Vol. 35, No. 12
Tournament Schedule Local and national tournament schedule on page 12
Tucson Metro USBC
Jan 20-21: TMUSBC City Junior Tournament, Tucson Bowl & Cactus Bowl Jan 27-28: TMUSBC Women's Tournament, Lucky Strike Bowl
MPUSBC Tournaments
Jan 13-14: MPUSBC Youth Open, AMF Peoria, $4,500 added to prize fund Feb 25: Youth Royalty, $2,500 added to prize fund
MMA Tournaments
Jan 6-7: MMA Senior Open, Bowlero Kyrene Jan 20-21: MMA Youth Open, AMF McRay Feb 3-4: MMA Women's Tourn, Bowlero Mesa
Glenfair Lanes Tournaments
Jan 1: Hangover Tournament Jan 1: Shootout (after Hangover tourn) Jan 12: Collegiate Experience Jan 14: Red, White & Blue Tourn.
Bowlero Mesa Tournaments
Dec 16: Baker Doubles Jan 1: Adult Scratch Bakers Doubles
Bowlero Gilbert Tournaments
Dec 24: 9-Pin No-Tap
Bowlero Kyrene Tournaments
Dec 23: Holiday Mixed Trio Jan 13: 9-Pin No-Tap Jan 20: Alley Cat's Beat The Board
True Amateur Tournaments
Feb 19-25: 2024 TAT Amateur Nationals, Gold Coast (Las Vegas)
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Arizona USBC............................... 8 Bowlero Gilbert............................ 14 Bowlero Kyrene........................... 15 Bowlero Mesa.............................. 14 Glenfair Lanes............................. 10 JBT................................................ 5 MMA............................................ 11 MPUSBC....................................... 8 PBA-LBC National Tourn �������������������9 Strike Force Tour ........................ 13 The Bowlers Advantage ��������������� 7 TAT................................................ 3 TMUSBC....................................... 6 USBC............................................ 2 Vital Signs Pro Shop ��������������������� 5 Next Issue: January 12, 2024 Deadline: January 10, 2024
DIGITAL ISSUE
December 15, 2023
TAT Holiday Classic Champion Crowned at Mesa East Bowl David Richard of Prescott Valley came away with his first-ever tournament title of any kind at Mesa East Bowl over Thanksgiving weekend, November 24th-26th, and it was a big one! The 50-year-old lefty representing the 215 & Under Handicap Division held off a late charge from Dan Quilt, 46, of Maricopa in the title match to win $5,100 in the inaugural TAT Holiday Classic at Mesa East Bowl. This second TAT Desert Southwest tournament weekend was modeled after its Las Vegas parent by adding a VIP tournament paying $500 for first place along with the main event that paid $5,000+ for first place. Bowlers tackled a custom 39foot, low-volume, 3.86:1 lane pattern designed for this tournament which yielded relatively high scores, especially compared to the previous TAT at Cliff Castle in October, where scores were considerably lower. Although the pattern supported attacking the lane from a wide variety of angles, bowlers generally found very little hold in the middle of the lane and would often pay dearly for an errant shot. Nevertheless, the average cut score across all divisions in this event was 661 with handicap, and there were multiple cuts above 700. TAT paid out over $29,500 in cash and prizes to many of the 131 competitors who came out on a busy holiday weekend, rolling 201 main event entries and 142 VIP entries. The event kicked off on Friday morning with the first of four squads for the VIP side tournament. This was the first regional TAT to include a VIP, a mainstay of TAT national events in Las Vegas. VIP squads are always the first ones bowled after the lanes are re-oiled. The VIP is a 2-game beat-the-board event
Strike Force was at Bowlero Via Linda, December 3rd, with 105 total entries (83 qualifying and 22 parlays) paying out over $6K in main and side event prize funds. Ken Davis took home his 1st AHT SFT title and $1,200 first place prize. Congrats to Outhay Lalab on 2nd place for $750. Also congrats to Reggie Prince Elliott on 3rd place for $370.
David Richard, TAT Holiday Classic champion and John Verbil, TAT Desert Southwest Director where only the highest score (with handicap) counts and all divisions are combined. Bowlers use VIP squads as a low-risk way to test out the lane pattern on a fresh condition while still having a chance to win some money if they should toss a high game, while also getting a feel for how they want to play the lanes in the main event. Ultimately, Shawna Strause of Tucson (268+11) and Chris Gregory of Mesa (279+0) tied for the first place prize of $500 with a 279 score, splitting the first and second place money for $350 each. The main event consisted of nine qualifying squads spread across three days with the TAT Finals on Sunday afternoon. After each two qualifying squads, a cut of 1-in-6 per division was made for the Sunday Finals. This means there were two cuts on Friday, another two cuts on Saturday, and a final, single-squad cut on Sunday morning. The 33 bowlers who advanced to the finals returned at Noon on Sunday, bowling single-game eliminator matches against one to five other bowlers within their respective divisions, narrowing down the field until
only one bowler remained in each division. Each division winner was guaranteed a minimum of $1,000 and a shot at the $5,000 first prize in the Grand Final match between all of the division winners. In the 50+ Senior Handicap Division, Marcus Haley, 51, of Peoria, who was bowling in his firstever TAT, made the cut with a 624 qualifying score (with handicap) and reached the championship title match with a 220 (204+16), defeating Eddie Thompson of Mesa with 183 (167+16) and Brian Waugh of Phoenix with 177 (175+2). In the Women’s Handicap Division, Hayley Ellis, 52, of Gilbert, who - in her words - was only “here for my kid,” made the cut with a 644 qualifying score (with handicap) and advanced to the championship round with a 243 (203+40), defeating Stephanie Sell of Mesa with 198 (152+46). The winner of the 189 & Under Handicap Division, James Strang, 28, of Phoenix, who gave a shoutout to Alley Cat Action, qualified for the finals with a whopping 763 hand-
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