I was wondering how soon this day would come and it has.
In March, for the last time, the tournament that was known at different times as Baskin Robbins/BR Singles/Sue Braud BR Singles Tournament was rolled. It’s had a few names as you can see, but it also had for some 50 years was champions of all kinds and lots of money awarded.
There were 279 entries on the final weekend at All Star Lanes with close to $12,000 in prize money offered. Ronald Smith from Lake Charles came in and the 196-bowler averaged 222 to win the $2,369.50 first prize with a two-game match total win of 526-453 against Baton Rouge’s Gregory Snee, who won $1,184.75. Baton Rouge bowlers Sumner Taylor and Tiffany Blackwell made it to the round of four, winning $497.60.
It’s just so ironic that the Snee name is in the championship match in the final BR Singles event because it was his grandfather, the late John Snee, and the tournament’s namesake in its later years, Sue Braud, who made this thing what it was. Then throw in Gregory’s dad, Greg, as a past winner of this event and it just seems appropriate.
Unfortunately, when the tournament started in 1973 it was still a time of manual scoring and results being totaled by hand. So a lot of the records for the first 16 years are long since forgotten and not available.
But here are some facts: Since 1989 (when the computer files are available) through the March event, there were 115 tournaments (originally named for a sponsor’s Baskin Robbins locations in Baton Rouge). In those 115 events, over 5,200 unique bowlers from 18 different states participated in the tournament and over 53,000 entries were taken.
In that time 14 bowlers won multiple titles and just since 1989, $1.8 million was paid out in prize money.
Those are astonishing facts.
I was looking last night at a list of the winners since 1990 and some of the names are a who’s who of bowling. This is just a part of the list of multiple winners: PBA star Shawn Maldonado, Scott Monteleone from NOLA (three-time winner), Jon Juneau, Duane Chatelain, Juan Coston Jr. and Butch Cormier, who won in December 1990 and in 2011.
Speaking of Greg Snee, he won in July 1990 and then 25 years later won in August 2015.
Many people over the years have helped in the tournament office and many have participated for long years. Braud’s daughter, Donna, and her husband, Jeff Hall, have been doing a lot of the work for years as well and kept this tournament alive after Sue’s passing.
But things have happened in the past few years. Circle Bowl, the tournament’s main home, closed. Weekend tournaments became more and more prevalent making the singles event not unique anymore. Times had changed in the bowling game and the years of traveling back to Baton Rouge to run the event for the Halls probably just made this the right time.
It should be added that part of the history of this event would probably not have happened if it hadn’t been for late All Star general manager Mike LaCroix, who offered the tournament a spot in his center when Circle Bowl closed.
What made this tournament unique and successful was it was an anyone could win it. Young, old, high average, low average and let’s not forget the nine women that won the title, the last being Kiara Smith of Baton Rouge in August 2019.
The SYC and high school playoffs prevented us from doing this earlier, but it is important to salute a bowling event that should not be forgotten when we think of the big events in our city’s bowling history.
Fifty years. It was a good run. So long to the Sue Braud BR Singles.
Another Sue Braud BR Singles tournament has come and gone at All-Star Lanes and a very strong performance earned Corey Umbrello of Slidell the first prize of $1,830.50 from a total prize fund of just under $12,000.
Umbrello, who averaged 245 for the tournament, defeated Daniel Burzynski, 508-470, in the two-game final match after the field was set to the final 32 players for the bracket style finals.
Burzynski, won $915 for second place, averaging 231 for his 16 tournament games.
Umbrello beat Josh Phillips, 447-419, and Burzynski defeated Roderick Lathers, 488-374. The two Baton Rouge bowlers earned $384.41 for making the semifinals.
Two Baton Rouge bowlers — Juan Coston, Jr. and Chandler Delaune; and two Lafayette bowlers — Chandler Delaune and Hayden Lessard — advanced to the quarterfinal rounds for $256.27. Paul Brown, Ryan Dutsch, Gregory Snee and Brian Yoches from Baton Rouge finished in the final 16 for $146.44.
