Thursday, August 2, 2012

PBA Senior Tour Heads for Oympia Lanes in Hammond

As the 2012 PBA Senior Tour season draws to a close, a field of approximately 120 players will compete in the PBA Senior South Shore Open presented by DV8 Aug. 6-9 at Olympia Lanes in Hammond, Ind.  The Senior South Shore Open is the second-to-last event of the season which wraps up with the Senior Decatur Open presented by Brunswick Aug. 11-14. Here are a few storylines heading into the Hammond event:

Walter Ray Williams Jr. hopes to clinch first Senior POY crown: Heading into the final two tournaments of the PBA’s 2012 Senior Tour season, Hall of Famer Walter Ray Williams Jr., holds a commanding lead in the Senior Player of the Year points race. As the Senior Tour’s only two-time winner this season, the
52-year-old  holds a 16-point lead over fellow Hall of Famer Amleto Monacelli
and Mike Edwards. If he can clinch POY in Hammond it would be his first Senior
honor to go along with a record seven PBA Tour POY awards. Williams was also the 2010 Senior Rookie of the Year.

Return of Johnny Petraglia to 2012 season: PBA Hall of Famer Johnny Petraglia will make his return to the 2012 season after a three-month absence because of shoulder surgery. Right before his surgery, Petraglia, a 14-time winner on the PBA Tour and seven-time winner on the Senior Tour, became the only bowler in PBA history to win a PBA Tour or Senior Tour title in six different decades when he won the Senior Dayton Classic in May. Fellow PBA great Dick Weber also won titles in six decades but his final tournament win was a PBA regional title.

Former Tour players make their mark on Senior Tour in first year of eligibility:
This season four players have scored wins in their first year of eligibility
including Lennie Boresch Jr., who won the Sun Bowl in The Villages in his Senior Tour debut; former PBA Tour player Bob Learn Jr. (Senior Mooresville Classic), Amleto Monacelli (Senior U.S. Open) and Mike Edwards (USBC Senior Masters).  All are in contention for Senior Rookie of the Year honors which is determined by a vote by PBA members and selected bowling media.

Harry Sullins hoping to defend his title: In 2011, Harry Sullins, a winner of
five PBA Tour titles, won his second Senior Tour title of the season and third
of his career by defeating eventual Senior Player of the Year Ron Mohr of Eagle
River, Alaska, 246-221, in the championship match of the Senior Lake County
Open.

PBA legend Dave Soutar’s career coming to a close: After more than a
half-century competing on the PBA National and Senior Tours, Hall of Famer Dave Soutar of Bradenton, FL, will call it a career at the conclusion of the 2012
Senior Tour season. Soutar has logged 51 years in PBA competition and a record
257 Senior Tour tournaments heading into the Hammond event. He is an 18-time PBA Tour winner and seven-time winner on the Senior Tour which includes the 2002 Senior Lake County Open.

Hammond’s own Kenny Parks hoping for first title of the season and second of his career:  Kenny Parks of Hammond, the winner of the 2008 USBC Senior Masters, will be trying for his second career Senior Tour title. His best finishes this season are a seventh and 11th and he finished fourth in last year’s Senior Lake County Open.

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