web page, entries on any of the tournament websites, and it will take place after hours where you need a secret knock to get in. Bowlers who know of this will share this great secret in hushed tone far from the ears of the eager and undesirable folks, guarded like the secret of the grail.

However, results of the completed tournament will be broadcast on local television, carried on a banner behind an airplane, and shouted from the rooftops with great fanfare. Bowlers who competed are required to tell other bowlers how much fun they missed.

[billf]

^^^^^so, so, so true

[sprocket]

Ha! There will be fliers, it will be on a banner hanging above the lanes, it will be scrolled across the bottom of the score keeper during leagues, there will be fliers at the front desk, and I have a big mouth, and people know me, and word of mouth will get around too.

But this was all true when I ran it BEFORE and I was still lucky to get 40 entrants. Sometimes it was closer to 20. One time, in seven years, I got more than 60 entries. Before, the handicap was based on 85% of 215 scratch with no limit. This time I am trying to keep it simple and fill a void. If you average in the 185 to 240 range how can you resist something like this? It should be like bowling cocaine. Start bowling at 9am and be done by 1pm at the latest. It won't be very expensive, but if one of the regulars wants to run some brackets they can go ahead and do it. I won't run brackets myself.

[crimsoneyes]

When you get this going let me know. I'm close enough to Hastings and would be interested in bowling this!

[sprocket]

I will. I don't know for sure if I will be able to fit it into my now busy life but I would really like to. I also don't know if management will balk at the handicap restriction idea.