Surdich on Bowling: State USBC convention scheduled for June

The California USBC Association convention and awards banquet will be held June 12-14 at the Radisson Hotel Ontario Airport.

All Bowlers to Veterans Link winners will receive their jackets, watches and medals during that weekend. If a winner can’t attend or an association member isn’t in attendance, the winner’s package will be shipped to them.

On the agenda for the convention are Bowlers to Veterans Link presentations, State Hall of Fame inductions, $500 youth scholarship winners, $500 Best Bowlers Come from California scholarship winner and a delegates meeting.

In past years, we’ve had two of our Hall of Fame members attend the convention. Barbara Chance and the late Karen Tweed represented the women’s association for years, then Tweed represented our Merced County USBC Association as president. Dave Egleston, newly elected vice president of our association, will attend this year.

Yosemite scratch 6-gamer – Yosemite Lanes in Modesto had 29 bowlers from the Valley and Bay Area competing on the house shot in April. Don Mathey of Modesto took the championship and qualified for the Tournament of Champions in December.

Mathey rolled past Gregory Thompson Jr. 279-238 and received a check for $308, Thompson $230. Locals Larry Valenti Jr., Neill Barcellos and Jess Ramirez tried their luck and didn’t fair too well. The next 6-gamer is set for Sunday with an entry fee of $60, and one of four will cash.

Women’s 500 club tourney – The Merced/Atwater Women’s 500 Club will hold its annual Three on a Team fun tournament for men and women on June 14 with a 1 p.m. start at Bellevue Bowl. This handicap tournament is listed to the first 33 paid teams, with a team maximum of 540. Your 2014-15 book average will be used. Three games of regulation will be bowled on one pair of lanes. One out of five will cash. Entry forms are available at Bellevue. Entry fee is $22 per bowler.

From overhand to underhand – Valley bowlers and Giants fans will remember John Burkett, who pitched for San Francisco, the Miami Marlins, Texas Rangers, Atlanta Braves and Boston Red Sox and has been a scratch bowler most of his life. He’s beginning his professional bowling career in earnest in the PBA50 tournaments.

As a kid, Burkett’s first job was setting duckpins, which later converted to tenpins, at his local bowling center in his hometown of Beaver, Pa. He retired in 2003 at age 38 with 166 wins over a 15-year career, including a 22-7 record with the Giants in 1993.

Burkett made his PBA debut in 1990 in Pinole and has competed in several regionals along the way. He plans to bowl in a majority of the PBA50 Tour events this season. Burkett told bowlersjournal.com he is “excited and blessed to be able to do it” and wants to “bowl and get to know the guys that I’ve admired for so many years.”

He rolled in the PBA50 Pasco County Florida Open in April and placed in 73rd out of 116. He plans to compete in the PBA50 Northern California Classic from June 14-17 at Harvest Bowl in Brentwood.

Remember when – In a 1963 report, Ethel Dodson, women’s BVL chair, reported BVL tournament results as Betty Ross captured the A division, Grace Bramlette the B division, Mae Willey took C division, Irene “Speed” Breiholz the D division and Eileen Langholz the E division. In April of ’63, juniors recording 200 games at Century Bowl included Jerry Johnson, Richard Jones, Nelson Laurence, Clifford Brown, Steve Dickerty, Ken Hann and Wayne Combs.

This story was originally published May 27, 2015 at 10:43 PM with the headline "Surdich on Bowling: State USBC convention scheduled for June."