Pictured Above Is: L to R - Ed O' Hara, MMA President Mike Barrett, And Paul Williams.
Ed O' Hara, Is Last Man Left Standing At MMA Senior Masters Tournament.
Hard Work Propells Right-Hander To First Major Ttitle At Brunswick Kyrene Lanes.
By Michael 'Chip' Begg - Managing Editor the tenpinexpress.com - Director Mesa Metro Association.
Chandler - - - And, the Eagle has landed on Sunday November 5, at Brunswick Kyrene Lanes in Chandler. For Ed O' Hara of Sahuarita, Arizona.
That's because the right-hander, defeated Paul Williams of Surprise, 164-154, to claim this years title as the best senior bowler in the MMA. 31 bowlers entered the 27th annual event, and when everything was all said and done around 3:30 pm that afternoon, O' Hara was the last man left standing in the tournament. It was also his first major tournament win.
"This was my first ever major tournament win, and it is a pretty good feeling," said Mr. O' Hara, afterwards. "I have been bowling for eight years, and in tournaments for the last five or six. I finally was able to finish ahead of the pack. It was my first senior title here or anywhere."
To those who were watching the tournament in person, one could start to get the sense that it was his tournament to win. During his four game qualifying round, he finished second, with a score of 855 or + 55. The oil pattern that was used by the MMA, was the PBA 39 foot Chameleon.
"I felt I had a good chance. In the fourth game of qualifying, I shot a 269," said the Manager of Tucson Bowl in Tucson. "I had good looks on the lanes. Shooting a 269 does wonders to build up your confidence."
His other three games in qualifying were: 214, 200, and 172. Tucson Bowl is part of four independently owned centers in the southeast part of the state, known as the Vantage Bowling Centers. The other three centers that are part of the chain are: Fiesta Lanes, Cactus Bowl, and Lucky Strike Bowl.
"The shot was fair and consistent from lane to lane," he said, of the Chameleon pattern. "They did not burn up. I felt I threw the ball good all day. I left a nine or a 10 pin here and there, and its normal."
Alan Grobmeir was the leading qualifier at +63, but he would lose in the double elimination round to Williams 211-151 and settle for third place. Those who rounded out the cut to the top eight were: Mike Matosich, +41; Cliff Connors, +19; Paul Williams,-10; Tom Foster,-11; Greg Waldon,-19; and Ryan Osaka,-24. Last years tournament was held at Flipside. Champion Warren Eales did not bowl in this years event at Brunswick Kyrene Lanes to defend his title.
Mr. O' Hara, did not fall into the losers bracket all day either, and he was solid in the elimination rounds. He started out with a 206-191 win over Waldon. In round two he defeated Osaka, 194-185. In round four in his first of two matches against Williams, he would come out ahead 194-184. In the finals, he lost the first game to Williams, 254-196. But, won game two to secure the title. Mr. Williams though, came out of the losers bracket with the win over Grobmeir, to set up the match against O' Hara.
"It was a good format," said Mr. O' Hara, of the tournament format the MMA used. "I had a good qualifying round. I prefer the match play format over the stepladder. I used the Motiv Forza GT all day, and it was a great choice. It was nice to be able to play a similar line from lane to lane. I did not have to move at all."
Trailing by 13 pins in the championship game to Williams, 81-68, in the fifth frame, Mr. O' Hara caught a break. Williams left the 1,2,4,8 on lane 5. But, he had to wait on his ball to come back and he missed the spare. Williams also opened in the seventh and ninth frames. While Mr. O' Hara marked from the sixth frame on to close Williams out.
"He is a good enough bowler, where waiting on his ball to come back should not have effected him," said Mr. O' Hara, of the ball return. "It was a lot tougher on him, because he had to win two matches in-a-row to win the title."
Mr. O' Hara says he has been bowling well the last three months which was a big factor in the MMA win. In that span he has rolled: a 781 series, a 280, and two 279s. He only bowls about six practice and 10 league games per week.
"I'm throwing the ball the way I want to throw it right now, and I don't have to think too much about my game," he says, of where he feels his game is. "The last three months I have bowled well and it paid off big time today."
According to Bowl.com Mr. O' Hara has also rolled three honor scores. Two perfect games and one 11-in-a-row. His first perfect game came on 5/15/13 at Lake View Lanes in Sun City. 226-300-200 for a 726 series. His second perfect game came on 12/1/2010 at Golden Pin Lanes. And his 11-in-a-row occurred on 10/16/11 at Brunswick Camino Seco.
"When I started bowling I averaged in the 160s. Now its at 215," he says, on the improvement in his game over the years."I got better by working hard in the game, and by continuing to enter scratch tournaments and bowl against good bowlers. I have been able to keep up with the new bowling ball releases through the PBA website. What I owe this to is my wife, Susan O' Hara, who keeps pushing me in the game of bowling and won't let me quit."
He closed by saying bowlers are really supportive to one another in the game of bowling, in the Metro Tucson market. If they hear you have done something big in the game, they will not hesitate to come up to you and congratulate you.
Mesa Metro Bowling News November 8, 2017