June 2017 -
11
Bel Mateo Bowl Turns 60
(From page 10)
I believe so strongly in having a 20
something year old involved in your Cen-
ter that I actually commissioned a special
Nor Cal meeting and encouraged every-
one to bring their own 20 something to
discuss what their Center is missing or
how it could be improved.
For my first 35 years in the bowling
business, there was never a way to talk
to open play. This led most of us to form
leagues and depend on organized open
play and tournament business to survive.
With our current database of over
22,000, a text messaging club in the
thousands and all of the social media
platforms, I believe we are now able to
touch our open play customers and com-
municate with them. This has led to tre-
mendous revenue growth which of
course enabled us to make all of the
physical changes to the building. My
league business is almost exactly the
same as it was 4 years ago. I‘m filled
with league at 6pm, Monday through
Friday and half the house at 9pm.
But open play revenue has grown
300%. Last year we averaged over
$10,000.00 per lane per month in online
reservations. As of June 1, 2017 we are
now averaging over $18,000.00 per lane
per month in online reservations with an
average of 15 online reservations per
day. The trend is continuing to climb.
I have always felt the stigma of working
in a Bowling Alley. People would look
down upon us who work in the industry.
When I began managing the Center, I
immediately wanted to end that stigma. I
wanted our employees to hold their
heads up high and tell people where they
worked and quit being ashamed of work-
ing in a Bowling Alley. After winning this
award, I believe I have finally achieved
this goal.
Mike has been in the bowling business
in the San Francisco Bay Area since
1970. He started out in the Pro Shop
business but moved into a Bowl after
about 10 years. He has worked the
desk, managed different Centers includ-
ing a 60 lane Center and moved up to
the VP of operations for Bowling Man-
agement Group which was Rex Golo-
bic‘s 3 Centers which included a 24 lane,
a 32 lane and a 44 lane center. He was
elected to the San Francisco USBC‘s
Hall of Fame for Superior Performance in
2011. He has 15 sanctioned 300‘s and 8
sanctioned 800‘s. He is married with 2
children and currently has 2 grand chil-
dren.
PBA Spare Shots: England’s Dom Barrett Takes Lead in
PBA Xtra Frame Storm Cup Points Race
by Bill Vint
England‘s
Dom Barrett
, with a fifth-place finish in the PBA Xtra Frame Wilmington Open after a third-place finish in the Xtra
Frame Reality Check Classic in March, has taken the lead in the Xtra Frame Storm Cup points standings after two of seven
events.
Barrett, who owns five PBA Tour titles including the 2013 PBA World Championship, earned 18 points in Tamarac, FL., and
16 points in Wilmington, N.C., for a total of 34 points and a one-point lead over Reality Check Classic winner
Josh Blanch-
ard
of Mesa, Ariz. Blanchard earned 25 points for his win in Tamarac, FL., and another eight points for finishing 13th in Wil-
mington.
In each Xtra Frame Storm Cup event, the top 20 players earn points toward a pool of $50,000 in bonus prize money that will
be awarded to the top five players. The winner of each Storm Cup event receives 25 points. Second place is worth 19 points,
third 18 points with points diminishing by one through 20th place, which is worth a single point.
Tom Daugherty
of Riverview, Fla., is third with 28 points after finishing seventh in both of the first two events. Wilmington
winner
Anthony Simonsen
of Austin, Texas, is tied for fourth place with Venezuela‘s
Ildemaro Ruiz
with 25 points, but he
didn‘t bowl in Tamarac.
Rounding out the top 10 are
Dick Allen
, Columbia, S.C., in sixth place with 20 points;
AJ Johnson
, Oswego, Ill., and
Rhino
Page
, Orlando, Fla., 19;
EJ Tackett
, Huntington, Ind., 18; and
Jason Sterner
, Rockledge, Fla., and
Shawn Maldonado
,
Houston, tied for 10th with 17 points each.
Mongolis’s Ochbayar Munkhgerel Makes PBA Debut In Wilmington
Ochbayar Munkhgerel
became the first bowler from Mongolia to bowl in a PBA Tour event when he entered the Xtra Frame
Wilmington Open. Mongolia was one of seven countries represented in Wilmington, including England, Venezuela, Japan,
Canada, Indonesia and the U.S.
Munkhgerel, 29, is a three-time national champion in his home country, and has been president of the Mongolian Profes-
sional Bowling Association since 2006. The married father of one has a college degree in international trade and noted his
boyhood bowling hero was
Pete Weber
. ―Och,‖ as he prefers to be called, finished 91st in the field of 96 in his PBA debut.
QUICK NOTES
● Fifteen-time PBA Regional titlist
Tyler Jensen
became Dexter Bowling‘s new vice president, effective June 1. The com-
pany‘s South Central sales representative since 2012, Jensen will succeed current vice president
Bud Clapsaddle
, who will
be retiring at the end of this year. Jensen, a 33-year-old Wichita State University graduate, has been a PBA member since
2002.
●
Walter Ray Williams Jr.
rolled his 105th career 300 game in PBA competition during Tuesday‘s qualifying in the PBA50
Northern California Classic at Harvest Park Bowl in Brentwood, Calif. He‘s now within six perfect games of all-time
leader
Parker Bohn III
who has rolled 111 300 games in PBA events.
●
Mika Koivuniemi
is making his debut as a PBA50 competitor in the USBC Senior Masters this week in Las Vegas. The
Finnish native, who turned 50 on April 6, is a four-time PBA Tour champion including three majors. He retired from full-time
PBA Tour competition after the 2015 season to become head coach of the United Arab Emirates bowling team. Koivuniemi,
who won the USBC Masters in 2000, advanced to double-elimination match play in his Senior Masters debut after qualifying
in 32nd place.
●
The ESPN telecast of the Grand Casino Hotel & Resort PBA Oklahoma Open
semifinals, which will air live on Saturday,
July 1 at 1 p.m. EDT, also will re-air on Sunday, July 2, at 11 a.m. on ESPN2. The re-air precedes the live finals of the event
which will air on ESPN at 1 p.m. that same day.
