On
Tour with Brian Voss
64th U.S. Open - North Brunswick, NJ
(Feb. 25 - Mar. 4, 2007 )
Well, the US Open is gone, another good year, but short. This was
my best tournament of the year. I had looked forward to this event,
had been preparing for it for many weeks, and came close. This wasn't
your typical flat pattern, there was a little blend in the middle
of the lane, and a few times around the first arrow. If you were sharp,
you could get some good scores. If you weren't sharp, you could get
some pretty bad scores. But it was a battle of patience, and spares,
and occasional shades of greatness. But all in all, you had to make
shots. Looking back on it, and me being vocal about issues that affect
fairness, there is only thing wrong with the US Open, and for that
matter, and environment where the shot develops left of the 4th arrow.
BALL RETURNS. I can't tell you how many bad shots were caused by having
to manipulate around a ball return. Having bowled in bowling centers
that do not have ball returns on the approach, for god's sake, get
those things off of the approach for professionals.
OK, enough said on that. I played the lanes either right up the 5th
or 6th board early with a strong Scorpion for the first few games,
and then would move in where everyone else was. When I moved in, I
would us a weak Scorpion, some Green Aliens and a Cheetah. Most of
the week, you had to keep a pretty direct line to the pocket, so when
moving in, you couldn't leak it right. There were many 3 counts seen
during the week. If you missed a few boards right when playing in,
it was gone.
I was in contention the entire week. Never had a really bad block,
and never really had a great block. But as I said, it is gone and
over. Did manage to get some good points, but still need two good
weeks. It's going to come down to the last tournament, not only for
myself, but for others. Keep following, it's going to be exciting.
BV
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