Fort Walton Beach bowler strikes it rich in regional

By GREG AUMAN

© St. Petersburg Times,
published July 31, 2001

Spring Hill Lanes witnessed the first new winner of the Professional Bowlers Association's South Open regional in three years Sunday, as Don Dupree of Fort Walton Beach topped 124 competitors and earned $2,500.

Dupree, who has won three regionals this season, defeated Tommy Jones of Greenville, S.C., 205-197 in the final playoff. In the semifinals, Dupree eliminated Lakeland's Richard Church, who had rolled a 300 game during qualifying.

The top local was Homosassa's Steve Neff, who received $1,000 for advancing to the finals before losing to Church 209-188. Homosassa's Rich Garner was the only other local to qualify, earning $155 with a 40th-place finish. Seven county bowlers were in the top 100, led by Spring Hill's Chris Moccio, who totaled 1,874 pins in 10 qualifying games.

Six of the top 10 locals were in the top 10 last year. Neff had finished fifth to earn the same $1,000 check last season, and Jason Mahr -- who led the county contingent a year ago -- fell to second behind Moccio.

While the regional's field of 124 was slightly down from past years, participation in the preceding pro-am tournaments was up by more than 30 entrants, with 85 juniors, 95 adults and 41 seniors competing with the pros. The junior pro-am was handicapped into two divisions, with a 130 average splitting two groups. In the upper division, Gregory Moore won with a handicapped total of 1,484 (three of his games, plus three games from the pros he was paired with). Brett Crusan won the lower division with a score of 1,377.

Ted Olsen took the seniors class and $85 with a score of 1,464, and in the regular division, Edwin O'Gorman won $200 for first place with 1,560 pins.

PBA South Open top 10 local bowlers

5. Steve Neff, Homosassa (score not available), 40. Rich Garner, Homosassa (1,927), 59. Chris Moccio, Spring Hill (1,874), 64. Jason Mahr, Spring Hill (1,849), 71. Anthony Oliver, Spring Hill (1,827), 72. Rich Kastner, Spring Hill (1,820), 84. Chris Sagginario, Spring Hill (1,772), 94. Charles Sonnenblick, Spring Hill (1,744), 98. Jay Tinkham, Spring Hill (1,733), 101. Todd Jufko, Spring Hill (1,706).

NOTE: 10 games, scratch -- GREG AUMAN

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