Dixon’s Wolfe places 13th at U.S. Senior Open

Skip Wolfe hit the jackpot last week in Las Vegas, but it had little to do with money.

The Dixon resident competed in the Professional Bowlers Association United States Senior Open, held June 1-5 at Suncoast Hotel & Casino. He made it to the final day of competition, and placed 13th out of 206 bowlers.

“Making the finals of the Senior U.S. Open was the experience of a lifetime,” Wolfe said. “It’s a culmination of 40 years of loving the game and working at it, and trying to get better. I feel a tremendous sense of accomplishment, finishing as high as I did.”

The tournament is for bowlers 50 and over, and Wolfe, who reached that age last July 29, became eligible for the first time this year. He competed in four U.S. Opens (1990, ’91, ’98 & ’99), but did not make the cut.

Wolfe is around the game constantly, as a territory sales manager for Bob’s Business, a bowling supply company based in Red Wing, Minnesota. He travels throughout Illinois, visiting bowling alleys and selling his company’s wares.

His game, however, is limited to bowling on Thursday in a league at Plum Hollow in Dixon, provided he isn’t on the road. But he hoped to get back into more competition upon reaching age 50.

“For the last several years, I had my sights set on the opportunity to bowl against some of the greats of the game,” Wolfe said.

He had that opportunity last week. It began with a 2-day trip by van to Las Vegas, in which he packed several changes of clothes and his bowling equipment, including 22 bowling balls. He used the 1-hour practice session on Sunday, May 31 to see which balls would be best suited to use on ever-changing lane conditions.

The first round of competition was held June 1-3, with six games of qualifying in each of the first 3 days. Only the top 48 bowlers advanced to the next round.

“Back in the ’90s, when I bowled in four U.S. Opens, I was close to making the cut twice,” Wolfe said, “and my goal was to make the top 48.”

In 18 games, Wolfe had a score of 3,711 and an average of 206.17, good for 25th among 206 bowlers. It put him comfortably on to the next round, though he was never able to completely relax during the process.

“I knew that there were a number of guys out there that were PBA hall of famers,” Wolfe said, “that have done this for a living their entire lives. Throughout the 18 games of qualifying, I could never take my foot off the gas. I had to be focused and concentrating every shot all the way to the end.”

When it became official sometime late in the afternoon on Wednesday, June 3, that’s when it hit Wolfe hard.

“I was fighting back tears when I called home to tell everyone I had made the cut in the U.S. Open,” Wolfe said.

With the field at 48 bowlers, the next round, on Thursday, June 4, consisted of match play. Only the top 24 bowlers would move on.

Each bowler had 16 matches, with opponents determined by a random draw. Wolfe ended up posting an 8-7-1 record that day, which placed him 15th, and more importantly, on to the next round.

“I knew it would be a step up in competition level,” Wolfe said, “and I went in there strictly with the mindset of executing and making shots, just like I did the first 18 games of qualifying. I kept my head down, and made sure that I was burying my target every shot.

“All I could do was execute, make shots, and let the chips fall where they may.”

With field now down to 24 bowlers, the format was to bowl eight matches in the morning of Friday, June 5, followed by eight more in the afternoon. Only the top four finishers would move on to that night’s finals.

With no margin for error, Wolfe dug himself a big hole in the first eight matches. He lost to PBA hall of famer Walter Ray Williams in the opener, and it didn’t improve from there.

“Friday morning, seven of my eight matches were against PBA hall of famers,” Wolfe said, “and I went 0-8. I had a chance to win a couple of the matches, and let it slip through my fingers. It was very intimidating, bowling against hall of famer after hall of famer, that’s for sure.”

Wolfe went back to his hotel room to change clothes, shower and regroup. Now refreshed, he posted an 8-0 match-play record in the afternoon, to finish 8-8 for the session.

He had dipped down to 20th place after the 0-8 morning, but rebounded in the afternoon to work his way back up to 13th place. His prize money for the week was $2,100.

For the week, he averaged 204.28 over 50 games, in exacting conditions.

Wolfe noted much like a U.S. Open golf course is tougher than an average PGA Tour course, the lanes at the U.S. Senior Open bowling tournament were extra difficult. Only the best of shots, with proper speed, spin, and angle of attack, would hit their intended target.

“You have to make great shots to hit the pocket,” Wolfe said. “It was a 50-game grind of making shots, changing balls, and changing spots on the lane to keep the ball in the pocket.”

Down the road, he hopes to compete in more senior events. He can prepare for those in his man cave of a basement, which includes two fully operational bowling lanes.

He and his wife, Kim, and their three children, Blake, Kyle and Garet, have the chance to bowl at their leisure. The bowling bug, however, hasn’t quite bit the boys – yet.

“They’re big into baseball and soccer now,” Wolfe said, “and I hope at some point they’ll take the reins in bowling, and want to be good at that as well.”

Wolfe file

High school: Dixon (1982)

Resides: Dixon

Family: Wife, Kim; sons Blake (12), Kyle (10), Garet (6)

FYI: Placed 13th among 206 bowlers at the U.S. Senior Open bowling tournament held June 1-5 in Las Vegas. ... Works as a territory sales manager for Bob’s Business, a bowling supply distributor.