Bowling in only his second PBA50 Tour tournament, Chris Gibbons (right) of Madison, Wis., bowled a 300 game and averaged 251.5 to take the first round lead in the PBA50 South Shore Open presented by Hammer Tuesday at Olympia Lanes in Hammond, Indiana.

Bowling on the 45-foot PBA Shark lane condition, the 51-year-old Gibbons, bowled a 2,012 eight-game pinfall total with games of 225, 256, 256, 264, 256, 248, 300 and 207 to lead Christopher Keane (left) of Cape Coral, Fla., in second with 1,981.

“I had a few butterflies in the first game but then I settled down and got pretty comfortable,” said Gibbons, who owns one PBA regional title. “I was able to use the same ball for the entire round and didn’t have to move more than three of four boards.

“For the 300 game I was able to anticipate what I needed to do and just made a minor one board adjustment and stayed firm with my ball speed and was fortunate to make 12 great shots,” he added.

PBA Hall of Famer Pete Weber (featured photo) finished the first round in third with a 1,979 pinfall total with games of 225, 245, 279, 268, 274, 266, 200 and 222.

Weber (right) is hoping to improve on a season’s best fourth-place finish, which came in the PBA50 Mooresville Open in May.

“I’ve done well here over the years so I’m hoping this can be a breakthrough tournament for me this season,” the 55-year-old Weber said. “At this point in the tournament you don’t want to give any pins back so I’m just trying to enjoy myself and stay focused.”

Weber finished sixth in the Suncoast PBA Senior U.S. Open in June where he rallied from 19th in the last match play round to just miss the stepladder finals. He also finished sixth in the PBA50 National Championship, the season’s first major, in April.

Weber, an 11-time PBA50 Tour winner, won the PBA50 South Shore Open in 2016 which was part of his record-breaking season in which he won four consecutive titles and six overall.

Rounding out the top five were three-time PBA50 Tour winner Harry Sullins (left) of Chesterfield Twp., Mich., in fourth, with 1,896, and Ryan Shafer (right) of Horseheads, N.Y., in fifth with 1,870.

Last week’s PBA50 River City Extreme Open winner and PBA50 Player of the Year points leader Michael Haugen Jr. (left) of Phoenix finished the first round in eighth with a 1,868 pinfall. Defending champion PBA Hall of Famer Ron Mohr (below right) of Las Vegas finished 23rd with 1,778.

After Wednesday’s second round, the top 16 players will advance to Thursday’s match play rounds with players finishing 17th-26th, plus eight PBA60 players advancing to the cashers round Thursday morning which will determine eight additional match play spots. After match play, the top five players will advance to the stepladder finals at 7 p.m.

The South Shore Open is being streamed live on PBA’s online bowling channel PBA Xtra Frame on FloBowling. For subscription and schedule information click here.

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PBA50 South Shore Open – First Round Results

Players with position, hometown and 8-game total; n-non member; ss-PBA60 player ages 60 and older

