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Jeff Bellinger averaged 244 over eight games to lead the field Monday after the first round of qualifying at the St. Petersburg/Clearwater PBA Senior Open at Seminole Lanes.
Bellinger, a two-year senior pro from Columbia, S.C., was 94 pins ahead of Indianapolis' Gary Hiday, 137 ahead of veteran PBA Hall of Famer George Pappas of Charlotte, N.C., and 148 ahead of three-time senior winner Ron Winger of Westlake Village, Calif.
"The shot was a perfect fit for my game and I was not at all unhappy with the low games," Bellinger said. He opened with a 224, then fired 289 to take the lead. His subsequent games were 236, 237, 217, 258, 232 and 255.
The 135-man field returns today at 8 a.m. for eight qualifying games, with 32 making the cut. The top 32 open match play Wednesday at 8 a.m. with single-elimination, best-of-five matches. The field is pared to the top 16, then eight and top four, who roll best-of-three eliminations starting at 4 p.m.
The top two roll best of three for the championship at 5 p.m. Wednesday. Admission is $5 today and $10 Wednesday.
Hiday made the largest leap of the day, from sixth after six games to second. He averaged 226 early in the block, then picked up 493 pins in his last two games.
Pappas led early with a 227 average and 23-pin lead over Henry Gonzalez of Colorado Springs. Gonzalez finished sixth. Others in the top 20 included Bob Handley of Winter Park; Titusville's nine-time winner, Pete Couture; Hudson's Ron Woods; and Dale Eagle, an eight-time winner from Tavares.
The top area competitors were Palm Harbor's Patsy DellaPenna (34th), St. Petersburg's T.C. Hilderbrand (tied for 44th) and Largo's Tim Dunbar (50th).