THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, June 26, 1994 TAG: 9406240262
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 19 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY GREG GOLDFARB, CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: 940626 LENGTH: Medium
``I'm thrilled,'' said Marshall, a Baltimore bowling pro shop manager. ``It's been a lifelong ambition.''
{REST} Marshall, 31, has earned about $50,000 in prize money since he turned pro in 1983, and he travels to 12 or 13 Professional Bowlers Association events a year. The $3,500 he won Sunday was the highlight of his career.
Pinboy's, a 40-lane establishment, played host to a field of 91 other pros and 61 amateurs during the two-day event. It opened Friday night with a pro-am event and continued Saturday with an open tourney to determine who would be in the Sunday shootout.
During the open, bowlers rolled two perfect 300 games and one 290 game, according to Willie Mitcham, Pinboy's supervisor of operations.
About 10 bowlers from Chesapeake and Portsmouth entered the tourney, but none finished in the top 24. Ten Virginia Beach bowlers also entered and three - Todd Allred, Gary Faulkner and Tommy Holmes - finished 13th, 14th and 15th.
Last weekend's $25,000 total purse far exceeds the usual $300 purses offered during the year at other amateur tournaments, according to Mitcham. And this was the first time any of his bowling centers had hosted professional bowlers, but it won't be the last.
He is expecting 240 pros and amateurs at next year's open, which will last longer and offer an even larger purse. Mitcham also plans to talk to television networks about televising it.
Marshall rolled 27 games during the weekend and had a 203 in his final one to pick up first place. Bowling since the age of 7, Marshall said that by the time he was 10, he knew that someday, he would be bowling for dollars.
``I always knew I wanted to be a pro bowler,'' said the lefthander.
Competitors came from Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Florida as well as Virginia.
Second place went to Barry Hartman, Severn, Md., amateur, $1,800, and third place went to Ken McNeely, Morgantown, N.C., pro, $1,200. Andy Neuer, a Milton, Pa., pro, took home $1,100 for fourth, and Mike Terrell, a Newport News amateur, finished fifth for $1,000.
Pro bowlers paid $185 each and amateurs paid $150 to enter the open, which was part of the 1994 PBA Southern Region competition. The satellite tour starts in January and runs through December.
Before arriving in Chesapeake, the tour was in Tallahassee, Fla., and this weekend, the bowlers will vie in Melbourne, Fla. Mitcham estimated there were 300 spectators for the Saturday portion.
by CNB