PBA Communications

BRENTWOOD, Calif. – Coming off a second-place finish in the USBC Senior Masters and fifth-place finish in the Etonic PBA Senior U.S. Open, Hugh Miller of Seattle took the first-round lead Monday in the PBA Senior Northern California Classic presented by Track at Harvest Park Bowl.

Miller opened the first day of qualifying with a 1,988 eight-game pinfall total (248.5 average) bowling games of 227, 209, 256, 279, 300, 236, 267 and 214.

“The first two games I was throwing my share of strikes but I had a couple big splits as well,” said Miller, who owns two career Senior Tour titles and seven PBA Tour titles. “I thought it was time to switch to another ball in the third game and it was off to the races from there.”

In addition to his top five finishes in the Senior Tour’s two majors, Miller likes his chances at Harvest Park Bowl where he has qualified well in the past and is coming off a second-place finish to reigning PBA Player of the Year and defending champion Ron Mohr in last year’s Senior Northern California Classic.

“I’ve bowled a hundred games the last two weeks and I’ve never qualified worse than eighth here so I think I’m bowling as well as can be expected,” Miller said. “It hasn’t been quite as smooth in match play because it seems like I’m always running up against someone who gets the better of me.”

Miller holds a commanding 102-pin lead over amateur Mark McCreary of Livermore, Calif., in second with 1,886. Rounding out the top five are Christopher Keane, New City, N.Y., 1,880; Hall of Famer Walter Ray Williams Jr., Ocala, Fla., 1,854 and Mohr, Eagle River, Alaska, 1,824.

Eight-game qualifying continues Tuesday after which the 85-player field will be cut to the top 32 who will advance to match play Wednesday morning. Round of 8 and championship rounds will get underway Wednesday at 5 p.m. PT.

PBA SENIOR NORTHERN CALIFORNIA CLASSIC PRESENTED BY TRACK
Harvest Park Bowl, Brentwood, Calif., Monday

FIRST ROUND RESULTS
(After 8 games)
a-indicates amateur

1, Hugh Miller, Seattle, 1,988.
2, a-Mark McCreary, Livermore, Calif., 1,886.
3, Christopher Keane, New City, N.Y., 1,880.
4, Walter Ray Williams Jr., Ocala, Fla., 1,854.
5, Ron Mohr, Eagle River, Alaska, 1,824.
6, Wayne Webb, Columbus, Ohio, 1,815.
7, (tie) a-Sam Carter, BenLomond, Calif., and Rohn Morton, Vancouver, Wash., 1,813.
9, Dale Traber, Cedarburg, Wis., 1,804.
10, Mike Dias, Lafayette, Colo., 1,786.
11, Bill McCorkle, Westerville, Ohio, 1,784.
12, Paul McCordic, Sugar Land, Texas, 1,779.
13, Frank Gallo Jr., Jacksonville, Fla., 1,778.
14, Bill Nichols, Roseville, Calif., 1,776.
15, Randy Shewmake, Fort Worth, Texas, 1,761.
16, Harry Sullins, Chesterfield Twp., Mich., 1,751.
17, (tie) Ron Winger, Las Vegas, and Tom Baker, King, N.C., 1,750.
19, Kevin Croucher, Grants Pass, Ore., 1,742.
20, Ted Staikoff, Black Hawk, S.D., 1,740.
21, (tie) Dave Soutar, Bradenton, Fla., and Ricky Beck, Box Elder, S.D., 1,737.
23, Steve Davis, Manteca, Calif., 1,736.
24, a-Dick Baker, Henderson, Nev., 1,727.
25, Todd Kjell, Roscoe, Ill., 1,719.
26, Joe Goldstein Sr., Hayward, Calif., 1,718.
27, Tom Carter, Rockford, Ill., 1,715.
28, Lennie Boresch Jr., Kenosha, Wis., 1,714.
29, Peter Knopp, Germany, 1,712.
30, Ty Dawson, Sunnyvale, Calif., 1,695.
31, Noel Vazquez, Sacramento, Calif., 1,689.
32, a-Terry Leong, Las Vegas, 1,687.
33, Kenny Parks, Hammond, Ind., 1,685.
34, (tie) Dave Sill, Titusville, Fla., and Jim Gordin, Modesto, Calif., 1,684.
36, a-Steve Corsaro, Tracy, Calif., 1,683.
37, Dave Bernhardt, Romeo, Mich., 1,679.
38, Barry Gurney, West Hills, Calif., 1,669.
39, Brian Cooper, Visalia, Calif., 1,660.
40, Kevin Foley, Reno, Nev., 1,652.
41, a-Dan Roberts, Brentwood, Calif., 1,647.
42, Don Blatchford, Santa Monica, Calif., 1,642.
43, Ross Packard, San Jose, Calif., 1,641.
44, Dave Flemming, Fairborn, Ohio, 1,629.
45, Bob Kelly, Dayton, Ohio, 1,628.
46, Don Sylvia, Reno, Nev., 1,626.
47, Rodney Garrick, San Francisco, 1,620.
48, Ron Garr, Ridgedale, Mo., 1,613.
49, a-Gip Lentine, Chino, Calif., 1,609.
50, Fred Cole, Visalia, Calif., 1,607.
51, Doug Kempt, Monrovia, Calif., 1,602.
52, (tie) a-Gerald Calvin, Thousand Oaks, Calif., and a-Al Bella, Pittsburg, Calif., 1,592.
54, Ross Larsen, Riverside, Calif., 1,588.
55, Robert Harvey, Boise, Idaho, 1,582.
56, Tim Pierce, Portland, Ore., 1,581.
57, a-Stan Winters, Simi Valley, Calif., 1,577.
58, (tie) Bruce Hall, Los Altos Hills, Calif., and Dale Eagle, Tavares, Fla., 1,572.
60, Andy Anderson, Falls Church, Va., 1,569.
61, a-Kenneth Daily, San Leanardo, Calif., 1,565.
62, Bill Stempke, Moorpark, Calif., 1,558.
63, Paul Herrera, San Jose, Calif., 1,552.
64, Marc Clyburn, Pittsburg, Calif., 1,546.
65, Gerry Chinn, Castaic, