Sunday, July 30, 2023 – CENTRAL LANES BOWLING CENTER, Tamuning, Guam
Story courtesy of Rick Torres
Rick Torres had the bowling gods on his side as his fellow teammate Liz Langas missed her spare attempt in the final frame to allow him to claim the July Pin Point Guam Senior Bowler of the Month title 185-183 with handicap.
The day started with the “Last Person Standing” progressive pot event. Veteran Mike Sanchez won the choice of either a guaranteed 205 of the pot gathered so far or a chance to take it all by rolling a second strike to take the $1,181 total pot. He chose the latter and fell short by leaving a lone pin standing. The pot now carries over into August where it will grow even larger, thus becoming a more lucrative monetary event.
The knockoff rounds began with the group A top two winners, Frank San Agustin and Art Dulla outpointing Jim Pinaula, Joe Murphy, Edgar Nalundasan, and Bill Roberto to advance to the next round. Group B top two winners were Liz Langas and Rosita Tosco over Joe Cepeda, Robert Baker, Arlene Reyes, and Zaldy Ponce to also advance to the second round.
San Agustin’s 278 with handicap and bonus points got him over third seed Ray Santos and Art Dulla. That took him to the semi-final round to face number one seed Torres. In the other quarterfinal match, Langas upset fourth seed Virgil Toledo and Rose Tosco with a 253 score plus handicap and bonus points.
The semi-finals turned out to be a battle of wills as the race to two wins format turned both matches into a roll off for both groups.
Torres matched San Agustin with a strike in the overtime frame and overcame San Agustin’s seven count in the second roll off frame with an eight count to go into the championship match. Langas bested Ada in her tie-breaker frame with a nine count to meet Torres for the title.
It was a battle of nerves for both finalists in the championship as Torres had to catch up Langas with her handicap only to lose it with errors of his own. In the tenth frame, Langas narrowly missed her spare conversion while Torres’ nine count was enough to hand him the championship.
The qualifiers for the August Senior Bowler of the Month are currently ongoing for the next three weeks during the Friday Night Golden Senior League. Entry fee is $20 per qualifier. All those who enter will be eligible for the Last Person Standing Progressive event in August. Estimated Progressive Pot may grow upward to $1,500 in prize money depending on the number of entries. Participants however must be up to date in the progressive entrée fees of $10/month up to August. The top 16 participants will go to the tournament competition. The top two qualifiers are guaranteed prize winnings by automatic entry into the top four competition for the monthly prize fund determined by the number of participants in August.
All participants are also awarded points to be eligible for the final year-end tournament in December. Interested persons may check with tournament director Manny Tagle during the Friday Night Golden Senior Bowling League.
Guam Bowling 