PBA WEST/NORTHWEST REGIONAL DIRECTOR GARY MAGE ANNOUNCES RETIREMENT
Story And Photo Courtesy Of PBA.Com. Mesa's Blanchard, Named Successor.
“I’ve been a bowling center owner, pro shop operator and touring player, so I brought a lot of experience to different areas of the sport into this position,” Mage said. “You have people you’ve built relationships with over a span of many years. It’s hard to let go, but it’s time.”
In 2004, Mage became Western Region Manager, taking the reins from Mike Friedrichs, and assumed management of the new Northwest Region when it separated from the Western Region in that same year. Mage has since managed both regions with assistance from his wife Toni.
Mage will be succeeded by Josh Blanchard, a three-time PBA Tour champion.
“After many years serving the PBA as the Northwest and West Regional Director I am very happy that the PBA has chosen Josh Blanchard to take my place, said Mage. “It’s my belief that Josh has the talent to move the regional program forward and build a program that will be successful for many years to come.”
Blanchard, who just recently announced his own retirement from full-time PBA Tour competition will take over regional tournament operations on Nov. 9.
“It is a privilege to follow in the footsteps of Gary Mage,” said Blanchard. He isn’t easily replaced, but I hope to continue many of the long-standing events he developed over his tenure.”
As the new tournament director, Blanchard will be responsible for PBA regional operations in the West and Northwest including developing the schedule of tournaments, pro-ams, and overseeing onsite tournament logistics.
“I look forward to working for the bowlers and providing the best events possible for the PBA and its members in the West and Northwest Regions,” added Blanchard.
The PBA thanks Mage for his years of hard work and dedication to the organization and wishes him all the best in his future endeavors.
While Mage will be missed, the PBA Is very fortunate to have found the perfect fit in Blanchard to fill the position bringing nine-years of full-time touring experience and determination to grow the sport for the next generations of bowlers.
About the PBA
The Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) is the world’s preeminent organization dedicated to the sport of bowling and its professional competition, with thousands of members and millions of fans throughout the world. The PBA plays host to bowling’s biggest tournaments from the Go Bowling! PBA Tour, PBA Regional Tour, and PBA50 Tour. In 2019, the PBA was acquired by Bowlero Corporation, the world’s largest owner and operator of bowling entertainment centers with more than 300 locations throughout North America. For more information, please visit PBA.com.
****************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************
Kevin Dollar wins 1st title and $1,120.00 at Bowlero Mesa!!! SFT News - Courtesy Of SFT.
Our event this weekend was a huge one! We had 114 total entries with 78 qualifying entries and 36 economy parlay entries. We paid out over $6,200 in main and side event prize funds! The players bowled on a very touchy 44ft PBA Carmen Salvino oil pattern allowed bowlers to attack the pattern from multiple angles. The bowlers that were able to keep repeating their shot and leave makeable spares would see the most success. If you missed just a bit inside or out, then you ended up with a split or a tough spare. The pattern would be high scoring as the day went on and bowlers were able to break it down enough to allow some miss room and scores would increase in the later squads.
We do want to welcome Chris Schuerman, Teresa Schuerman, Christopher Ramsey and Jerry Holmes to the SFT AHT family! They all bowled in their first event this weekend and we were happy to have them! We hope you all had a good time in your first event, and we look forward to seeing you at the next one! We would have one Parlay Power Player in Aaron Bell who was able to make the quarterfinals on just his $25 economy parlay investment. Congrats to Aaron Stein, Sean Casey, Craig Newcomb and Aaron Bell for making their first ever quarterfinals or their first quarterfinals in a while! Also, congrats to Quentin Bell who would win the Momma’s Mystery Pot for $500.00 with a nice score of 193. Your winner of the free plastic ball raffle, with an option to upgrade to any Track high performance ball for $85.00, was Brandon Johnsonkroman.
The quarterfinals were bowled on the fresh oil pattern and the scores showed it. All bowlers seemed to struggle on the fresh pattern and it would come down to the last game to see who would advance the semi-finals. In the A Division, your #1 seed would be Carlos Vejar (+83) and he would take on Jon Mayer (+57). In the B Division, we would see Sean Casey (+37) emerge to lead the pack and he would have to face off against Derek Hamm (+25). Finally, in the C Division, Scott Sparks (+81) would come out as the #1 seed and he would be matched up against Kevin Dollar (+64).
The three semi-finals matches would come down to the final frames. In the A Division semi-final, Carlos Vejar would go into the tenth with a slight lead. Carlos would get 7-spare and then big four on his fill ball to finish at 203. This would force Jon Mayer to double in the tenth to get the win. Jon’s first shot would hit flush knocking all ten down. On his 2nd shot in the tenth would hit light, but enough to knock all the pins down and Jon would get nine on his fill to finish at 206.
