The Domination at Dual Lane

RIO RANCHO – Left lane. Right lane. Left lane. Right lane. That’s the rhythm of the Dual Lane Pattern tournament, which took place Mar. 2 at Tenpins & More.

The big winner of the weekend was former Cleveland Storm bowler Dale Coffee, who headed down from his Colorado home to defeat all challengers and collect the $1,500 top prize.

Coffee defeated early leader Pete Sheridan by 20 pins, 213-193.

“The scores of 213 to 193 did not reflect the high scoring pace each had set in the games leading up to the final. Sheridan averaged over 237, while Coffee carded 222 over eight games,” said Tenpins & More owner, Steve Mackie.

What’s a Dual Pattern tournament?

According to Mackie, “the event is bowled with dual lane oiling patterns on each pair of lanes, presenting quite a challenge in both physical and mental game preparation.”

One lane featured “short oil”, meaning the wood panels are coated with very little oil. The other lane will feature “long oil”, requiring the use of different bowling balls on the pair.

The format of the tournament means bowlers were required to switch lanes each game for five games before the field was cut in half.

A tournament that began with 49 entrants was quickly whittled down to 20, and then again to the final four for the grand championship.

Third-place went to Los Alamos resident and Rio Rancho regular, Michael DeVore, who beat out the fourth-place finisher Dennis Helmick, 245-211.

Devore then lost to Sheridan in a nail-biter, 248-238.

Dual Pattern Tournament

Match #1

Michael Davore 246, Dennis Helmick 211

Match #2

Pete Sheridan 248, Michael Davore 238

Match #3

Dale Coffee 213, Pete Sheridan 193

Other bowlers...

Gabe Maestas 5th (Colorado Springs)

6th — Justin Medina

7th — Zach Harvey

8th — Trent Irwin

9th — Joseph Paterson (Socorro)

10th — Jake Gill