Picture Are: Tim Simonis And Josh Blanchard. Of Queen Creek And Mesa, AZ.
Arizona's Blanchard And Simonis. Move Into Top Spot In Regular Doubles. At The 2026 OC In Reno. Story From Bowl.com.
RENO, Nev. – A late string of strikes Thursday at the National Bowling Stadium helped Timothy Simonis of Queen Creek, Arizona, and Josh Blanchard of Mesa, Arizona, to the top spot in Regular Doubles at the 2026 United States Bowling Congress Open Championships.
Blanchard – a three-time Professional Bowlers Association Tour champion – also etched his name into the tournament’s record book with his performance during the set, posting games of 269, 279 and 264 for an 812 series. Simonis bounced back from a 158 start to close with 214 and 252 for a 624 series, helping the pair to 1,436.
After the fourth frame of Game 3, Blanchard and Simonis had almost no room for error to get around the 1,433 rolled by Brandon Bates and Christopher Davidson of Fair Oaks, California, on March 29.
With an open from Blanchard and a spare by Simonis, both players needed to strike to their fill ball for the opportunity to sneak into the top spot. Each rallied with the final eight strikes to close the game and take the lead by three pins.
Blanchard recorded the second 800 of the 2026 event and rolled strikes on 31 of his 35 deliveries during the set.
Blanchard finished his 18th appearance at the USBC Open Championships with 672 in singles and 640 in team to also move into second in Regular All-Events with a 2,124 total. Jonathan Cherpeski of Fairborn, Ohio, leads with 2,149.
Simonis – making his 17th tournament appearance – added 680 in singles and 513 in team to finish the year with 1,817.
Prior to his run Thursday, Blanchard posted 775 in Open Singles at the Bowlers Journal Championships, which features the same oil pattern being used in doubles and singles competition at the Open Championships. He currently sits in third place – 2012 Regular Team champion Nick Heilman of La Crosse, Wisconsin, leads with 813.
The Open Championships is celebrating its 122nd edition in 2026 and making its 15th trip to Reno, Nevada. The 2026 event is scheduled to feature more than 55,000 bowlers and 11,000 five-player teams competing across 128 consecutive days at the National Bowling Stadium.
Follow the action from the tournament’s official Facebook and Instagram accounts.
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Butturff Records Second-Highest 15-Game Qualifying Score At USBC Masters.
Story From Bowl.Com.
ALLEN PARK, Michigan – Jakob Butturff of Tempe, Arizona, continued his assault on the record book at the 2026 United States Bowling Congress Masters on Thursday, recording the second-highest 15-game qualifying score in tournament history one day after establishing the event’s new 10-game mark.
The 31-year-old left-hander rolled games of 236, 229, 258, 235 and 225 at Thunderbowl Lanes in Allen Park, Michigan, on Thursday night to tally a Round 3 total of 1,183. That mark, combined with the 1,252 he authored in Round 1 on Tuesday and the 1,233 he put up during second-round play on Wednesday, gave Butturff a three-day, 15-game total of 3,668 (a 244.53 average).
That left the 2019 Masters champion just three pins shy of the all-time record of 3,671, which was set by legend Parker Bohn III during the 1998 event at the National Bowling Stadium in Reno, Nevada.
Nevertheless, Butturff’s mark was still 76 pins higher than that of any other athlete in the 390-player field at this year’s tournament.
Eric Jones of Edmond, Oklahoma, was Butturff’s closest pursuer. Jones qualified second with 3,592.
Day 1 leader Deo Benard of Roanoke, Texas, who recorded the second-highest five-game block in Masters history (1,309) during opening-round action on Tuesday, placed third with 3,581.
The final two places in the qualifying top five were secured by Spencer Robarge of Springfield, Missouri, and Canada’s Graham Fach. Robarge recorded a 15-game total of 3,575, and Fach came in with 3,573.
The end of qualifying marked the end of competition for more than 325 athletes at this year’s event as only the top 64 players earned berths in the Masters’ double-elimination match-play bracket.
As usual, competition for the final spots inside the cut line was fierce during Thursday’s final qualifying round with multiple players battling tooth and claw to punch their tickets to match play.
After the final shots had been thrown and the last scores tallied, the final spot up for grabs went to Daniel Vick of Pittsford, New York, who finished in 63rd place with a 15-game qualifying total of 3,287 (a 219.13 average), which was the highest score needed to make match play at the Masters in nearly 20 years.
Sixteen players finished within 25 pins of that mark while another 18 found themselves on the outside looking in by 50 pins or fewer.
Defending Masters champion Gary Haines of Babylon, New York, finished tied for 210th place with 3,083; however, as last year’s winner, he was guaranteed a spot in this year’s match-play field and could earn no worse than the No. 64 seed.
As this year’s top seed, Butturff will battle Haines during Round 1 of match play, which will kick off at Thunderbowl Lanes on Friday morning at 10 a.m. Eastern.
Despite entering the match as the favorite on paper in the 1-vs.-64 battle, Butturff won’t be taking Haines lightly.
“Gary (Haines) may have had some struggles during qualifying, but he’s a very talented bowler,” Butturff said. “I know he’s going to have a good gameplan, so I need to keep doing what I’ve been doing all week and just try to get the best shots off that I can.”
Butturff is right not to take a single frame for granted because all matches leading up to the stepladder finals at the Masters will utilize a three-game, total-pins format that makes every pin count.
“When it’s best two out of three, you can maybe sacrifice one game,” Butturff said. “In a format like this where it’s total pinfall, it’s a different scenario. You have to stay focused; you can’t let up at all.”
Butturff certainly hasn’t let up so far; after all, through his first 15 games this week, he has a low game of 207 and has shot 258 or higher six times.
According to Butturff, comfort and confidence have played a big role in his strong start at this year’s Masters.
“I can say that I’ve felt confident in every shot and every move I’ve made so far this week, and that allowed me to come one hit away from the 15-game record,” Butturff said.
But Butturff didn’t come to Thunderbowl in search of records this week; he came here to make a run at another Masters title.
“In all honestly, going into today, I had no clue what the 15-game record was at all, but I would’ve put that aside even if I had known because all I was focused on was taking that next step by making it to the bracket,” Butturff said. “Now that I’m there, I just need to stick to the same gameplan, go out there and bowl.”
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