The 2020 NDBowling.com Classic will be held Feb 29th and March 1st at Sunset Lanes in Moorhead, MN. The tournament enters it’s 27th year with a new look Sunset Lanes which includes a new scoring system. Here are some of the story lines going in to the season’s final Major.
Lane Pattern Analysis
The 2020 NDBowling.com Classic will be held on a 40 foot pattern with a shade under 26 mls and a 3.13 to 1 ratio. This pattern will allow players to reach the pocket from multiple angles, but, like most tournaments, the breakdown will tell the story. Historically, the lane surface at Sunset Lanes has provided players with miss room in and this will lead to players playing bigger angles later in the day. Expect a moderate scoring pace with spare shooting ultimately determining who will advance to match play on Sunday. I expect the cut to be in the even to +50 range.
Season of First Time Major Winners?
2004 marked the first season that all 4 NDBowling.com Major Championships were held. From 2004 to 2019, there has never been a season where all 4 NDBowling.com Major winners were first time winners. So far in 2020, the 3 Major winners are all first time champions, and all 3 had to defeat previous Major champions in the final to do so. Michael Makela defeated 2017 Open Champion Wade Scott in Manitoba, Joshua Link defeated 2-time Major winner Nick Heilman in Minot, and Blake Wallstrum defeated 4-time Major winner Eric Parvey in Mandan. Last season, Kayla Pashina took home the Glen Hains Memorial Trophy following her win at the Classic for her first Major title.
Conclusion to The NDBowling.com Player of the Year Race
Entering the 2020 NDBowling.com Classic, the NDBowling.com Player of the Year race has been narrowed down to 5 players. The race has never been this close entering the final event with all 5 players being separated by a mere 6 points. Here are the top 10 entering the season’s final Major.
1 – Eric Parvey 119.94
2 – Matt Smallin 119.52
3 – Mike Larson 116.34
4 – Aaron Petrowitz 114.65
5 – Thomas Wolf 113.49
6 – Jeremiah Smith 93.77
7 – Wade Scott 79.84
8 – Ryan Selk 77.22
9 – Jack Nelson 73.97
10 – Blake Wallstrum 73.80
The top 5 players following the NDBowling.com Classic will be named to the NDBowling.com Team of The Year, and the high point total will be named Player of the Year. Points ranking and player of the year race is open to all bowlers. Please contact Daren Seney to sign up (once signed up, in for life) and start earning points this weekend.
Bold Predictions
The season’s final Major will feature a talented field on a fairly playable pattern. Without knowing the complete roster, here are my bold predictions for the final 5.
– Mike Larson
– Eric Parvey
– Andy Mills
– Clayton Mohr
– Thomas Wolf
Tune in to NDBowlTV on Sunday at approximately 1 pm local time for live coverage of the finals.
NDBowlTV: www.YouTube.com/NDBowling