Four-time Professional Bowlers Association Tour titlist Dom Barrett of England averaged 227.6 Wednesday at FireLake Bowling Center in Shawnee, Okla., to capture the top qualifying berth for Saturday's stepladder finals in the PBA Badger Open.

Barrett completed qualifying with a 2,732 12-game pinfall total on the 52-foot Badger lane condition, bowling games of 192, 222, 234, 225, 237 and 234 in Wednesday's final round.

L-R Barrett, Page, Russell, Williams and Maldonado.

"It feels good to get here because I haven't been bowling well," Barrett said. "I think I over-bowled the past few months and it has taken its toll. I took the month of April off to fix some bad habits and get in better shape and the work seems to be paying off.

"In the first two events (of the Summer Swing) I've been bowling good but not great but I just decided to put my head down after the first round today and went for the lead."

Barrett topped three-time Tour winner Rhino Page of Orlando, Fla., who qualified second 14-pins behind with a 2,718 pinfall total. Two-time Tour titlist Ronnie Russell of Marion, Ind., who won last year's Summer Swing Bear Open, qualified third with a 2,709 pinfall.

The PBA Tour's all-time titles leader, Walter Ray Williams Jr. of Oxford, Fla., qualified fourth with a 2,680 pinfall. The Hall of Famer will try to end a five-year drought without a win to extend his record to 48 titles. His 47th title came in the 2010 United States Bowling Congress Masters.

"This feels awesome," said Williams after making it into the top five for the finals. "I've been struggling so much that I had second thoughts about even coming to the Summer Swing. I didn't bowl well in the Wolf and Bear Opens but thought maybe I can make something work on the Badger pattern and just grinded it out to get here."

Making the last qualifying spot was Shawn Maldonado of Houston, who is one of a few players on Tour who uses the unique two-handed delivery. Trying for his first PBA Tour title, he finished qualifying with a 2,675 pinfall.

The Badger Open is the third of five events that comprise the 2015 Oklahoma's Grand Casino Hotel & Resort PBA Summer Swing. All five events (Wolf, Bear, Badger and Oklahoma Opens plus the Grand Casino Resort King of the Swing) will be televised by CBS Sports Network and will air on successive Tuesday nights beginning May 26.

The Badger Open, will be taped Saturday at 5:15 p.m. CT at the Grand Casino Hotel & Resort Event Center and will air June 9 at 9 p.m. ET.

With the completion of the Badger Open first round earlier on Wednesday, the 18 spots were determined for the PBA Oklahoma Open match play rounds on Thursday.

Three six-game match play rounds will be conducted at 10 a.m., 2 and 6:30 p.m. on each of the Summer Swing lane conditions (Wolf, Bear and Badger) at FireLake with the top five after match play advancing to the stepladder finals Sunday at noon at the Grand Event Center.

The top five heading into Oklahoma Open match play were Bill O'Neill, Langhorne, Pa., 4,142; Marshall Kent, Yakima, Wash., 4,112; Patrick Allen, Mount Kisco, N.Y., 4,093; Russell, 4,026, and Barrett, 4,022.

Thursday's Oklahoma Open match play rounds will be covered live on PBA's online bowling channel, Xtra Frame.

 

Related Articles

Patrick Allen paces Badger Open qualifying after first round
PBA Hall of Famer Norm Duke earns top berth for PBA Bear Open finals
Marshall Kent jumps from 9th to first place to earn top berth for PBA Wolf Open finals
PBA Tour season hits full stride with Oklahoma's Grand Casino Hotel & Resort Summer Swing
2015 PBA Tour Schedule & Champions

 

PBA Badger Open - Final Qualifying Standings

Players with position, hometown/country and 12-game total; top five advance to stepladder finals Saturday, May 16, at 5:15 p.m. CT at the Grand Resort Event Center in Shawnee; places 6-18 show earnings

1, Dom Barrett, England, 2,732
2, Rhino Page, Orlando, Fla., 2,718
3, Ronnie Russell, Marion, Ind., 2,709
4, Walter Ray Williams Jr., Oxford, Fla., 2,680
5, Shawn Maldonado, Houston, 2,675

Missed Cut:
6, Mike Fagan, Ft. Worth, Texas, 2,674, $2,000
7, Mike DeVaney, Winchester, Calif., 2,663, $1,800
8, Patrick Allen, Mount Kisco, N.Y., 2,647, $1,600
9, Tom Daugherty, Wesley Chapel, Fla., 2,644, $1,400
10, Andres Gomez, Colombia, 2,598, $1,300
11, Jason Belmonte, Australia, 2,594, $1,200
12, Anthony LaCaze, Melrose Park, Ill., 2,579, $1,100
13, Parker Bohn III, Jackson, N.J., 2,561, $1,000
14, Brian Valenta, Lockport, Ill., 2,545, $900
15, Scott Norton, Mission Viejo, Calif., 2,533, $800
16, John Szczerbinski, N. Tonawanda, N.Y., 2,520, $700
17, Marshall Kent, Yakima, Wash., 2,487, $600
18, Dick Allen, Columbia, S.C., 2,480, $500

 

Oklahoma Open - Final Qualifying Standings

Players with position, hometown/country and 18-game total; top 18 advance to round-robin match play on Thursday

1, Bill O'Neill, Langhorne, Pa., 4,142
2, Marshall Kent, Yakima, Wash., 4,112
3, Patrick Allen, Mount Kisco, N.Y., 4,093
4, Ronnie Russell, Marion, Ind., 4,026
5, Dom Barrett, England, 4,022
6, Tommy Jones, Simpsonville, S.C., 4,013
7, Brad Angelo, Lockport, N.Y., 4,002
8, John Szczerbinski, N. Tonawanda, N.Y., 3,981
9, Tyler Jensen, Ft. Worth, Texas, 3,979
10, Andres Gomez, Colombia, 3,976
11, Jason Belmonte, Australia, 3,975
12, Mike Fagan, Ft. Worth, Texas, 3,970
13, Scott Newell, Deland, Fla., 3,950
14, Shawn Maldonado, Houston, 3,923
15, Chris Barnes, Double Oak, Texas, 3,917
16, (tie) Anthony LaCaze, Melrose Park, Ill., and Scott Norton, Mission Viejo, Calif., 3,916
18, (tie) J.R. Raymond, Bay City, Mich., and Rhino Page, Orlando, Fla., 3,909
Raymond defeated Page in one-game roll-off 224-148 to advance to match play.