Bowlers Tour

There's a new boy on the block. Well, an old boy, but with new parents. The Baltimore division of the Amateur Bowlers Tour is in action again, this time with new directors.Ernest and Henriette "Henry" Smith started operating the ABT Baltimore division in June. There was a grand reopening tournament at Country Club Lanes, and now the tournaments are in full-swing.Membership in ABT costs $25 for the first year, and carries entry fees of $35-$37 per tournament. New members receive a bowling shirt.

Tuesday morning the Early Risers begin their duckpin senior session at Patterson Lanes in East Baltimore. Four teams of three bowlers compete with friendliness and with vigor."

Charlie Blake won a $10,000 prize yesterday for rolling a perfect 300 game in tournament play -- in a Baltimore County courtroom, not at the bowling alley.The pins flew for him on May 7, 1989, in a perfect game that helped him to a third-place finish in the tournament worth $200. The Amateur Bowlers Tour competition was in Dundalk.But Charles Hansen Blake, 59, of the 400 block of Anglesea Street in Baltimore, believed that his perfect game during championship play was also to be rewarded by a special $10,000 prize, according to papers filed in a breach-of-contract lawsuit against the Baltimore division of the Amateur Bowlers Tour and two former franchise holders.

Uppy Webb Jr. of Catonsville has been bowling tenpins for a long time and still doesn't completely understand the sport.Until April 5, his best game and set were 278 and 698, respectively. Not bad for a 190-average bowler, who bowls in only one league -- the Wednesday Special -- at Brunswick Normandy.Throwing a 16-pound Dick Weber Legend bowling ball (recommended, fitted and drilled by Howard Marshall), Webb pounded out his career-high individual game and set.His first game of the night was a 255; then came a disappointing 189. But Webb wasn't through.

Everybody looks forward to putting up big numbers, but it's most impressive when you throw a high game or high set when money is on the line.Theresa McElhose made sure that both her career high duckpin figures came at the right time -- in a tournament.McElhose of Catonsville has been bowling since 1978."Last year I carried a 118 average," she said. "That's down from the year before when it was 126."I just bowled badly, I think I was trying too hard. It was my first year in the Women's Pro Tour and I think I put too much pressure on myself.

The Amateur Duckpin Tour has been sold to Charles McElhose, and the Duckpin Bowlers Tour rises from the ashes of the ADT."I have just made the toughest decision of my life," said Chet Gaffney. "I could not have made a better choice than Charles McElhose. This man is the most avid supporter of the game."This is the eighth season for the ADT, and while some changes might be instituted by McElhose, the concept of the tour will remain the same.The Duckpin Bowlers Tour will maintain a format for the average duckpin bowler.

Leanne Barrette will be back to defend her title in the Ladies Professional Bowlers Tour Hammer Eastern Open this week at Country Club Lanes."I'm looking forward to going back to Country Club Lanes; I seem to bowl very well there," said Barrette, the 1990-91 LPBT Bowler of the Year. "I've made the televi- sion finals three out of five years, so I'd have to say that I have a lot of confidence going into the tournament."Other tour stars competing include Anne Marie Duggan, the 1993 earnings and competition points leader, Tish Johnson, the Hammer Eastern Open winner in 1990 and 1991, and Jan Schmidt, the 1993 WIBC Queens Champion.

Mike Steinert is on a roll and seems determined to top all of his previous exploits on the local and national scene.The Baltimore Duckpin Bowlers Association's top-ranked male bowler for the past two seasons, the Baltimore native seems destined to top the list again.Bowling in two leagues, he's averaging in the high 150s and the low 160s, both figures above his top-ranked 1994 average of 152.884 (and more than two pins over his closest rival).In the Duckpin Bowlers Tour Super Bowl at Fair Lanes Westview, he started at the bottom of the stepladder finals and shot 660-plus for the four games to win the $3,000 first prize.

Uppy Webb Jr. of Catonsville has been bowling tenpins for a long time and still doesn't completely understand the sport.Until April 5, his best game and set were 278 and 698, respectively. Not bad for a 190-average bowler, who bowls in only one league -- the Wednesday Special -- at Brunswick Normandy.Throwing a 16-pound Dick Weber Legend bowling ball (recommended, fitted and drilled by Howard Marshall), Webb pounded out his career-high individual game and set.His first game of the night was a 255; then came a disappointing 189. But Webb wasn't through.

Tuesday morning the Early Risers begin their duckpin senior session at Patterson Lanes in East Baltimore. Four teams of three bowlers compete with friendliness and with vigor."

Mike Steinert is on a roll and seems determined to top all of his previous exploits on the local and national scene.The Baltimore Duckpin Bowlers Association's top-ranked male bowler for the past two seasons, the Baltimore native seems destined to top the list again.Bowling in two leagues, he's averaging in the high 150s and the low 160s, both figures above his top-ranked 1994 average of 152.884 (and more than two pins over his closest rival).In the Duckpin Bowlers Tour Super Bowl at Fair Lanes Westview, he started at the bottom of the stepladder finals and shot 660-plus for the four games to win the $3,000 first prize.