1, Chris Gibbons, Madison, Wis., 2,012
2, ss-Christopher Keane, Cape Coral, Fla., 1,981
3, Pete Weber, St. Ann, Mo., 1,979
4, ss-Harry Sullins, Chesterfield Twp., Mich., 1,896
5, Ryan Shafer, Horseheads, N.Y., 1,870
6, (tie) Mark Sullivan, Indianapolis, and
Doug Kent, Newark, N.Y., 1,869
8, Michael Haugen Jr., Phoenix, 1,868
9, Billy Froberg, St Joseph, Mich., 1,854
10, (tie) Bryan Goebel, Shawnee, Kan., and
ss-Sammy Ventura, Syracuse, N.Y., 1,824
12, Todd Kjell, Roscoe, Ill., 1,817
13, ss-Warren Nelson, Hemet, Calif., 1,809
14, (tie) Walter Ray Williams Jr., Oxford, Fla., and
Lennie Boresch Jr., Kenosha, Wis., 1,808
16, ss-Don Blatchford, Santa Monica, Calif., 1,798
17, Greg Thomas, Irmo, S.C., 1,797
18, Steve Kenyon, Grosse Ile., Mich., 1,792
19, Gary Schluchter, Femont, Ohio, 1,791
20, Don Breeden, Clive, Iowa, 1,790
21, Bob Learn Jr., Erie, Pa., 1,786
22, Jeff Johnson, Freeport, Ill., 1,782
23, ss-Ron Mohr, Las Vegas, 1,778
24, (tie) Rick Zakrajsek, Lorain, Ohio, and
ss-Dale Traber, Cedarburg, Wis., 1,770
26, ss-Henry Dawson, Elma, Wash., 1,761
27, Scott Greiner, Sunrise Beach, Mo., 1,759
28, Brian Kretzer, Dayton, Ohio, 1,756
29, ss-Mike Dias, Lafayette, Colo., 1,747
30, Ed Carter, Austintown, Ohio, 1,744
31, Gary Alstott, Washington, Ill., 1,740
32, n-Eugene McCune, Munster, Ind., 1,738
33, Brian Voss, Centennial, Colo., 1,732
34, John Marsala, St. Louis, Mo., 1,728
35, Parker Bohn III, Jackson, N.J., 1,718
36, n-John Chapman, Canada, 1,713
37, (tie) n-Stephen Pintoy, Lockport, Ill., and
ss-Darryl Bower, Middletown, Pa., 1,695
39, ss-Tom Carter, Columbus, Ohio, 1,692
40, Don Herrington, Ballston Lake, N.Y., 1,690
41, Danny Clark, New Palestine, Ind., 1,684
42, Tony Rodriguez Jr., Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., 1,675
43, (tie) ss-Ted Staikoff, Black Hawk, S.D., and
ss-Bruce Hall, Westborough, Mass., 1,670
45, (tie) n, ss-Leroy Johnson, Chicago, and
Peter Knopp, Germany, 1,661
47, Eddie Graham, Kettering, Ohio, 1,660
48, ss-Emilio Mora Sr., Defiance, Ohio, 1,640
49, ss-Edward Silva, Manteca, Calif., 1,638
50, ss-Steven Jansson, Barnes, Wis., 1,629
51, Ernie Segura Jr., Taylor, Mich., 1,625
52, ss-Richard Hunt, Valparaiso, Ind., 1,622
52, John Conroy, Mahopac, N.Y., 1,622
54, (tie) ss-Brendan Bierch, Grafton, Mass., and
John Burkett, Southlake, Texas, 1,621
56, ss-Lyle Zikes, Arlington Heights, Ill., 1,618
57, ss-Lee Brosius, Ashburn, Va., 1,615
58, Ralph Brunt Jr., Jensen Beach, Fla., 1,614
59, ss-Tom Baker, King, N.C., 1,605
60, ss-Kevin Foley, Reno, Nev., 1,599
61, Glenn Morgan, Carson City, Nev., 1,593
62, n-Jeff Richgels, Madison, Wis., 1,590
63, ss-John Dudak, Orland Park, Ill., 1,586
64, ss-Michael Chrzanowski, Shepherd, Mich., 1,584
65, John Kidwell, Indianapolis, Ind., 1,570
66, ss-Dave Bernhardt, Romeo, Mich., 1,553
67, Robert Kicmal, LaGrange, Ill., 1,540
68, ss-Allen Meskan, Addison, Ill., 1,525
69, ss-Paul Mielens, Menomonie, Wis., 1,519
70, ss-Gary Kammes, Winfield, Ill., 1,512
71, (tie) ss-James Storts, Westfield, Ind., and
David Rosengarten, Gardendale, Ala., 1,510
73, Craig O’Reilly, Tinley Park, Ill., 1,488
74, ss-Jim Dilyard, Burbank, Ohio, 1,466
75, ss-Garry Blanton, Owensboro, Ky., 1,459
76, ss-Harv Pallas, Stevensville, Mich., 1,438
77, Tony Johnson, Canton, Ohio, 1,433
78, John Christensen, Carmel, N.Y., 1,419
79, n-ss-Ronald Shlensky, Munster, Ind., 1,400

300 games (1) – Chris Gibbons.