Staff
A strike, a spare, eight strikes in a row, and then a corner pin (which he picked with his last ball) all added up to a 403 for local bowler Jeff Watts on Saturday afternoon at the annual aggregate tournament hosted by Kenora.
Watts’ monster game sparked the Fort Frances mixed scratch team to first place in its division.
It also helped the local contingent tie host Kenora for the aggregate banner (38 points apiece).
The local mixed squad, which also included Mike Behan, Toni Benning, Kathy Bois, and Jordan Sokoliuk, ended up with a whopping 1,299 total (one pin shy of a 260 team average) for the match in which Watts rolled his 403.
In the end, that gave the squad enough cushion to hold off runner-up Balmertown by 47 pins when the seven-game roll-off wrapped up Sunday.
The Fort Frances ladies’ handicap team also took top honours in its division at Kenora.
It consisted of Patti Fraser, June McNally, and Jeanie Townson, along with Kenora bowler Pauline Switzer (a “Jane Doe” score was needed to round out their total).
The Fort Frances men’s scratch team managed a third-place finish in its division behind Dryden and Kenora, with Balmertown finishing fourth.
That team featured Behan, Dave Robar, Sokoliuk, Rich Walton, and Watts.
The local women’s scratch team—featuring Debbie Armstrong, Benning, Bois, Shirley Jensson, and “Jane Doe”—also took third place in its division.
Host Kenora wound up in top spot.
And it was a pair of fourth-place showings for the local men’s and mixed handicap teams.
The men’s squad consisted of Rob Paterson, Robar, and Walton, along with Kenora bowlers Larry Switzer and Greg Wagar.
The mixed quintet featured Armstrong, Len Noonan, Nancy Noonan, Don Wood, and June Wood.
Individually, Watts wound up with the men’s high single (403) while Jensson had the ladies’ high single (299).
Watts (because he bowled double) finished in first and second for the men’s high seven-game scratch total (1,691 and 1,654, respectively).
Jensson was third among the ladies for seven-game scratch total (1,443).
Don Wood, meanwhile, took top honours for the men’s high seven-game handicap total (1,740).
Up next, five local bowlers are part of the Sunset Country contingent heading to Sudbury next week for the provincial Open tournament.
Behan and Watts are on the men’s team while Benning, Bois, and Sokoliuk are on the mixed squad.
