THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, October 13, 1994 TAG: 9410130591
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY VICKI L. FRIEDMAN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: FRANKLIN LENGTH: Long : 110 lines
If there was any hubbub in this mill town in the old days, it probably wasn't in a bowling alley.
That was before the pros came to town.
Franklin, population 8,000, is proud enough just to have its own 32-lane bowling center - ``there's not another city in the U.S. smaller than Franklin with this many lanes,'' brags former pro bowler Chuck Gardner, who owns the Franklin Bowling Center.
But even more impressively, Franklin boasts its own Professional Bowlers Association event: the Franklin Southern Regional, which starts Friday.
``As far as I'm concerned, it's the best thing that ever happened to this town,'' says senior league bowler Winston Williamson, who has attended the last two tournaments and will be back this year.
For a town that didn't get its first movie theater until June 1989, a professional bowling event is a big deal. Defending champion Mark Mosayebi, Guppy Troup, Joe Viscomi, Sam Zurich, Dave Olm and Brian Davis are among the bowlers competing for a first prize of at least $2,500, based on entries.
And although regionals are often considered training grounds for bowlers to hone their skills, several of the participating bowlers have been successful nationally, including Troup, who has eight titles.
And with 128 pro bowlers and their families headed to town, that means lots of hotel rooms - the sponsoring Days Inn usually fills up - and lots of food.
``Franklin - and Southampton County, too - enjoys all the benefits,'' says Donna McCullough, executive director for the Chamber of Commerce for Franklin and Southampton County.
Gardner, who bowled on and off the tour for 10 years, is running the Open for the third consecutive year. He expects about 3,000 fans, from as far as Richmond and Greenville, N.C., to fill the bleachers he borrowed from the YMCA.
``We do this to show people quality bowling,'' Gardner says. ``We don't have anything else, as far as a pro sports event, in Franklin.''
The tournament kicks off with a pro-am on Friday night. For $10 for kids or $30 for adults, folks can bowl with three pros or three local celebrities - mostly drivers from Southampton Speedway - in a handicapped competition. First place wins $500.
League bowler Mary Lou Bryant of Courtland wouldn't miss it.
``When we bowl on Friday night,'' she confides, ``we're like family.''
The pro-am is the first of many opportunities throughout the weekend for fans to mingle with the pros.
``Bowling is so different than football and baseball,'' says Deborah Elliott, who runs the tournament with Gardner. ``These guys love to give autographs.''
``Bowlers love to have their egos stroked. . . . And the ones that bowl good, they never leave. They'll hang around all night.''
Once the tournament starts on Saturday, the festive atmosphere of the pro-am settles down, says league bowler Emmett Babb. Pro bowlers adhere to strict standards. No cursing. No sneakers. No jeans. No corduroys?
``You won't see a bowler act like Deion Sanders; you won't see a bowler act like Barry Bonds,'' says Gardner, adding that beards weren't allowed on the tour until just recently.
All bowlers roll two five-game qualifying blocks on Saturday. The top 16 bowlers advance to Sunday's finals for 16 head-to-head matches. Following match play, the top five bowl in a TV finals format.
``You're so close to the action,'' says Babb, who likens the scoreboard in the Franklin center to the ever-changing board on the New York Stock Exchange. ``In the early blocks, there's so much going on, it's like a carnival. With match play, everybody's moving. And then with the finals, everybody's real quiet.''
Bryant says when the field narrows on Sunday, ``I love watching somebody roll and roll and get a perfect game.''
Last year, there was plenty of perfection to go around. The Franklin tournament set the PBA record with 13 perfect games bowled.
Gardner, who knows every bowler in the center by name, says that was the highlight of the last two years.
``We were rooting so hard for that,'' he says.
Gardner will bowl in this weekend's event, too. But his main focus is assuring that the bowlers feel ``like royalty'' during their three-day stay in Franklin.
``I don't think anybody leaves here,'' he says, ``without saying it's a real good show.'' ILLUSTRATION: Franklin Bowling Center owner Chuck Gardner is running the Open
for the third year in a row. He's expecting about 3,000 fans.
AT A GLANCE
What: Franklin Southern Regional Open.
Where: Franklin Bowling Center, 1327 Armory Drive, Franklin.
When: Po-am from 7 to 9 .m. Friday. The Open starts Saturday with
A-Squad beginning at 8 a.m. and 2 p.m., and B-Squad at 11 a.m. and 5
p.m. Sunday's finals begin at 8 a.m.
Cost: Admission is free.
Who's there: Defending champion Mark Mosayebi, Dave Olm, Sam
Zurich, Joe Viscomi, Guppy Troup and Brian Davis lead a field of 128
bowlers.
Purse: First prize will be at least $2,500, based on entries. The
remainder of the prize fund will be paid on a 1-3 ratio.
More info: 562-0221.
by CNB