Sunday, March 30, 2008

US OPEN- Final day

The final day.

I was not feeling the best, had another early morning wake up and not much sleep because we finished late the night before and Billy lives 45 min away.

Got to bowl and i slowly stared to wake up.

I had to bowl Norm Duke in my first match and was hoping that if I got off to a flier i could catch the leaders and make the show. 170 something is not what i call off to a flier, but i did win my match, so i got my 30 pins.
The rest of the day was really and truly like a roller coaster. I would hit a great pair and bowl 240 then make the cross and shoot 170. I spared a heap better but on this pattern, nearly there only gives you a split not 9.
I was winning my matches and staying in touch. With 3 games to go i needed a run, i shot 223 and lost by 2 pins, with a soild 9 and ringing 10 to lose, then 247 with a win and i was 175 pins out with 2 games to go. If i could somehow shoot 250, 250 i was in.
NO GOOD. I hit an awful pair and had no clue where to bowl, 175....the dream was over :)

I finished 11th and was happy with how i played. Looking back i threw away so many pins and when i come back next year and bowl, thats something i will not do again.

My first US OPEN and i finished 11th, I'm happy.

Cant wait to go get home and see my wonderful wife and family. I miss them all very much.

Be good

Belmo

Saturday, March 29, 2008

US OPEN Day 2, 3 and 4

I have had a little trouble with this site getting my blogs up, but it seems to be ok now.

Day i bowled great, it was the 'burn' squad so by the first ball of the squad i was launching the ball over the left gutter, made almost all my spares and got a little unlucky at the wrong times to shot 105 over.....that score leaped frogged me into 2nd.
I was over the moon.

The next day i bowled about as bad as i could. -35 and never had a chance to improve my score. Everything i tried was awful, my ball reaction was either washout or big 4.
I dropped to 14th i think.

The 4th day was a roller coaster, The top 122 came back for 9 more games and the top 24 would be determined.
I started the day exactly how i finished the day off yesterday. 157.
I dropped from well inside the cut, to a little bit out. Not very happy.

I scrambled my way back and made every spare i could. I needed a big last game to make sure i was there and i bowled 237.

I qualified in 15th.

The same night we had the first 8 of 24 round robin matches.
I started awesome. 207 (with a open in the 10th) 246. With 30 pins for a win, winning is a huge factor. Then i bowled on what can only be described as the most evil pair in the building.

154, i lost all my timing, the ball reaction was awful and my confidence dropped faster than you could say "trouble".

I finished the day bowling dreadful, missed a bunch of spares and was really too tired to bowl well. I started the day at 6am to drive to the bowl, then we finished bowling that night at 10pm. I was spent.

Right now im 223 pins out from the show, after a good night snooze, anything could happen

Cheers and be good

Belmo

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

US OPEN- Day 1

135 over the card is where I am after day 1.

And let me be the first to say that my score did not reflect how i bowled. I really should be about 35 over. I got very lucky today, but this is one game that when you get a break or 2 or 10, you must capitalize on it and I did.

The lanes are not easy at all, some pairs seem easier than others but on a whole, no pair is easy. The low end of the centre is about 20 boards drier and i ended up throwing over the left gutter and the high end is extremely tight down lane.

Making the cross is the hardest thing to do, you just have no idea where to stand or where to bowl.

Anyway, im off to a good start and I hope i can keep the luck going my way.

Ill let you know how it all goes after i bowl tomorrow

BE GOOD

Belmo

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

US OPEN- Can't wait!

Its finally here.

The the greatest event in the world. Possibly the hardest tournament to win, 492 bowlers on the most demanding lane pattern in an unpredictable bowling centre.

Today we had the practice session. 82 lanes, you could bowl anywhere you wanted. The bowling centre is situated in New Brunswick, New Jersey, USA. There are 46 on the higher level and the rest are on a floor only 6 steps lower.
But the differences from the top end to the low end are much greater than the 6 steps it takes to walk down.

Lanes 1-46 play much drier. The ball reads the backend harder and you will find the lanes will break down not only completely different, but much faster.
Lanes 47-82 are so much tighter down lane and there is no real defined hook spot pair to pair. For me the down stairs lanes will be much lower scoring, so sparing will be so important (not that it isn't normally).

The bowling centre was packed today for the Pro-Ams they had. 82 lanes with 5 on a lane for 2 squads. The pro's are constantly being asked for autographs and photos, people are forever saying "Hi, do you remember me, we met 7 years ago", or "Hi, how do you get that spin on your ball". The questions are relentless and the pro's prove that not only are they amazing players, but they respect each and every bowler there with polite and honest answers.

Pro-Ams consist of 3 games, with the pros moving a pair to their right after every 5 frames. Its a long day, especially when you have 10 to a pair.

