Press release from Genesee Region USBC:

If the Genesee Region USBC awarded rings instead of plaques, Scott Culp’s victory at the 70^th Scratch Memorial Tournament at Mount Morris Lanes would have been “one for the thumb.”

The 45-year-old high-revving right-hander showed that he continues to be at the top of his game by winning his fifth Scratch Memorial crown, defeating Pat Stefanik of Williamsville, 244-165, in the title match.

Culp, a Honeoye Falls resident, started the championship match with six strikes. He earned $650 while successfully defending the title he won iln 2023. He also won this event in 2017, 2018 and 2020.

“It’s so exhilarating,” said Culp, when asked how it feels to win five times. “There are a lot of good bowlers who compete in the Genesee Region association.”

Culp posted an 817 score in the Sunday morning qualifying squad – the third of three four-game squads to determine who would advance to the four-game semifinals. He said he was fortunate to move on.

“The way the day started out, I wasn’t sure if I would make it past the qualifying round,” he said. “But once the semifinals started, I decided to push everything to the right and fortunately it worked out for me.”

Usually, Culp, known for his high backswing, stands on the left side of the approach, using an inside line. His adjustment led to semifinal games of 244, 221, 198 and 266 for a 929 total on the challenging 39-foot Middle Road V2 oil pattern that gave him the No. 1 seed for the five-bowler stepladder finals.

Perry father-son duo of Brian and Brady Weber earned the No. 5 and No. 4 seeds, respectively, with Brian topping Brady, 210-143. From there, the third-seeded Stefanik, the lone lefty in the finals, edged Weber, 169-159.

Stefanik then defeated Adam Philp of Batavia, 201-173, to advance to the title match against Culp. Stefanik won $350 while Philp took home $240, Brian Weber $200 and Brady Weber $180.

Three other Genesee County bowlers cashed in the event – Batavians Mike Pettinella and Gregg Wolff and Mickey Hyde of Alexander.

The tournament drew 65 entrants and paid out $3,000 in prize money, including $300 added to the prize fund by the GRUSBC.

Philp and Kevin Gray Jr. of Warsaw led the Saturday 10 a.m. qualifying squad with lofty 956 totals and split the $25 bonus as the tournament’s high qualifiers. Gray finished with a 279 game (the event’s high game) but unfortunately suffered an arm injury in the second game of the semifinals and had to withdraw.

Also qualifying off the Saturday 10 a.m. squad were Pat Donaghue of Pittsford (914), Brian Weber (886), Matt Slocum of Perry (841) and Hyde (836).

Qualifying off the Saturday 2 p.m. squad were Shawn Better of Geneseo (924), Stefanik (889), Dana Nowak of Livonia (860) and Brady Weber (844).

Qualifying off the Sunday 10 a.m. squad were Pettinella, who led the squad with 820, followed by Culp (817), Dennis Van Duser of Perry (803), Mark Brown of Attica (793) and Wolff (791).

In the semifinals, Philp recorded 891, Stefanik 872, Brady Weber 807 and Brian Weber 794.

Donaghue had 787 to place sixth overall, followed by Better, Hyde, Pettinella, Nowack, Wolff, Brown, Van Duser, Slocum and Gray Jr.

After struggling through a couple of subpar games in the Saturday Night Mixed League at Mount Morris Lanes last week, Piffard resident Venitha "V.J." Frew knew she had to do something to change the pace.

So, with her sister on hand to watch her bowl, the 46-year-old right-hander decided that they would get on their cell phones and conduct the family’s traditional Christmas present draw.

Little did Frew -- formerly V.J. Ellis prior to her marriage to George Frew in September -- know that Christmas would come early for her in the form of a 300 game.

By rolling 12 consecutive strikes in that third game, Frew became just the second woman to reach perfection at the eight-lane establishment.

Frew, who is employed as the meat and produce team leader at the Geneseo Walmart, opened the session with games of 156 and 113, much lower than her 169 average. A bowler for many years in Hornell, she said she had averaged around 190 in the past and had a 288 high game to her credit.

These days, she’s bowling twice a week at Mount Morris Lanes – on Saturdays on a team with her husband, and Sam and Ashley Repass (George’s daughter) and on Tuesdays on a team with George; her daughter, Courtney McDaniel, and friend, David Lohmer.

Ironically, this past Saturday she was bowling against a team of McDaniel, Lohmer, daughter Mackenzie Towner and son-in-law Corey Towner.

After the 113 game that saw her leave seven splits, Frew said she just "needed to regroup."

