blog-test – The SueBRaud Singles Handicap Tournament

April 21, 2021

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BR bowling has loss a great ambassador in Sue Braud

Monday, 06 January 2020 / Published in BR TOURNAMENT

BATON ROUGE, LA – This past weekend, one of my bowling friends said I might need several columns to appropriately handle the passing of local bowling icon, Sue Braud.

He may be right, but I have to handle it in this space.

I feel like I have been remembering and writing notes about friends, both young and old, who have departed this life in the last month. This is no exception. I’ve read and nodded my head in agreement for the tributes on social media to this legend of local bowling who has been associated with Circle Bowl and the former Baskin-Robbins now BR Tournament for decades.

Now it’s my turn. How many bowlers she has touched over the years as a coach, an assistant manager, a proprietor and a tournament director is hard to fathom.

Rick Bourgeois, an executive with Malco Theaters which owns Circle and is the state high school bowling director, remembers Braud as his bowling coach in the early 1960s.

“Sue was such a gracious lady and she spent a lifetime promoting Baton Rouge as a bowling destination throughout Louisiana and the country,” Bourgeois said. “I met her in 1961 when I first walked into Circle Bowl, she was my first junior coach and we worked together in the bowling business for over 40 years. She will be missed by the many thousands of bowlers who came to her numerous BR Singles tournaments and I know her legacy will live on.”

The BR Tournament turned into her baby and the December event was one of the few Braud was unable to attend. Her last appearance at the tournament was at the August event.

I don’t know what the future plans are because Sue’s daughter, Donna and her husband Jeff, came to town to handle a lot of the tournament details each time. But hopefully the BR event will continue and my strong suggestion would be that the BR event should now include the name of Sue Braud, much like the Southern Masters carries Jon Juneau’s name. It seems perfect.

And it wasn’t just in management that she shined. How about some 15 Baton Rouge Women’s Bowling Association titles. How about years and years of bowling in state and national events.

There were years as a delegate representing the local and state women’s association and also as the long-time president of the junior association. Through it all, she was a builder of cooperation and success.

“Sue was always hell bent on seeing that Circle Bowl gave the best possible customer service and her focus was always on making sure HER league bowlers were content with bowling at HER center,” said Marc Pater, who has worked many years in the Malco bowling division and is the executive director of the Louisiana Bowling Proprietors, a group Braud was the first female president of in 1989-90.

She helped lead a delegation to Bismarck, North Dakota in 1989 to bid for the 1993 WIBC Championships that was held in Baton Rouge and she was so happy when the big event came to our town. Who knew it would be the start of a long relationship with Baton Rouge and the now USBC that has seen three other national events come to town with one more still on the horizon in 2025.

When I first came to Circle Bowl in the mid-1970s as a junior bowler from Shreveport for the annual Labor Day Mid-South tournament, there were two people who I wanted to meet and know about every youth bowler — John Snee and his then youth director soon to be assistant manager Sue Braud. Sue loved that tournament, much as she loved the BR Tournament and all its thousands of bowlers.

She became GM at Circle when Snee retired in the mid-1980s and held that spot until 2011. But she continued as we mentioned at the BR Tournament and was still on the Foundation of the LPBA Board of Trustees at the time of her passing.

She was instrumental in helping that Foundation establish the Grand Prix Scholarship Fund that Stuart Moss and the proprietors group has so ably run for many years. It changed youth bowling for the better.

“I’m so sad about the loss of Sue,” said Stuart Moss, who is the general manager at Premier Lanes in Gonzales and has worked at all the local Malco centers. “The kindness and friendship she showed to me over the years was monumental. She always provided great support and advice to me while running the Malco Bowling Centers.”

When you look at social media, the references to Sue Sue or Momma Sue are endless and with good reason. She made you feel welcome and if you were a bowler, especially one that came up through her youth ranks, you were a member of her family. I was lucky to have come into that group when I moved to town in 1988 after getting to known her during my youth tournament days.

When you think of Circle Bowl there are a group of people you always think of and Sue Braud is a part of that history. My sincere condolences to all the members of her family and please know bowling is better in Baton Rouge for the years we were able to share the sport with her.

Back on Jan. 21. Until then as always, good luck and good bowling.

