US Open PTQ 2023 Recap

bowlingball.com Staff Writer, Cortez Schenck

Published: 2/8/2023


I bowled the US Open PTQ last week. It took me a while to get comfortable on the lanes initially. I struggled to get my feet underneath me and feel confident. It also didn't help that I felt the pattern we bowled on was pretty tricky and flat in the middle part of the lane.

I started with urethane (Pitch Black) to blend the lanes out and shot 215 and 198. I then switched to a Rubicon UC3 (asymmetrical pearl urethane) for the next three games. I bowled games of 210, 203, and 202 for these three games. I was surprised scores were as high as they were, and that cut was plus. I had to be a little more aggressive to score higher.

I switched into a reactive symmetrical solid bowling ball (Wildstreak) and moved deep inside. It was a good move as I then shot games of 236 and 204. The two games with the Wildstreak bumped me up, and I had a small cushion going into the last game. I was plus 68 for the seven games, and the cut was plus 51.

Unfortunately, my last game was on a pair of lanes that hooked a considerably larger amount than the last couple of pairs. I was lost and tried to make some adjustments to grind out to make the cut. My mistake was not being more aggressive on the lanes. If I didn't try to play the lanes so safely, I could have possibly found a new reaction with another ball that would have bailed me out.

Playing it safe in smaller events will work, but when you are bowling against the caliber of players at the PTQ, it will not cut it. I ended up bowling 167 in the last game to miss the cut by 17 pins. It was a tough pill to swallow as I was in the cut, or barely out
of it, for most of the day. Overall, looking at the week, I learned two valuable things. First, when you are bowling against a talented field of bowlers, you can't expect to be able to play the lanes safely and make the cut. If your reaction is poor, a move or adjustment, will need to be made.

The second lesson was that high-caliber bowlers make hard patterns easier than I would normally expect. I expected the scores to be pretty low looking at the pattern, but again the bowlers out here are so talented and some of the best in their regions that scores will never be as low as what I am used to. It was disappointing, and not a great start to the year, but I will learn from it and apply it to the next events I am bowling.



-Cortez Schenck