Dammit, it took me too long to have something to update in this thread! After Waxahachie, I started off in Rowlett doing the wrong thing for 4 games and was 80 pins out of the cut. Switched balls, got deep and started hooking it. Wound up missing the cut by about 10 pins. 🤬 Almost the same thing happened in Beaumont in November. Started with 240, then lost it and missed some spares. Made a change and came back the last 2 games to miss by about 10 again. 🤬 🤬 Next was Odessa in January. I thought my spare game had gotten better, but I was wrong. Missed about 8 in that 8 games to miss the cut again by 30ish. 🤬🤬🤬 Totally changed how I hold my spare ball when I got home.
Then, I decided to go to Colorado to see an old UT roommate and bowl a regional up there. Glad I did. Started 252-290. LFG! It was up and down after that, but finished +168 to be 3rd after qualifying (behind only Tom Hess and Tish Johnson). Slipped a little to 5th the next 6 games Sunday morning because I didn't put enough surface on the purple hammer. Didn't make that mistake twice. After the 3rd round, I finished in the 3-seed for the stepladder. Shot a clean 225, but lost to a 229 because he strung more strikes. The 4th place $1000 check barely covered my expenses, but I didn't go for the money.
Don't know if I'll bowl another regional before the summer, but the National PBA50 tour starts in Vegas the first week of June with the USBC Senior Masters. I'm taking the wife to that one. Should be fun.