Stearman captures top prize in BR Tournament’s final

Kent Lowe

Monday, 09 December 2019 / Published in BR TOURNAMENT

BATON ROUGE, LA – The BR Tournament’s 100th tournament at Circle Bowl this past weekend showed its ability to be different at every turn and again making sure that an outcome is never quite able to be predicted.

David Stearman of Mobile, Alabama, took the title using his 156 average and accompanying handicap to win the $3,671.35 first prize. He defeated Joshua Fitkin of Lake Charles in the finals in what was a fairly even match with Fitkin coming in averaging 161. Fitkin won $1,835.63.

The final could have easily been a combination of handicap and scratch or just two to scratch bowlers as the other two bowlers making it to the semifinals were Justin Veitch of Kenner and Tyler Wright of Baton Rouge. Both have certainly been bowling well of late and added $770.96 to their totals for 2019.

We will hit some of the other highlights from the event in our next column.

Thanksgiving No-Tap

Randy Summers won the men’s division of the Thanksgiving No-Tap event at All-Star in Baton Rouge with a 1,164 total to earn the top prize of $225. Gregory Snee (1,144) and Derek Michael (1,140) completed the top three.

On the women’s side, Angela Barr won $140 for first place with 1,124 with Tuleigha Rawls and Norma Wolfe both shooting 1,052 for second.

7 Christmas tournaments

Hard to believe this is the 12th time this is going on but starting on Saturday, Dec. 21, All-Star will be hosting its annual “The 7 Tournaments of Christmas.” What’s pretty cool about this event is the various formats that are fun and challenging at the same time.

Here is this year’s lineup:

Dec. 21: No-Tap — 3:30, 6 p.m.

Dec. 22: No-Tap Doubles — 3, 6 p.m.

Dec. 26: Crazy Christmas — 6, 8 p.m.

Dec. 27: No-Tap Eliminator — 6 p.m.

Dec. 29: No-Tap Doubles — 3, 6 p.m.

Dec. 31: No-Tap Eliminator — 6:30 p.m.

Jan. 1: Baker Doubles — 3:30, 6:30 p.m.

In the No-Tap singles and Crazy Christmas there are men’s and women’s divisions and handicap will be applied.

Speaking of the Crazy Christmas tournament, the four game event features a different scoring system each game: Game 1, Regular; Game 2, Mulligan (the chance to redo a wayward shot); Game 3, 3-6-9 (the chance to get a little help in the third, sixth and ninth frame); and, Game 4, No-Tap.

Entries are at the bowling center. It is always a fun event.

Women’s State

If you haven’t, this is the time to do it because entries close Monday (Dec. 16) for the 72nd annual Louisiana State Women’s Championship set for Houma in 2020.

It will be here before you know it as the event kicks off on Jan. 25-26 at Creole Lanes in Houma and follows with two more weekends of play before concluding on Feb. 9.

That will certainly mark the start of the tournament season which will be highlighted in March and early April by the Southern Bowling Congress event at both Circle Bowl and All-Star Lanes.

Honor roll notes

Check out all the scores on the honor roll list this week, 800s from Tyler Wright (823), Kenny Winstead (815) and Duke Koontz (802) with Felicia Baker (760, 712), Mary Mansur (754), Sarah Broussard (751, 711), Haley Young (718) and Cassandra LaCour (707) topping 700 for the ladies. Let’s not forget in the senior leagues, the impressive 761 by Steve McIntyre. You will also see on the list all the 300s, 290 and near 300s along the way the last couple of weeks in leagues.

We will be back with you on Christmas Eve, Dec. 24, with a few end of year thoughts. Until then, good luck and good bowling.

Some amazing BR tournament records since 1990

4,600

Kent Lowe

Monday, 25 November 2019 / Published in BR TOURNAMENT

BATON ROUGE, LA – One of the South’s most interesting bowling events will be renewed for the 100th time in what could be the computer era of the tournament as the BR tournament is held Dec. 7-8 at Circle Bowl.

This event has certainly had its greatest moments at Circle Bowl first under the leadership of late John Snee and for decades Sue Braud, who continues to be the tournament director for the singles competition.

Jeffrey and Donna Hall, who have been a part of the tournament staff for too many tournaments to count have put together some amazing records that date back 1990. It is pretty much believed that this event got its original start in 1973 as the Baskin-Robbins tournament with a format that opened the door for both scratch and handicap bowlers, men and women.

