North American Bowling News
Surrette Does the Unthinkable while Claiming Candlepin's Bowler of the Year Honor
Jeff Surrette captured the Candlepin game's most prestigious title of "Bowler of the Year" on the heels of a magnificent come-from-behind finish in the Lakeside 10-Stringer tournament. Held on March 20, 2010, the Lakeside event was the final stop in the Pro Series events. It is a 10-game, total pinfall contest, in which Surrette, after an uneventful opening 5 games of 627, bounced back to shoot an unbelievable 798 total for his last 5 games, to edge Bob Whitcomb by a scant 7 pins in winning the $900 top prize in the "10-Stringer". With the win, Jeff zoomed past Craig Holbrook in the Bowler of the Year race, as Surrette picked up a substantial 800 points to amass a 2603½ season point total, to Holbrook's 2175.
As the competition progressed, the scenario developed to where Surrette needed a 2nd place finish in the climax "Stringer" event to win the "Bowler of the Year". With 627 after 5 games, it took a strong effort of 704 or better for the last 5 strings to take the title. Winning the tournament seemed pretty much out of reach, as Whitcomb had posted a devastating 1418 total, nearly lapping the field with the next closest score at the time being Richie Myrick's 1330.
Digging down deep in his arsenal, Surrette turned everything around in the 2nd half of the tourney, posting a whopping 183 score in Game 6, and then following that up with 156 & 165 in Games 7 and 8, accumulating an extremely high candlepin total of 504 for Games 6-8. At this point, the pressure for "Bowler of the Year" had diminished, and Surrette basically could coast into the 2nd place spot for the tournament. Jeff was still a healthy 287 pins behind Whitcomb for winning the tournament. Not letting down, Surrette continued his assault, posting games of 135 and 159 to close out the event, nosing out Whitcomb, 1425-1418 to win the $900.00 first prize. Bob did earn a not-too-shabby $500.00 for his superb runner-up performance.