Jan 14th, 08
2008 Bradley Open
The Championship Match for the 2008 Bradley Open in Lexington, Kentucky turned into a battle of the Carolinas this year with Randy Weiss of Columbia, SC, bowling Brian Dennis of Durham, NC for the title. After 15 games of qualifying on Saturday and Sunday, each bowler successfully won their early matches by rolling pressure strikes in clutch situations. Bowling on what other bowlers called an “Extremely unforgiving pattern”, they made clutch shot after clutch shot to work their way into the finals. During the finals each bowler was having difficulty carrying strikes. Brian Dennis doubled in the eighth and ninth frames taking the first game of the best 2 out of 3 format, 196 to 179. Game 2 was identical to game one with both bowlers having difficulty getting strikes, but Brian Dennis rolled three strikes in the seventh, eighth and ninth frames to seal the win, 207 to 178.
Brian took home the First Place prize of $4,000 along with an entry to the 2008 USBC Masters Tournament and an entry to the High Roller. Randy Weiss took home $2,000 as the second place finisher.
The tournament had a field of 187 bowlers from 14 states competing for the $28,500 prize fund. The top qualifiers on Saturday morning were Dan MaClelland of Saginaw, MI and Jason Sterner of Lawerenceville, GA. The 1 PM qualifier was led by Brain Waliczek of Birch Run, MI. The leader of round 2 bowled Saturday night was TJ Jones from Burlington, NC. Each squad leader won the $500 “Hammer Heavy Hitter Award”.
Brian and Randy have bowled in previous Bradley Tournaments, and really enjoy the format. Asked what they enjoyed most about the tournament they agreed that “You know what you are getting”, an extremely tough and demanding lane condition.