A beautiful, sunny, late summer day may have dampened the turnout a bit, but not the spirits or the scores. Four bowlers cracked 1000 Saturday at Bowlero, as the scores were a little higher than we've recently seen. Again, we had a very wide range of averages on the cash list, from -9 pin per game to +36 pins per game.

Our Bowlero Champion, Mitch Vernon, happened to be the -9 handicap. He got into that magic groove, that all of us look to get into, and only occasionally do. For Mitch, he's been looking for that groove for awhile too, with this being his first win this year. He's a LIFE member, who has been a part of the Tour since it's early days, joining in 2002. This win was his 3rd Singles title, to go along with his one Doubles title. The win was good for a sweet $1577 payday, that he said he first has to share with wife Diane, then put the rest in his "Bowling Fund". Mitch bowls at Westside (Olympia), Bowlero and Pacific Lanes. He even drilled his own Storm Duece that he used to win this tournament. His good friends, Bill and Shannon Peterson and Al Wormwood, all from Olympia, were there cheering him on Saturday. Mitch works for the State D.O.T. and likes motorcycle racing, tennis and building in his spare time. Obviously, he's also a romantic, saying that his favorite hobby was spending time with his wife Diane. Two Bonus points Mitch - GREAT BOWLING too.

Kim Knise had a strong showing, with a 1038, good for 2nd place and $540, making it a "Father and Son" act with son Eric (Pacific Champ) who also cashed this week. Rich Eaton's 7th place finish was also good for enough points to overtake Lee Farquhar at the Top of the 'Bowler of the Year' standings.

We only paid out $125 from the Strike Pot, far short of what we expected. So, next week, we'll go back to the $500 Consolation Bonus, to try and give more away. The Strike Pot is now $5,016. The Progressive Pot is $1,642.