Unfortunately, the records from 1973-88 were on paper and are not available. The computer era started in 1989 but those discs are not accessible, so our discussion will feature from 1990 to the present.

When the tournament first started it was conducted once a year in July and then changed to twice a year in July and December. In 1989, the show went on the road for one year to Lafayette and LaPlace but that didn’t work as well. Malco’s (which owns Circle) other house, the now closed Plank/Metro Bowl in Baton Rouge, began hosting a March event and at one time a September event which had a short Labor Day weekend run.

From 1990 through the August 2019 event, there have been 49,166 entries and total prize distribution over the years has been $1,652,985.06. I think I have that check for six cents somewhere.

In the events we have records available of 13 bowlers who have won multiple BR/Baskin-Robbins titles in the last 30 years (from Baton Rouge unless listed) — Joe Calvaruso, Duane Chatelain, Butch Cormier (Lafayette), Michael Daniels (Slidell), Harold Fils, Jr., (Lafayette), Aaron Jones (Lake Charles), Jon Juneau, Shawn Maldonado (Houston), Scott Monteleone (New Orleans), Willie Morgan (Lafayette), Greg Snee, Jim VanArsdale (Lafayette) and Jason Webb.

A couple of things to mention here. Scott Montelone and Shawn Maldonado are the two bowlers with three titles in the last 30 years. Montelone, who also is a two-time Jon Juneau Scratch Masters winner at Circle, won the event in 2000, 2001 and 2005. Maldonado, a Juneau winner as well, won in 2012, 2013 and 2016.

Now we do know this although it is not a part of the official record. Greg Snee won the event in 1983 and 1990. Then in 2015, the son of one of bowling’s legendary personalities in this state, averaged 240 for 16 games to capture the first prize of $3,530.

Obviously, the missing records would uncover some more multiple winners from those first 16 years and money distribution that would probably push the total money awarded to $2 million.

Also in the last 30 years, nine women have captured the title including Kiara Smith, who won the most recent BR event in August 2019. Others are Azelee Barlow, Harley Caughlin, Trina Crear-Diver, Erin David, Missy Sylvia, Erica Thiel, Dallas Thrash and Tiffany Tubbs.

So onward the BR Singles goes and who knows how long it goes. Entries are at the bowling center and on the BR tournament Facebook page. Also, the recently added Friday night scratch sweeper will be held on Dec. 6 with this tournament. Should be a special weekend.

Youth city tournament

There are so many divisions in this event that we will invite you to take a look at the Greater Baton Rouge USBC page on Facebook for complete results, but we did want to congratulate the All-Events winners from the Youth City tournament earlier this month at Circle Bowl.

Landry Kayne posted 2,700 for nine games with handicap, while Kane Miller was second at 2,411 and DJ Mills was third at 2,327. Jordan Cangelosi won the girls’ handicap all-events with 2,321 with Kaedyn Mumphrey second at 2,189 and Shaye Duplessis third at 2,188.

In the scratch all-event, Miller was tops in the U12 boys with 1,829, while Charles Rawls II was first in the U15 boys with 1,800 and Benjamin Herman was first in the U20 boys with 1,888. Aubrey Bratkowski was the winner of the U12 girls with 1,230. Ashtyn Yoches won the U15 girls with a 1,659 total and Cangelosi won the scratch U20 title as well with a very nice total of 1,868.

Honor roll notes

There are a bunch of great scores on the honor roll topped by the 820 with a 300 by Sumner Taylor. Cassandra LaCour topped the ladies with a 735 that also included a 300 game. Tyler Lewis, Rob Livingston, Kerry Landry, Jessica McLin and Juan Coston, Jr., also shot 300 games while Mike Phillips, Craig Conley and Sal Palermo just missed with 299s and Derek Huynh had 298 and Jacob Dupre 296.

Finally congrats to Pete Palisi for picking up the 7-10 split. Check out all the results in this edition’s honor roll.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving and we will be back with you on Dec. 10. Until then, good luck and good bowling.

BR Singles is a long-standing keeper of an event

Kent Lowe

Monday, 04 March 2019 / Published in BR TOURNAMENT

BATON ROUGE, LA – When it comes to tournaments, it is hard to find one that continues to last for decades on end.

I’m not talking about your traditional city, state, regional or national event. I’m talking about the local house event or the event that a group may put on at the local center.