Brian Bever, Karl Schmidt, Mike Wheeler, Lee Brosius and Bruce Hollen earned a place in the $25,000 national finals in Reno, Nev., next July.Competing in a field of 71 teams at ABC Lanes West in Harrisburg, Pa., the five local tenpin bowlers won seven of nine Baker format matches on Nov. 5 to be top-seeded for the three-team television finals the next day.On the TV show, the team bowled two games with total pin fall determing the winner. Its first game was 170, five pins fewer than its opponent; the second game it posted a 198 against the other team's 169.That victory was worth $2,950 and a crack at the $25,000 in Reno next summer.

The Baltimore Duckpin Bowlers Association is creating a Hall of Fame, and the inaugural banquet will be conducted on Nov. 20 at the Orchard Beach Hall in Pasadena.Tickets are $20, and reservations can be made by calling Janet Hunt at (410) 766-3186.This first induction will be of bowlers who are already members of the National Hall of Fame.The association has been unable to contact several of the people who are to be inducted. It is looking for William Brozey, Ray Von Dreele, Robert Fisher, Winnie Guerke, Nova Hamilton, Lotta Janowitz, Ethel Brewer Miller, John Miller and Naomi Zimmerman.

Everybody looks forward to putting up big numbers, but it's most impressive when you throw a high game or high set when money is on the line.Theresa McElhose made sure that both her career high duckpin figures came at the right time -- in a tournament.McElhose of Catonsville has been bowling since 1978."Last year I carried a 118 average," she said. "That's down from the year before when it was 126."I just bowled badly, I think I was trying too hard. It was my first year in the Women's Pro Tour and I think I put too much pressure on myself.

The Amateur Duckpin Tour has been sold to Charles McElhose, and the Duckpin Bowlers Tour rises from the ashes of the ADT."I have just made the toughest decision of my life," said Chet Gaffney. "I could not have made a better choice than Charles McElhose. This man is the most avid supporter of the game."This is the eighth season for the ADT, and while some changes might be instituted by McElhose, the concept of the tour will remain the same.The Duckpin Bowlers Tour will maintain a format for the average duckpin bowler.

Leanne Barrette will be back to defend her title in the Ladies Professional Bowlers Tour Hammer Eastern Open this week at Country Club Lanes."I'm looking forward to going back to Country Club Lanes; I seem to bowl very well there," said Barrette, the 1990-91 LPBT Bowler of the Year. "I've made the televi- sion finals three out of five years, so I'd have to say that I have a lot of confidence going into the tournament."Other tour stars competing include Anne Marie Duggan, the 1993 earnings and competition points leader, Tish Johnson, the Hammer Eastern Open winner in 1990 and 1991, and Jan Schmidt, the 1993 WIBC Queens Champion.

The Baltimore Duckpin Bowlers Association is creating a Hall of Fame, and the inaugural banquet will be conducted on Nov. 20 at the Orchard Beach Hall in Pasadena.Tickets are $20, and reservations can be made by calling Janet Hunt at (410) 766-3186.This first induction will be of bowlers who are already members of the National Hall of Fame.The association has been unable to contact several of the people who are to be inducted. It is looking for William Brozey, Ray Von Dreele, Robert Fisher, Winnie Guerke, Nova Hamilton, Lotta Janowitz, Ethel Brewer Miller, John Miller and Naomi Zimmerman.

Brian Bever, Karl Schmidt, Mike Wheeler, Lee Brosius and Bruce Hollen earned a place in the $25,000 national finals in Reno, Nev., next July.Competing in a field of 71 teams at ABC Lanes West in Harrisburg, Pa., the five local tenpin bowlers won seven of nine Baker format matches on Nov. 5 to be top-seeded for the three-team television finals the next day.On the TV show, the team bowled two games with total pin fall determing the winner. Its first game was 170, five pins fewer than its opponent; the second game it posted a 198 against the other team's 169.That victory was worth $2,950 and a crack at the $25,000 in Reno next summer.

Marty Letscher is coming into his own.In the past three weeks, he has finished just out of the top four pro bowlers who make the weekly televised finals, and twice just missed breaking into the top 24. He did it again this week at Bradley Bowl in Windsor Locks, Conn., at the $170,000 Tums Classic.Over 18 games of bowling, Letscher, 36, the owner of Marty's Pro Shop in Bel Air, knocked down 4,109 pins for a 228 average. He collected a check for $1,330, meaning he has earned about $8,000 the past three weeks.

There's a new boy on the block. Well, an old boy, but with new parents. The Baltimore division of the Amateur Bowlers Tour is in action again, this time with new directors.Ernest and Henriette "Henry" Smith started operating the ABT Baltimore division in June. There was a grand reopening tournament at Country Club Lanes, and now the tournaments are in full-swing.Membership in ABT costs $25 for the first year, and carries entry fees of $35-$37 per tournament. New members receive a bowling shirt.