By JILL WINTERS
PBA Communications
The PBA ELITE Regional Tour was filled with action last weekend as six bowlers went on to earn regional titles. Some big names on the PBA Tour were at the Midwest Regional 2 in Lockport, Ill. and they put on a show.
In match play, Boog Krol and Anthony Simonse and battled each other, with the latter earning a 267-265 win early and Simonsen got the best of Krol again in position round. Krol had a fantastic run with games of 234, 236, 255, 253 254 and 182 to give himself a rematch against Simonsen. Yet, Simonsen had just come off the pair they would compete on and he got the win, 201-169.
“Boog put on a six-game session there that was kind of fun to watch, if you weren’t his competitor. This pattern, from some of the other regionals, had been really tricky and I have always liked when the scores are a little bit lower,” Simonsen said. “This was something I don’t think many kids under the age of 30 know how to do, fall it back. It was one of the unique patterns I got to bust out some of my “old tricks” even though I am not above 30.”
Simonsen averaged nearly 222 during qualifying and the advancers round then had a 5-3 match play record. He had games of 267, 234, 182, 205, 187, 169 and 243 inside Strike N Spare 2.
“Fortunate enough to come away with the win. I guess I will go ahead and bowl South Pointe in two weeks,” Simonsen said. “I have been slowly bowling a little bit more these last few weeks and I can tell that it is paying off. I bowled well at a tournament last week on some pretty challenging conditions and bowled well in a few other events, so it is nice to be in the swing of things.”
Tom Hess became the tour’s first two-time winner, and he did it back-to-back weeks. The PBA Hall of Famer was truly debating between making the four-hour drive to Lockport or getting on a plane to head west to Seattle to compete in the Northwest Regional 2. Ultimately, he picked the shorter route and went on to get his 25th career regional title.
“That is pretty cool to be the first one to get two and to do it back-to-back is a pretty special feeling. There were hall of famers and national titlists, a pretty strong field to get that win against,” Hess said. “The last time I went back-to-back was when I won four PBA50 regionals in a row last year then got second.”
When Hess won the Midwest Regional 1 that was on a 37-foot oil pattern and this time the challenge was 48 feet. He was prepared having had a front-row seat to how previous players have attacked the longer pattern.
“It was a completely different mindset coming in this week. I knew we were playing a different part of the lane. With working for BowlTV and covering all of these ELITE Regionals and bowling on them, I firmly believe patience is the key,” Hess said. “It’s been huge for me being able to see what is going on and watch. I had a game plan that I really committed to. I was going to need to play left and almost play old school fall backs. Keep it in front of me, hit the pocket and make my spares.”
SOUTH
A nearly 10-hour drive to Raleigh, N.C., paid off for two Florida residents at the South Regional 2. Steve Newell just kept rising up the leaderboard in the standard division at Buffaloe Lanes North. After finishing 10th after qualifying on Saturday, he climbed into seventh place at the completion of the advancers round. In match play, he was nearly perfect with a 7-1 record as he claimed the $9,000 first-place victory. His last win came in 2012 at the PBA East Region Appletree Classic in Delaware.
“It felt amazing. It is a feeling I have not felt in a long time. I kind of stepped away from competitive bowling for a little bit, a three or four year period where I did not bowl any tournaments at all. I fried out and needed to reset,” Newell said. “It was to come out, play well and come away with a win.”
He liked the tournament format and its 48-foot oil pattern, plus, didn’t have any plans over the weekend, so he told his wife he was going to bowl. His “spur of the moment” decision was the right one for this bowling center proprietor.
“The prize fund was pretty sweet. For me to drive this far, that prize fund was pretty nice to look at,” Newell said. “I figured out something at the end of game one in the morning, as far as lane play was concerned. My ball rolls a little different and I was able to get it over the fronts differently and found some shim where others were struggling to find some shim. It worked out.”
Newell was followed by James Bennett, Christian Mouton, Brian Robinson and Alex Glinski.
Gary Faulkner was also excited to earn a regional title after a bit of a hiatus. He used a solid 6-1-1 match play record and a good game plan to get the $5,000 win in the senior division. He spent his tournament within the top three all weekend. In match play, he had just one game under 200 as he got another regional title.
“It feels good. It has been a while, since right after COVID,” Faulkner said, about getting another win. “I definitely had a game plan that I stuck to. Making sure I hit the pocket and made whatever spares were left, because the scores were not going to be high. Don’t chase a 250 game because you were not going to find a 250 game out there.”
With the win, he also earned his spot to compete at the Reginal Players Invitational being held in Reno in December. He is looking forward to that opportunity. He doesn’t bowl on a regular basis, as he still works full-time as a pro shop manager in The Villages, FL.
“It was actually really nice to be back out there,” Faulkner said. “They were happy to see me and I was happy to see them.”
Faulkner is already on the roster for the final South Regional Nov. 7 and 8 in Port St. Lucie, Fla., and Newell is thinking about making that shorter drive, too. Finishing behind Faulkner in second was Mark E. Clark followed by Mark Tarkington, Brad Angelo and Darren Fitzsimons.
NORTHWEST
At the Northwest 2 Regional, Cameron Weier got off to a dominant start in qualifying, averaging nearly 231, at Strikerz in Arlington, Wash. On Sunday, he admitted he made things a little interesting as he battled his way through match play to take home the $11,000 check and trophy. He points to game four of match play where he started with the front-nine as being the moment he got back on track after some struggles.
“That reaffirmed my confidence that I can actually throw shots today and throw some strikes. That also helped loosen my swing a lot,” Weier said. “It helped me stay in the moment, stay grounded and just keep going at it shot by shot.”
Behind him was Thomas McNeal in second, Austin Gratzer, PJ Haggerty and Harrison Davis in fifth. This was Weier’s eighth regional title.
“It always feels good to win. Reaffirms that I can still compete, still bowl at a high level,” Weier said. “I love coming out here doing this. I love bowling at this center as well. They treat us very well here, so it feels good to win here again.”
On the senior side, it came down to the final frames in game 19 as Shawn Horenberger defeated Richard Corwin to earn the title and $6,000 check.
“It’s a brutal condition and just trying to make two or three really good shots on this was really difficult. He (Corwin) left that split in the ninth and it was like, ‘OK, this is the time.’ You have to maintain a focus, you have to maintain your process,” Horenberger said. “It’s just bare down and make the best shot you can make. At that time, I happened to do that the first ball in the 10th. The second one I got fortunate.”
He stuck to his process, kept his heartrate down and got just what he needed to seal the victory and get his spot in the Regional Players Invitational in December. He shot 233 and 237 in his final two games to put himself in a great position.
“In all honesty, I did not know the pin count I needed. I got fortunate to get eight,” Horenberger said. “That last ball, I was hoping it was good and that was it.”
Behind Horenberger and Corwin were Blaine Weninger, who won the first Northwest Regional, Rick Benard was fourth and Clyde DeLoach finished in fifth place.
Later this week, the PBA ELITE Regional Tour will head to Fort Wayne, Ind., as the Central Region hosts its third ELITE regional.