In the B Division, we would see Sean Casey and Derek Hamm go back and forth the whole match. Sean would finish up first filling out his tenth frame to finish at 205. Derek would get up in the tenth needing to double to win the match. Derek’s first shot would hit a bit high, but would carry for a strike. On the next shot the ball looked great coming off Derek’s hand, but would just push a bit too long leaving him the 1-2-4-8 which he would pick and finish at 201. The C Division would see Kevin Dollar finish up his match at 240 and Scott Sparks would need to strike on his first ball in the tenth to have a chance. Scott’s first shot looked good and would crush the pocket only to leave a ring 10-pin. Scott would miss the spare and finish at 222.
Going into the Final match we would see Jon Mayer and Sean Casey both making their first appearance in the Final match. Kevin Dollar would be making his 2nd Finals appearance with his previous finish coming in 2nd place last year. All three bowlers would be looking for their first SFT AHT title and the first place prize of $1,120.00!!!
The Final match would start off with Sean Casey striking in his first three frames to try and put a dent in the handicap deficit that he and Jon would face against Kevin. Kevin would be getting 52 pins of handicap while Jon would get 8 and Sean would receive 18 pins. Jon would start off a bit slowly as he would strike in his first frame, but would leave a couple of makeable spares in the 2nd and 3rd frames. Kevin would start off his match by continuing to keep his ball in play and picking up spares. Midway through the match we would see Kevin open in the sixth frame to give Sean and Jon a chance to catch up. Sean would miss a 7-pin in the fifth, but follow it up with a couple of strikes to make up for the open frame. Jon would get lined up and throw strikes in the sixth, seventh and eighth frames to get himself back into the match.
Going into the tenth frame it was anyone’s game as all three bowlers were within 10-pins of each other. Jon would finish first and his first ball in the tenth would go a bit outside leaving him with the 1-2-8. Jon’s spare attempt would chop out the 2-pin leaving him at 198. Next up we would see Kevin Dollar strike on his first ball and eight-spare on his fill to finish at 220. Sean Casey would get up in the tenth frame just needing a mark and good count to win. Sean’s shot would come off his hand looking good, but would hit the friction early snapping through the pocket to leave the Greek Church. Sean would get 3 on his spare attempt to finish at 214. This would give Kevin Dollar his first SFT AHT title and $1,120!!! Congrats to Sean Casey for 2nd place and also to Jon Mayer on 3rd place.
Thank you to everyone that came out to support our event. We are going to take the next two weeks off and we hope to see you all at Bowlero Via Linda on Sunday, November 22nd.
***********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************
News From Tucson Metro USBC.
Tucson - - - SENIOR WOMEN'S TOURNAMENT UPDATE: We are all feeling the repercussions of the pandemic in our leagues and tournaments. In an attempt to continue bringing tournaments to our bowlers we may need to make adjustments to create a better experience for everyone. The Senior Women's Tournament Directors have decided it would be more practical for everyone involved if we hold this tournament on one weekend instead of two weekends this year. Bowlers who originally signed up to bowl on the weekend of November 14 and 15 have been contacted and asked to bowl on November 21 and 22 instead. The squad times remain the same and the entry deadline has been moved to November 18 instead of November 9. We will not have any squads now on November 14 and 15. We appreciate your understanding and cooperation in making this happen. We apologize if this has caused a problem with anyone who is not able to bowl on the available dates.
**************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************
Scratch Match Point League Looking For Bowlers.
Contact Tawna Jean.
Mesa - - - Wanted ~ 2 bowlers!
Are you looking for a challenge?
Are you bored with the standard house shot?
Do you like to have fun while being competitive?
If you answered YES to anyone the above, then I have a spot for you!
I have 2 vacancies I need to fill effective 11/09/2020. $25 weekly fees, Monday evenings, 6:30 practice at Bowlero Mesa(Southern & Dobson).
Interested? Contact me at (509) 290-3966.
** WARNING~ this league may create a fun evening with a touch of some frustration as you learn to adjust to lane conditions.
*** masks are required per center requirements and for the safety of continued bowling.
***************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************
Leagues Come Up Big For BVL At AMF Union Hills. From Dennis Brummitt.
Union Hills - - - When it comes to donations for BVL, (Brighten Veterans Lives) Friday nights at AMF Union Hills are the best.
Last night I went to the Rollin On 2 League at AMF Union Hills and these bowlers amaze me. They dig deep every year and the number we reach is unprecedented.
$3020. that is 3 straight years. these 28 teams of 4, have donated over $3000.
Thanks to their officers Katharine Alexander and Glenn Wilson for their continued support.
Semper Fi!!!!