By JILL WINTERS
PBA Communications
JACKSON, Mich. – Two Brunswick Hammer bowling balls helped one left-hander and one right-hander get to the top of the leaderboard after Day 1 of qualifying Saturday at the PBA50 David Small’s Jax 60 Open.
Lefty Michael Haggitt relied on two Purple Hammer urethane balls, one he drilled just before he took to the lanes, because he feels the ball suits the shorter Del Ballard 34’ oil pattern.
“The Purple Hammer is notorious for short patterns,” he said. “That was one of the reasons I signed with Brunswick and that is what got this done.”
His game plan was to stay as far away from the traffic on the lanes as he could, which meant getting as close to the gutter as possible so he could get the best angle to the pocket.
He accomplished that with 257, 235, 268, 278, 225, 201 and 226 for 1,690, averaging 241.43. Overall, the pairs he bowled on allowed him to play the lanes similar except on lane 49, where he shot 235.
“I thought that it was me getting the ball fast,” he said. “I had to move off that spot and slow it down a little bit more to actually get it to turn the corner.”
A Hammer Black Widow Pink urethane helped Walter Ray Williams Jr. win his all-time high 16th PBA50 title at the 2022 Odessa Open in June, bowling on this same pattern. On Saturday, the same ball led him to a 237.14 average, sitting 30-pins behind Haggitt in second place.
In the first game, he went with a Hammer 3-D Offset on a tighter lane, the same ball he sanded up and used at last week’s PBA50 David Small’s Championship Lanes Open, but that didn’t last long after posting a 191 game.
“In the fourth frame, I got the ball to the right and it never hooked at all,” he said. “I was like this doesn’t make any sense at all. I was really frustrated about that, and I had to settle myself down.”
In Game 2, he solely used the Pink urethane for 226 and then he shot 269 in game three. He finished his seven-game block with 227, 226, 290 and 231 for 1,660.
“This Pink Hammer just really matches up well with that (34’ oil pattern),” he said. “A little slow of a start but fortunately I was playing the lanes the way I needed to.”
Tom Adcock is in third place followed by Brad Angelo and Russell Hunt. Joel Carlson rolled a 300 in his first game on the B-squad.
Among area players, Cantons Tony Johnson had a 26 en route to 1,572 and sits eighth. Former Hartville resident Dick Gran of Bradenton, Fla. is 40th at 1,448; Akron’s Don Hogue is 57th at 1,608; Huron’s Bill Huepenbecker is 71st with 1,575; and Akron’s Ed Carter is 80th with 1,551 in the 117-player field.
The final day of qualifying will begin at 9 a.m. Sunday with the B-squad followed by the A-squad at 3 p.m. The top 39 will move on to the advancers round Monday. Watch the final PBA50 tournament of the season on BowlTV.com.
For complete results, go to: