On
Tour with Brian Voss
Dick Weber Open - Fountain Valley,
CA (Jan. 16 - 21, 2007 )
Orange County, sunny weather, and left handers. One of those weeks
folks, sometimes it just isn't right, no pun intended. From the first
time the guys saw the pattern, it was obviously shifted to the left,
and the tournament played out that way. All of the early leaders were
left handed, at one point the top ten. It was difficult to swallow,
but it is what it is, and it is what it was. I bowled real good most
of the tournament. I used Green Aliens for the first round, which
was on the fresh oil. I was in the hunt with about 60 over. The second
round, I used a weak Cheetah. The shot for the right side meandered
to inside of the 4th arrow, but it played more like a "fall back",
which meant you had to keep the ball on a pretty direct line to the
pocket, even though we were playing so deep. The last game ended up
playing left of the 6th arrow, lofting over the left gutter cap. One
of the down falls of qualifying like the old days, which this tournament
featured. The shot changes so quickly, we actually ended up playing
further left on the lane than the left handers were playing. Nonetheless,
I bowled well that night, shooting about 150 over for the five games.
The last round of qualifying, everyone bowled on the fresh oil, and
it ended up taking about 260 over for the cut. I had a few pins to
spare at about 270 over. Just bowling well and making the cut was
a major accomplishment for me, based on recent results, so I felt
pretty good. I stayed in the hunt during match play until about half
way, and then ended up sliding down the ladder. I'm not one to give
up, so I used the time to practice, as well as the actual games in
the tournament. On Friday night, I was there an hour before everyone,
practicing on a few things. By the last 8 games, I was pretty tuckered
out though, and just went through the motions. It was pretty tough
watching what the left side had, and what we had on the right.
As I write this, my hand is well rested and ready to get back to the
lanes and bowl some more. There are only 8 events left to accumulate
points for an exemption status, so the pressure is on. I'm going to
get in as many games as my body will allow, so please stay tuned to
my progress, at the very least, it will be dramatic to see if I can
make up some ground.
BV
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