PARADISE lived up to it's name for a number of our bowlers this week.  We softened-up the conditions a little Saturday and the Top scores took a healthy jump, with SIX bowlers topping 1000.  Despite the increases at the Top of the Cash List, the Cut-Line remained about the same at just 898.  Since we had two Members tied at 898, we added one extra place to the Cash List, paying a total of 28 spots.  Paradise proved a struggle for many Saturday, yet we also had many of the bowlers on the Cash List who shot their Personal Bests including our Champion!  The 9-Tap Jackpotdidn't see any near misses this week, with nobody stringing any more than 4-Taps.  But that didn't mean the Pot got off easy, since THREE Members achieved that number, taking a total of $450.00 out of the Pot ($150.00 each).  The Jackpot still climbed back above the $8,000.00 mark for next week at Roxbury, which is the site of the next-to-last time the Pot was hit. 

 

The Tour's newest CHAMPION is John Ramshur, who earned his first Title only 5 months after becoming a Tour Member.  John shot a solid 1038 in the 12:00 squad, which was BARELYenough to take the lead away from Brian Selck who shot a 1035 in the same squad.  At that point it seemed unlikely that those scores would hold-up for the rest of the afternoon.  Despite having scores topping 1000 in every squad, nobody came close to matching those two 1st Squad scores.  We often remind bowlers that they never know when they'll get HOT.  John certainly had the ability to shoot a BIG series, but he didn't expect to improve his Personal Best by 140 pins Saturday.  John said that he was surprised that he was able to shoot on a line that was very close to the same line he shoots at Sun Villa.  He used hisHammer 'Swagga', drilled by Bob Sanchez at the Sun Villa Pro Shop, where he bowls League on Wednesday's.  Bob's wife Joy was there to cheer him on and to help him with the hefty check worth $2,379.00.  When asked what he'd do with the Winner's check, he said he'd take Joy to dinner... I have a hunch Joy has some additional ideas!  John lives in Issaquah and has worked for the City of Bellevue for the last 31 years.  CONGRATS John for your first Title!!

 

In 2nd Place, Brian Selck came within 3 pins of his 2nd Tour Title.  He was clearly upset with himself for a few shots that got away in his last game.  Brian's 1035 series wasn't his Career Best, but it was his best since winning his Title in 2009.  A HUGE 2nd Place payday of $1,052.00 will help soothe the wounds of his near miss.  In 3rd Place, Denny Canfield had his Best Finish and topped his Best Series by 63 pins, shooting a strong 1008.  The$566.00 Denny earned was another above average payday.  Pen Hagen and Super Senior Stu Gallagher both continued their recent Hot Streaks finishing in a tie for 4th Place.