2011 Kurt Davids New Years Eve Results
The 11th Frame: A 155-entry tribute to the ‘BFI’
When I walked into Badger Bowl about 10:45 a.m. on Saturday I was stunned.
Bryan Bannach had posted on Facebook that Badger had 135 people signed up for the Kurt Davids Memorial New Year’s Eve Day Handicap Singles tournament and Gail Myers Jr. had predicted a giant turnout — even bigger than last year’s 145 entries — since New Year’s Eve was a Saturday this year.
But to walk in and see a line stretching from the check-in desk behind about lane 20 all the way to the door by lane 1 was amazing.
Jim Wipperfurth of Badger Pro Shop and the rest of the folks at Badger had planned to put 10 on a pair on lanes 3-30, leaving 1-2 open as a pair in case there was a breakdown and also because lane 1 is unfair to right-handers with the wall along the approach nearly flush with the left gutter. (Lane 30 has extended space to the right for a walkway.)
That provided for 140 entries.
It was not long before Wipperfurth announced that 1-2 would be used and there would be 11 on a pair, providing for an astounding 155 entries.
Eventually, he also decided on advancing 31 bowlers to match play after the four games of qualifying, which started about 45 minutes late around 12:15 p.m.
(Look for Badger to use some type of pay-in-advance system next year to ease registration. My suggestion was to charge $40 in advance and $45 or $50 day-of.)
The top seed would get a bye in the first round, with the other 30 matched up in one-game matches. Think of it as a 32-person bracket without a 32nd seed.
That meant five match wins would be required for 30 bowlers and four for one to take the title.
The cut ended up at 866 for four games — with the handicap of 90 percent based on a 220 average capped at 60 per game.
I shot 885 in qualifying and ended up winning the $900 top prize, beating Brian Hoffman 247-223 in the title match. Hoffman won $550.
I fired a perfect game in the semifinals against Kevin Punzel, who had a small 200.
My earlier wins were 237 to the 221 (201 plus 20 pins handicap) of Becky (Burkhammer) Murphy, 225-146 (120-26) over Rob Meyer and 290-213 (166-47) over Kurtis Kleven, who told me he was competing in his first tournament ever. Making match play was a pretty awesome first effort!
(If Jim or someone else from Badger wants to provide me with details and data from the tournament I will update this blog.)
After using a Storm Victory Road Solid and a Marvel in struggling to a 199 first game, I switched to my beloved Frantic in the third frame of game two and stayed with it the rest of the day.
I just chased the oil in from around third arrow to inside fourth arrow (at the arrows) trying to throw it hard (by my standards) and roll it.
I faltered in the first half of my match against Murphy when I lost ball speed and survived with a closing string of strikes. She bowled better than me and deserved to win that match.
A tournament win always is great, but to do it in the tournament that honors my dear departed buddy is extra special.
RIP BFI!
Here are the match play matches from Badger Pro Shop:
ROUND 1
1. Dal Geitz
32.
17. Howie Loret
16. Chris Loret
9. Craig Hull
24. Joe Ryan
25. Mike Thill
8. Ryan Anderson
5. Matt Meekma
28. Teresa Frosch
21. Eric Paulson
12. Travic Fluckiger
13. Alex Holden
20. Brian Hoffman
29. Mark Allen
4. Jason Bauhs
3. Aaron Malone
30. Rob Meyer
19. Jeff Richgels
14. Kurtis Kleven
11. Jay Taylor
22. Becky Murphy
27. Chris Huppert
6. Jake Stiner
7. Vong Thao
26. Trent Hale
23. Scott Lyons
10. Ben Kojo
15. Joey Sonekiao
18. Kevin Punzel
31. Joey Kick
2. Jay Heinzelman
ROUND 2
Dal Geitz
Howie Loret
Craig Hull
Mike Thill
Theresa Frosch
Eric Paulson
Brian Hoffman
Mark Allen
Rob Meyer
Jeff Richgels
Becky Murphy
Jake Steiner
Vong Thao
Ben Kojo
Kevin Punzel
Jay Heinzelman
ROUND 3
Howie Loret
Mike Thill
Eric Paulson
Brian Hoffman
Jeff Richgels
Becky Murphy
Vong Thao
Kevin Punzel
ROUND 4
Mike Thill
Brian Hoffman
Jeff Richgels – 300
Kevin Punzel
FINALS
Jeff Richgels
Brian Hoffman