"The only changes I made is I just relaxed," she said. "And the funny thing is (which helped her during the third game) I was distracted. My sister, who lives an hour away, had come over that night to the bowling alley. Since we all always do a family Christmas draw, we got my phone and her phone and another phone and kind of like video-chatted all of our children. And we sat there drawing names out for the Christmas draw."

She said she just got up to bowl, set her feet, looked at her mark and let the ball go.

"I didn’t even pay attention. I actually thought I had had a spare in the first or second frame. So, I didn't even know how many strikes I had in a row. After I threw the first strike in the 10th frame, I heard my husband in the background cheering. I said, 'Oh, cool' and looked up at the screen and thought, 'Oh my goodness.'"

That's when the nerves set in, she said.

"I started trembling very badly. And I got up there and I apparently rushed myself, although I didn't feel that I did," she said.

It was then that another bowler, Jamie Watson, got up and made his delivery in attempt to slow Frew down a bit.

Following the 11th strike, she said all she thought about was keeping the ball out of the channel.

"All I kept saying is do not pitch it in the gutter, do not pitch it in the gutter," she said. "So, I let it go and it was a good ball. And I knew even if I only got nine or eight pins, I was going to be more than satisfied because my high game before that was 288."

Frew said she was fortunate in that three of her deliveries crossed over to the Brooklyn side but her 15-pound Roto Grip UFO knocked down all the pins each time.

The previous 300 game by a woman at Mount Morris Lanes was rolled by Amanda Coniglio of Mount Morris on Feb. 23, 2015.

Frew said she is opting for the ring from the USBC, personalized with her initials and Mount Morris Lanes, New York on it. She also will receive a plaque from the Genesee Region USBC.

Submitted photo: VJ Frew reacts after rolling a 300 game last Saturday at Mount Morris Lanes.

AN AGREEMENT that has elevated my Pin Points column to a new home on The Batavian online news website is a victory for the great sport of bowling and its fans.

Until a few weeks ago, I had every intention of writing the column for publication in Batavia’s daily newspaper. But when I called to make sure we were all set for another year, I was informed that the editor had decided to “go in a different direction” – thus ending a longstanding relationship.

Being someone who has been able to regroup on the fly, I quickly contacted Howard Owens, publisher of The Batavian, and pitched the idea of running the column on his website.

Fortunately, Howard realized the value (both journalistically and financially) of such a column, and he set the wheels in motion to make it happen. With the help of Lisa Ace, his creative graphic artist, and promotional support from WBTA Radio, and online news sites in Orleans, Livingston and Wyoming counties, here we are – the first of 18 columns over the next 36 weeks.

A new column is scheduled to appear every other Thursday through the month of April, and we also intend to sprinkle in bowling news on the website between column publication dates.

This week I am sharing some exciting news at Mount Morris Lanes, “words of wisdom” from the president of the Genesee Region USBC and memories of five Batavia bowlers who passed away recently.

Before that, however, I would like to acknowledge the businesses that have stepped up to keep local bowling in the public eye.

I am pleased to announce that Turnbull Heating in Batavia, Southside Deli of Batavia, Rose Garden Bowl in Bergen, Mancuso Bowling Center in Batavia, Genesee Region USBC, Oak Orchard Bowl in Albion, Mount Morris Lanes, Sheelar Automotive Repair in Batavia, Perry Bowling Center, Al Vlietstra Masonry in Geneseo, Sloat Tire Shop in Batavia and Letchworth Pines in Portageville have signed on again as sponsors.

We also have a new sponsor – Begin’rs to Pros Pro Shop located in Stone Ridge Plaza in Rochester. You can view these full color ads - which also are linked to websites -- on this page. Some of them will run on The Bowling Page alongside every column, and some will run on an “every other column” basis.

Also on this page you will find a list of Genesee Region USBC bowling centers which have been “hyperlinked” to their websites or Facebook pages, if applicable.

Advertising on The Bowling Page is a cost-effective opportunity for business owners to promote their products and/or services. If you, as a business owner or manager, are interested in learning more about the special rates for this page, please contact me at mikepett2002@yahoo.com.

MOUNT MORRIS LANES GOES ‘SYNTHETIC’

WHEN THE "GUARDIAN" no longer lives up to its name, it’s time to find a replacement. That’s the story at Mount Morris Lanes, where proprietor Bob Santini (in photo above) has made a significant investment by installing new Qubica/AMF synthetic lanes, approaches and pin decks at his eight-lane center on Erie Street in the Livingston County village.

