On
Tour with Brian Voss
Ace Hardware Championship - Taylor,
MI (Mar. 15 - 19, 2006 )
This week in Taylor featured a nice blend of scores and strategies.
What happens a lot of times is players will enter the first round
not knowing, with a certainty, which way to play the lanes when you
have options. Once the first round is over, you then make a determination
on how to play them the second round.The scores came from two different
parts of the lane. Players scored good right around the first arrow,
pretty straight, and then the middle of the lane played good also.
It wasn't limited to certain angles, which is some times the case.
I scored from all over the lane. The first 3 games I played out with
one of my favorite Scorpions. Then as the shot broke down, I played
left of the fourth arrow. Some lanes really hooking it. I had a few
Aliens that were shiny that played real good, and after being in 37th
the first round, I ended up 15th. Then I found out I was matched against
Tommy Jones, a real tough competitor and bowling as good as anyone
I've seen for a long time, so I knew it was going to be a good match.
I played out the first few games with a Scorpion, He was playing right
around the third arrow, so we were in two different parts of the lane.
I like that, cause we both had our own little spot to play. He won
the first game, I won the next two, and he won the next two as I struggled
on the right lane. Being down 2-3, I had to make something happen.
I pulled one of my shiny Aliens and moved about 5 left and started
hooking it. I managed to get the first 6 strikes in the 6th game,
so we went on to game 7. It was really a good match, going back and
forth, so only fitting that it come to the last game. After both of
us opened the first few frames with spares and strikes, he started
striking, I was with him until after a good double, left a solid 10
pin in the 6th frame, and then again in the 7th frame. He continued
to strike, from the 4th frame to the 8th, and after being able to
shut me out with another strike in the 9th, set one a little short
and left the Greek church, so he went 5/3. This gave me an opportunity
to strike in the 9th to stay alive, and then double in the tenth to
win. I just pured the one in the 9th, setting up a really exciting
10th frame. There is nothing like the last frame of the last game
in match. When it all comes down to one frame, it is intense. I got
up in the tenth and made a really good shot, snapped out the ten pin,
but left the 7 pin. I still need a spare to fore him to mark. The
spare was no problem, and of course the fill ball was dead flush.
All Tommy needed was a spare or strike, and he made a great shot and
struck. Great match to be in, but a tough loss. It's amazing the kind
of streaks we have out here. Everything works in cycles. There are
times when it's tough to make the qualifying, but when you make it,
everything goes good. There are times when it's easy to make qualifying,
but everything goes wrong during the matches. There are also times
when qualifying is very easy, and matches are very easy, or at least
things go your way. Those are the times you win. It just doesn't seem
to happen enough sometimes, but that's why you either work harder
or figure out a way to make it happen. Working hard, still just a
whisker away from breaking loose. Only 3 left, lot's of money out
there. Wish me luck.
BV
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