A total of 281 entries for this long-standing event that is close to 50 years old.
In the four events at All-Star Lanes, the entries have been 268, 290, 279, 281. Now that is down on average from events in the last non-pandemic years before Circle Bowl, but it is hard to put a finger on what is the difference that has kept this tournament from cracking the 300-entry mark in its four times at All-Star.
One thing that we were able to obtain is that 44 bowlers bowled in the event for the first time in August and besides Louisiana, bowlers from Alabama, Florida, Illinois, Mississippi, Missouri and Texas took part. So that’s a good sign. People are still coming to the tournament from outside Louisiana. Now the total money may not be as big but a five-figure payout tournament in this day and age is nothing to sneeze at.
It’s tough for me to speak on what’s wrong, if anything, with this event these days because it’s not something I have bowled in lately because my schedule just doesn’t allow a full weekend if I would get lucky. Also, there are so many tournaments these days that one can bowl for a four-figure first-prize in a lot of places and not everyone is going to bowl as much as they used too.
Frankly, life is pretty busy for everyone these days, including people like Jeff and Donna Hall, who have been the servants of this tournament for so long, especially after the passing of longtime bowling figure and tournament namesake Sue Braud.
The next Sue Braud BR singles is set for December.
BY KENT LOWE | CONTRIBUTING WRITER
APR 18, 2022 – 3:59 PM
We have lots to catch up on after our run through the high school playoffs, so let’s get it started with a look back at last month’s Sue Braud tournament at All-Star Lanes.
Juan Coston Jr., of Baton Rouge took down the top prize of $1,805.50 from the entry of 279 over Charles Peavy of Florida. Coston won the two-game match, 506-465. Peavy won $904.75.
The semifinalists were Jacob Dupre of Baton Rouge and Michael Rachal, who was originally from Lafayette and bowled for Lincoln Memorial University where he advanced to the 2021 USBC Intercollegiate Singles final.
Coston beat Dupre, 495-352 and Peavy was a 479-457 winner over Rachal. The semifinals earned checks for $380.
The quarterfinals were Chandler Delaune of Lafayette, Derek Michael of Baton Rouge, Jared Thompson of Houston and Drew Winch of Lafayette and each earned $253.33.
South Louisiana bowlers making the round of 16 were Jason Lee, Noell Lee, Rob Livingston and Eric White, all of Baton Rouge and Charles Noble of New Orleans. They each cashed for $144.76.
The next Sue Braud tournament will be held Aug. 13-14 at All-Star Lanes in Baton Rouge.
BY KENT LOWE | CONTRIBUTING WRITER
DEC 13, 2021 – 2:57 PM
So many things happening in the bowling world, especially here in South Louisiana and including some important city and state tournament news, but let’s start with the latest edition of the Sue Braud BR Singles event at All-Star Lanes.
The December edition drew 290 entries and it took 629 to make the cut to the semis and then 659 to make the 32-player bracket finals.
When the dust had cleared, Chandler Delaune of Lafayette, who entered with a 200 average won the $1,925 first prize. He defeated Slidell’s Joshua Jochum, who entered with a 209 average. Delaune rolled a two-game set of 481 to win over Jochum’s 422. Second place paid $962.50. Kenon Smith and Sumner Taylor made the semifinal round to earn $404.25 each, and Nathan Girouard and Kim Thibodeaux of Lafayette, Pete Greco of New Orleans and Aaron Senegal of Baton Rouge made the round of eight to earn $269.50 apiece.
Eric White of Baton Rouge had an 802 scratch set during the qualifying round as Chad Conard rolled 299 and Deep South Scratch winner Jacob Garretson had a 290 game in qualifying and advanced to the final 32.
There is a BR tournament Facebook page to follow for upcoming dates in 2022 and www.BowlTheBR.com.
Sumner Taylor put together a different format for the Friday night sweeper and there were 37 entries for that. James Mayer won the final match against Brian Mumphrey, 238-226, to win the $350 first prize.