Sport Bowling experience carries Eoff to USBC Masters lead
By Lucas Wiseman USBC Communications
WAUWATOSA, Wis. - As the United States Bowling Congress Sport Bowling national high average award winner last season, Derek Eoff of Greenfield, Wis., has had plenty of experience competing on tough lane conditions.
Eoff put that experience to good use Tuesday in the first round of the 2007 USBC Masters, taking the early lead with 1,252 after five games. He leads a field of 485 of the best professional and amateur players in the world at AMF Bowlero Lanes.
The current Team USA member had games of 236, 266, 279, 234 and 237 in taking the overall lead on the last squad of the day. Denny's PBA Tour exempt player Chris Loschetter of Avon, Ohio, is second with 1,213.
"Bowling on the Sport Bowling conditions really help me prepare for tournaments like the Masters and Team USA events because you have to stay focused and make good shots," said Eoff, who competed for Nebraska from 1998-2002 and now works for USBC as a Sport Bowling Coordinator. "My goal was to come in and make good decisions today. I wanted to get as many pins as I could so it would be a little easier to make the first cut."
Loschetter, meanwhile, competed on the third shift of the day on the fresh oil and turned in a solid set on games of 208, 248, 279, 245 and 233.
"For whatever reason, I always seem to score high on the fresh oil," Loschetter said. "With that high of a number, it allows me to be confident and comfortable. It also lets me try some different things the rest of qualifying to make sure I have a good look for match play."
Denny's PBA Tour exempt player Tommy Jones of Simpsonville, S.C., sits in third place with 1,208 while amateur Robert Gotchall of Lincoln, Neb., is fourth with 1,200. Tom Baker of King, N.C., who held the lead after two squads Tuesday, is fifth with 1,191. For complete standings, click here.
"I was just looking to shoot 60 or 70 over the first block and hang in there," Baker said. "If someone would have told me I would shoot 191 over, I wouldn't have given them 10 cents. I switched balls and had a great reaction and when you get comfortable like that, it gets easy."
All players will compete in five more games of qualifying Wednesday with the top 25 percent of the field advancing to Thursday's final five games of qualifying. The top 63 bowlers after 15 games will join defending champion Doug Kent in the double-elimination match-play bracket until the field is down to four bowlers for the TV finals.
The 2007 USBC Masters is a major on the Denny's PBA Tour and the athletes are competing for a top prize of $100,000 and an overall prize fund of $350,000.
The finals of the Masters will be held on Oct. 28 at 1 p.m. Eastern at Miller Park, home of Major League Baseball's Milwaukee Brewers, and televised live on ESPN.
For tickets to the finals, visit tickets.com, the Miller Park box office or call the Miller Park box office at (414) 902-4000. Tickets range in price from $12.50 to $77.50 and each ticket also includes admission to Bowlfest, a special event to be held at Miller Park on Oct. 27 from 6-9 p.m.
NOTEWORTHY
* Two players registered perfect games on the opening day. In the first game on the first squad of the day, Lennie Boresch Jr. of Kenosha, Wis., shot 300 and sits in 16th place overall with 1,152. On the day's final squad Aaron Jones of Chicago shot a perfect game and is tied for 53rd at 1,087. "It's always nice to get off to a good start," said Boresch, whose best finish at the Masters came in 1988 when he took sixth. "I caught a couple of breaks but I also threw some good shots. Pair to pair it's always a guessing game here at Bowlero. I hit a couple nice pairs and really took advantage of it. Then I scrapped out a couple decent games near the end."
* Four Denny's PBA Tour exempt players are not competing this week in the Masters, which kicks off the pro season. Jason Couch withdrew with a knee injury while Patrick Healey Jr., Billy Oatman and Tim Criss elected not to compete.
* In the record field of nearly 20 women, Tish Johnson of Colorado Springs, Colo., leads the way with 1,090 and sits in 49th place. Michelle Feldman of Skaneateles, N.Y., is next in a tie for 75th place with 1,064.