But when it comes to the BR Singles event which has its March running this coming weekend at Circle Bowl, one has to say it is a long-standing keeper of an event.

It is believed that when the tournament runs its three events in March, August and December, the tournament will be in its 46th year according to some documentation we have been told about.

While the number of tournaments has varied, with up to two in some years at the old Metro Bowl in addition to two at Circle Bowl, before it became a regular three-time a year event at Circle, there are some fascinating aspects about this tournament.

One is there is usually no way to predict what the finalists will look like. They have been young, old, men, women, high average and/or high handicap. That has made for some interesting final matches and usually some interesting discussion while the finals are taking place.

Another thing is the money. This tournament has paid well and while it is very hard to calculate, and this may be an under estimate, but the actual BR Singles, which for many years was sponsored by Baskin-Robbins, has to have paid out something on the order of three-quarters of a million dollars. Maybe it’s more than that in overall prize money. It’s hard to say what the entry fees and prize funds were worth back in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

But it’s a good event and squads seem to fill a lot earlier and quick than they used to. The first shift of qualifying bowls Saturday at 10 a.m. with the top 96 bowling in the semifinals on Sunday morning with the 32-player finals to follow. The estimated prize fund for this March event is over $18,000.

Another event that has drawn well of late is the Friday night sweeper for the BR Singles that will bowl at 7 p.m. This is a scratch event with four games across eight lanes that could pay around $500 for first.

Prep update

I don’t know if the rankings will be updated later Tuesday by the LHSAA with the state basketball going on, but we are in the final couple of weeks before the field of 32 boys/coed teams and 16 girls’ teams will be announced for the one championship in boys and girls, no split playoffs.

As of Feb. 27, Central of Baton Rouge, St. Paul’s, Brother Martin and Central Lafourche are all undefeated and in the first four spots in the power rankings in the Boys/Coed Division.

Dutchtown is sixth, Jesuit seventh, Catholic High of Baton Rouge ninth and East Ascension tenth.

In girls play, five undefeated teams lead the power rankings led by Archbishop Chapelle, Parkway of Bossier City, Central, South Terrebonne and Holden. East Ascension is sixth with Academy of Our Lady seventh with two losses ahead of undefeated and No. 8 Lafayette High.

Four-time champ Denham Springs is 15 in the qualifying field with Albany just behind No. 16 Holy Savior Menard for the final qualifying spot.

He’s almost 55

I’m been watching all these younger guys and their fancy rev rates and ability to shred racks taking charge of the PBA on the Fox coverage this year and then the last two weeks, here comes 54-year-old, soon to be 55, Norm Duke who wins his 39th and 40th professional titles in back-to-back weekend. Just amazing.

Only Walter Ray Williams (47) and the late Earl Anthony (43) have more. Plus Duke has beaten Jason Belmonte and Anthony Simonsen the last two weeks who are two of the best right now. My friend Jeff Richgels of 11thFrame.com suggested that Duke could win Player of the Year if he continues doing this well and right now it is hard not to agree with him.

The World Bowling Tour Finals, taped in January, will air Sunday on FS1 at 9 p.m. CT before the World Series of Bowling in Detroit leads to five consecutive nights of prime time bowling on FS1, March 18-22.

Honor roll

Just some fabulous scores this week with Gregory Snee leading the male bowlers with a 780 (276), it was Bernadine Thompson with a final game of 279 that put her at the top of the marks this week with a 781 set at All-Star Lanes. Darrin Thomas had a 651 to lead scoring in the youth leagues. Steve McIntyre posted 650 to lead the senior leagues while Patsy Dew recorded 622.

One final note, also starting a two-weekend run at All-Star Lanes in Shreveport will be the 55th Louisiana Youth Championships. We will keep an eye on that and BR Singles and have more along with a high school update when we join you again on March 19. Until then, good luck and good bowling.

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BLOG & STORIES

THE PASSION FOR WRITING

BR bowling has loss a great ambassador in Sue Braud

Stearman captures top prize in BR Tournament’s final

Thanksgiving No-Tap

7 Christmas tournaments

Women’s State

Honor roll notes

Some amazing BR tournament records since 1990

Youth city tournament

Honor roll notes

BR Singles is a long-standing keeper of an event

Prep update

He’s almost 55

Honor roll