Im am extremely lucky for 2 reasons this time on my travels. Jason Walsh, one of my great mates from back home has joined me for this trip and Bill O'neil (one of the exempt pro bowlers) is putting us both up at his place for the week.

Billy is a great bowler who is also a great guy. He is young (26) and is one of the rising stars of the PBA tour. Usually when i travel to the states or he travels overseas we hang out as much as we can.

Anyway.......

The practice session is done and dusted, tomorrow its for the main event. We are all bowling 'C' squad, so we dont start till late, but at least we can have a little look at how the lanes are playing.

Will let you know how Me, Walshy, Billy and Mike Fagan (another young rising star of the tour who is also staying with Billy) go. Lets hope we all strike alot

Belmo

Monday, March 17, 2008

BEC- The finals

Oh dear..... Thats about the only 2 words i can say with out 'bleeping' the text.

There was no reason to bowl as bad as i did. I had a good sleep in and I felt fine. Plain and simple I bowled bad.

I shot 170 something my first game, missed a single pin and was basically spraying painting the lane with my ball. I could see where I had to throw it but my hands decided that it would be better if they did what they wanted.
I must say though, I needed the first hit in the 10th to win the first game and I left a flush 9, but to be honest I didnt throw it perfect and even though the 9 pin could of fallen, I expected not to strike.

2nd game I bowled a tad better, 279 but i did get a couple of lucky breaks. It was 1-1 and i felt like all i had to do was stay soft and slow and I would hit the pocket. Funny thing though was my target was the same as the first game, so i dont know why I threw it so bad.

Anyway, in the 3rd game I struck every shot on the left lane, on the right lane i left a 10 pin, 9 pin, 7pin and a 2-8-10, Not to mention i missed the 10 pin by a yard.
The guy i bowled had 3 cross overs, 2 for a 4 bagger and ended up shooting 220 to my 161.

But i not saying his was lucky and thats why he won. Even though it may be true, if i bowled half of what i should of, i felt like the pattern would let me shoot at least 230......But you cant always bowl great and this time i bowled my worst when it counted the most.

As always when i lose i was not the happiest little Aussie, but Kimberly, like she always does, lifted me up and made me feel better about what happened.
I know, she really is the best.

Anyway, Im off to the states tomorrow and going to bowl the US OPEN. I'll meet Jason Walsh there and will let you know how we go.

Be good........

Belmo

ps- Peter Ljung won the event, beating Mike Fagan from the USA. If you get a chance, check out bowlingdigital.com and there is video of the final.

Cheers

Friday, March 14, 2008

Qualifying at the BEC- France

There have been a few dramas with the internet at the bowl making jumping online a little hard.....but it seems to be working ok, for now.

I have bowled 2 squads and bowl squads i bowled rather well. First squad i shot 1373 and the 2nd squad i shot 1398. Sitting 2nd behind the one and only Martin Larsen from Sweden.
The lanes are tricky to start with, i have been playing a little to the right and throwing the ball hard up the lane with a bunch of forward roll. After the first 2 games i then get a little deeper and slow wheel the lane with a rapid fire (which I will say is one of the best bowling balls Storm have produced in the last year) and try and stay clean on the release.

The lanes are playing tight, i guess when there is a bunch of oil and the oil length is 40ft slowing down is the key.

Im going to have a few days off now and cheer on my room mate Andres Gomez and the big daddy Frawls. Hope they can go around me, cause if they do then Saturday we are all going to Paris to have a look at the most romantic city in the world, and dont worry ill be telling the boys that even though it is the city of love, im for looking and not for touching :)

Be good

Belmo

Thursday, March 13, 2008

Brunswick Euro Challange: France

The biggest tournament on the European Tour.

BEC boasts over 90,000 Euro in prize money, on a challenging oil pattern. Not to mention the cut throat format. First it's 6 games qualifying with re-entries then the top 16 get 1 bye into the finals.

From there its best of 3 matches. Anything to can happen and usually does.

This is my first trip to France, Paris and i must say i am extremely excited to be here. I have a good history with this event, when it was in Greece (they moved it to France this year). I played twice, 5th the first year and then i won it in 2006.

France is quite nice (i have only scene from the airport to the bowl/hotel) but i have a good feel about it. Thats kind of important i guess when Kimberly and I are moving to France in May :)
The people are nice and willing to help, but from what i have heard Paris, the CBD, is like most major cities, people are in a hurry and not really to helpful. But ill make my own call when i visit Paris myself.

The bowl is about 35 min out side of the city so its not very busy and the roads are not packed with cars.

I bowl my first squad tonight at 5pm, so i hope i have good news to report after i bowl.

Be good

Belmo