Jeff Austreng
November 9, 2001 -- Jeff Austreng and his father Ed Austreng of Waterford Township teamed up to win the 300 Bowl Scratch Doubles tournament this past Saturday at 300 Bowl in Waterford Township. The Austreng duo won the title by defeating John Markland and Mike Busch of Waterford Township 558-469 to earn $580.
Jeff shot a 300 game to cap off the victory after a record tying performance in the first three games of qualifying. His 279-300-300 start in qualifying tied the Greater Detroit Bowling Association record set by Mike Makowiec of Canton on Feb. 8, 2001 at Cloverlanes in Livonia. After such a scorching performance maybe 300 Bowl proprietor Larry Crake should check the smoke that must've been coming off the lanes Saturday.
The next Scratch Doubles tournament will be held at 300 Bowl on Dec. 8 and is open to any sanctioned bowler. For more information contact 300 Bowl at (248) 682-6300.
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300 Bowl also hosted the Mid-West Super Senior Challenge and amazing Scotty Laughland of Windsor won the monthly event for bowlers 60 years and older.
Laughland qualified sixth in the field and remained in the winner's bracket before losing to Bob Brissette of Petersburg, Mich. 279-214 forcing a final match to decide the winner, where Laughland prevailed 246-220. Laughland took home $500 and Brissette $250 for his runner-up position. Brissette was the high qualifier with a four game total of 945.
Mark your calendar for Sunday, Dec. 2 when 300 Bowl will be the site for the next Mid-West Super Senior Challenge. For more information contact tournament director Joe Fitzsimmons at (248) 674-2043.
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Scotty Laughland continues to prove that he's getting better with age. The venerable 71-year-old also took on some of the state's best senior bowlers (50 years old and up) and came out victorious at Metro Bowl in Lansing in the Great Lakes Senior Bowling Association recently.
Laughland defeated Al Bilhimer of Essexville 258-224 to seal the victory and earn the $750 winner's check. Bilhimer took home $375.
Laughland was the high qualifier with a six-game total of 1,436 and proceeded to down four opponents to advance to the final match. He beat Ron Antes of Lansing 255-180, Tom Lis of Deford 250-226, Dan Mayer of Waterford Township 268-248 and Bilhimer the first time 246-238.
Bilhimer qualified 11th with 1,362 before advancing to match play. In match play he downed Glenn Kurtz of Toledo 194-190, Roy Biggs of Canton 236-191 and Hurston Wallace of Lake Orion 266-237 before falling to Laughland the first time. Once in the loser's bracket he overcame challenges from B.J. Galloway of Alpena 228-226 and Ed Austreng of Waterford Township 231-196 for the opportunity to avenge his earlier loss, but it was not to be.
The "Tough Luck" award goes to Gary Haxer of Roseville who advanced to match play only to lose his two matches when his opponents shot games of 299 and 297.
Ed Austreng finished third to pace the Oakland County contingent for $300. Hurston Wallace cashed for $225, Dan Mayer $175, Ken O'Brien of Troy $140 and Jerry Owczarski of South Lyon $80.
The next GLSBA tournament will be Saturday, Nov. 10 at AMF Town & Country Lanes in Flint. For more information call (734) 522-9315.
Mark Martin writes a weekly bowling column on Fridays for the Oakland Press and is the Executive Director of the Greater Detroit Bowling Association. He can be reached at (586) 773-6350, fax at (586) 773-6271 or e-mailed at mmartin@gdba.com.
