To professional bowler Sean Rash, defeating hall of famer Parker Bohn III in Sunday?s Beltway Classic at AMF Country Club Lanes in Middle River was not the toughest obstacle he?s overcome in his young career.
For Rash, that came last year when he became the first non-exempt bowler on the PBA Tour to win a title after capturing the West Virginia Championship. Just to reach the field of 64 bowlers, Rash had to finish among the top seven out of 100 bowlers in a qualifying round.
“Going through the pro tour qualifying may be the most difficult thing to do in our sport,” said Rash, who earned a one-year tour exemption for each of his titles. “At least when you make the round of 64, you only have to be in the top 32, so the odds are more in your favor there.”
William Barlow knows what Rash is talking about all too well.
The 33-year-old Edgewood man had to beat out 100 other aspiring professional bowlers over seven games just for the chance to compete in last week?s Beltway Classic.
Barlow was one of the fortunate ones, placing second in the qualifying round, while most of the remaining field just lost out on their $500 entrance fee.
Barlow held his own against most of the top pro bowlers in the world.
He just missed out on the round of 32 match-play competition after finishing in 35th place with a 226.5 average over the 14 games Thursday.
“I love being out here and I love competing against the best bowlers in the world,” said Barlow, who is currently second in the PBA East Regional points standings.
Edward VanDaniker Jr. wasn?t as lucky. The 21-year-old Essex native placed 27th in the qualifying round with a 219 average.
His next chance to qualify comes Wednesday when the tour travels to West Babylon, N.Y., for the Columbia 300 Classic.
“It?s definitely a very difficult task because you have to get through 100 people just for a chance to compete,” VanDaniker said. “All it takes is one bad game and you are going to have a hard time digging yourself out of the hole.”
PRO BOWLING NOTES
» Middle River resident Danny Wiseman, who is now 27th in the points standings, said Sunday if he doesn?t either win a title or finish in the top 40 in points to earn a tour exemption, he will retire rather than go through qualifying. “I don?t do this for the money. I do this for the fans and the love of the game,” he said.
» Bel Air native Tim Criss finished in 17th place after Thursday?s round of 64 of the Beltway Classic, including his first-ever back-to-back 300 games. He lost in the round-of-32 match-play competition to Riga Kalfas.
