New Mexico bowler slides into top 10 after rain delay at Open Championships
When more than 11 inches of rain fell on the Corpus Christi area overnight, ending a recent drought, a portion of the convention center roof could not handle the surge and bowlers on Wednesday's final squad were greeted with a soggy surprise, as water poured onto some of the tournament's 48 lanes.
With the clean-up process underway, bowlers scheduled to bowl on the eight affected lanes at 7 a.m. Thursday morning experienced a two-hour delay and competed as soon as lanes became available. The wait seemed to be just what Carter needed though, as he posted his highest series in 13 years of Open Championships competition and moved into 10th place in Classified All-Events.
The 58-year-old right hander shot 636 in singles, his first ever 600 series at the tournament, and added 575 in doubles and 566 in team for a 1,777 all-events total. Kirby Lomax of Gainesville, Ga., leads Classified All-Events with 1,861.
"When I got here, there were buckets and trash cans on the lanes to catch whatever water was still coming in, but they were doing everything they could to get everyone going," said Carter, whose team squad in 2005 was pushed back briefly because of the train that derailed outside of the Baton Rouge River Center. "We came all this way and it looked like we weren't going to get to bowl, but I'm glad everything worked out. It took me 13 years to get my first 600 at this tournament, and it feels great to finally do it."
Carter, whose previous high series at the tournament was 590, made his first Open Championships appearance at the 1994 event in Mobile, Ala., and has been back every year since. Besides Thursday's performance, the highlight of his tournament career was a fourth-place finish in Classified Team at the 2003 event in Knoxville, Tenn.
"I don't usually look at the leaderboards much because you can only do what you are capable of anyway, so why give yourself something extra to worry about," Carter said. "The year we finished fourth, we had no idea we did so well until it was all over. No matter what happens or what bad luck we have, we like being able to come to the tournament each year. We enjoy seeing different areas and meeting new people, and doing something you enjoy in the process makes it even better."
Presenting sponsors for the 2006 USBC Open Championships are Eldorado, Silver Legacy and Circus Circus Hotel/Casinos in Reno, Nev. Other participating sponsors are Kegel, official lane maintenance provider, Texas State Aquarium, Majestic Ventures Yacht Charters, Inc., USS Lexington Museum and Texas Treasure Casino Cruises.
For more information on the USBC Open Championships, visit USBCOpen.com.
6/1/2006
By Matt Cannizzaro and David Ellis USBC Communications