PBA Players Championship Recap 2024
bowlingball.com Staff Writer, Wesley Low
Published: 1/22/2024
What’s up everyone and welcome back to the most talked about professional bowling blog in the world. Well, I guess not but I’m totally working on it. This week, I’m going to recap my time at the very high scoring PBA Players Championship held in Wichita, Kansas. If you’re new here, or know very little about my background, I was a student at Wichita State University from 2015 – 2021. I receive a Bachelor’s Degree in Management and Masters of Business Administration with an emphasis in Marketing. Also, I was part of the historic Shocker Bowling Program for four years. So….Wichita was home to me. Enough about my second home and let’s talk about my week.
PBA Players Championship was the very first tournament of the 2024 PBA Tour Season. For myself, the nerves were very high as I wanted to start the season on the right foot. Going into it, Urethane bowling balls have been my struggle over the last few year, especially on shorter oil patterns. Typically, a majority of bowlers on the left side of the lane will use urethane type bowling balls. For myself, I do not use urethane equipment all that often unless it’s asked of me. The problem I face on the PBA Tour, especially with other lefties, is their usage of urethane with surface eats the clean oil in the front part of the lane and creates carry down which makes it hard for my bowling ball to hook down lane. THAT WAS MY STRUGGLE AGAIN THIS WEEK!!!
Heading into the first block of the tournament, I decided I was going to throw a 2” Pin Motiv Jackal Ambush attempting to hit the 10 board at the arrows and break point of the 7 board down lane. From there, I would adjust my speed, targeting and equipment as the lanes transition. This was a great gameplan, but unfortunately I did not strike with the rest of the field and would end up +101 or 216 average for the first 6 games.
During the break, I went to see some longtime friends from Wichita to clear my mind and help me think about what the best plan of attack would be. Well, the idea from them, my ball reps Nick Pahr and Brett Spangler was to throw urethane from a similar zone. What happened… BOOOOOM 300 right out of the gate. I propelled myself from 70th place to 30th in one game. As the block continued however, I had my same struggles with my urethane ball not hooking down lane and my reactive struggling to hook down lane. I would finish my 12 games with +169 or 214 average. At this point, I need a good meal and good night’s rest as I’m 200 pins away from the cut which was very achievable even with the scores being so high.
The next morning, the plan of attack was to stay in my Tank Rampage Pearl a bit longer, then hopefully transition into a Pride Dynasty. Out the gates, I bowled 759 propelling me into striking distance of the cut. Well, I missed he transition and my scoring pace could not keep up leaving me at +362 or 220 average for 18 games. With 6 games to go, I figured the golden number would be +750 which would mean an almost perfect block. Again, I would start off absolutely amazing keeping me in the running but would lose my look during transition.
Ultimately, I would finish +501, 220 average, and 55 th place for the tournament.
This was a learning experience for me as I felt very confident on the fresh and could score with the best of them. Transition however, will be my learning experience that during the break, I will need to work on if I’m going to compete with the best of the them. My key take aways:
Pros:
- Great bowling on the fresh
- Spare shooting at a high level
Cons
- Missed transition
- Couldn’t stop splitting the end of blocks
- Mentally need to keep my mind clear
With that being said, we will be at the U.S. Open next week in Indianapolis. This event will be challenging and a testament to the mental game. Wish me luck and see you guys next week.
-Wesley