“The Guardian that we had put over the (wood) lanes was peeling off, and it was either go to synthetic or be faced with major repairs to the Guardian,” Santini said.

Guardian is a film overlay that is designed to help make wood lanes last a little longer without resurfacing.

Santini and his brother, Dan, went with Guardian about six years ago "because during a resurfacing job we were hitting a lot of nails,” Bob said, adding that the overlay made the lanes look a lot better. With time and usage, though, the protective coating wore out.

The new lanes, installed in July, require no resurfacing, just daily conditioning (oiling and stripping).

Already, with limited open bowling in the summer, Santini said bowlers are “striking like crazy” and he is confident that scores will go up this season.

FLUKER, GENESEE REGION USBC LOOK AHEAD

TOM FLUKER of Batavia is president of the Genesee Region USBC, the local association that services nearly 2,000 bowlers at 11 centers in Genesee, Livingston, Orleans and Wyoming counties.

Last month, he conducted meetings with league secretaries at Mount Morris Lanes and at Mancuso Bowling Center, updating them on several fronts, with a major emphasis on the quality awards program the association offers to its members.

I was also on hand at the meetings, wearing a new hat as the GRUSBC association manager.

Fluker pointed out that more than a few men, women and children who participated in USBC-certified leagues last season were not in the GRUSBC database, meaning that either that they paid their sanction fee and it wasn’t recorded or that the secretary failed to collect the sanction fee and submit it to the local association office.

Regardless of the reason, he said there will be a concerted effort this season to make sure that all bowlers in USBC-certified leagues -- whether they are regulars or substitutes -- pay their USBC dues.

It is only fair (and a requirement) that all bowlers pay the one-time membership fee since all bowlers get to enjoy the benefits of USBC certification.

For more information about the GRUSBC, go to its website -- www.bowlgr.com -- or send an email to mikep@bowlgr.com or tfstrikeforce@msn.com.

LOCAL ASSOCIATION LISTS 2016-17 TOURNAMENTS

THE GRUSBC'S 2016-17 tournament schedule is as follows:

Oct. 29 – Adult/Junior Team at Le Roy Legion Lanes

Nov. 5-6 – Gladys Ford Memorial Senior Women at Mount Morris Lanes

Nov. 12 – Senior Masters at Perry Bowling Center

Nov. 12 – Youth Eliminator at Oak Orchard Bowl

Dec. 3 – Bowlers to Veterans Link (BVL) at Livingston Lanes

Dec. 10 – Youth Baker Team at Scopano’s Lanes, Oakfield

Jan. 6-8 – Memorial Scratch at Medina Lanes

Jan. 13-15 – Adult/Junior at Medina Lanes

Feb. 11-12 – Masters at Mancuso Bowling Center

Feb. 18-19 – Youth Doubles at Mount Morris Lanes

March 4-5 – Youth Team at Rose Garden Bowl

March 24-26, April 1-2 – Association Doubles at Perry Bowling Center, Association Team at Letchworth Pines

REMEMBERING THOSE WHO CONTRIBUTED TO OUR SPORT

THE BATAVIA COMMUNITY lost several “friends of bowling” over the past few months, wonderful people that I would like to acknowledge in this column. To their families, please accept my deepest condolences.

Brian Morasco (8/17/16) – A craftsman in the truest sense of the word, Brian was one of the best Brunswick pinsetter mechanics around. During the 1990s and early 2000s, he answered my call on numerous occasions to fix a pinsetter at Mancuso's, where I worked as the manager. And he never failed to make me laugh.

Dave Root (7/16/16) – A pleasant individual, Dave represented the average league bowler -- someone who gave his best effort while enjoying the social aspects associated with a night out at the lanes.

Nina Hall (6/21/16) – A fixture on the women’s senior bowling leagues at Mancuso’s and at local, state and national tournaments, Nina also was a Cleveland Indians fan who let me know anytime her Tribe happened to beat the Yankees.

Bob Meisner (6/20/16) – A former bowling teammate and competitor, and fellow slo-pitch softball umpire, Bob was part of the Classic League scene at Mancuso’s for many years. You always could count on Bob to unleash a playful jab or two. I recall him pinning a tongue-in-cheek “world’s greatest bowler” button on me back in the early 1980s.

Nancy Vallese (5/18/16) – An officer with the Genesee Valley Women’s Bowling Association, Nancy was instrumental in advancing women’s bowling in this area and at the state level.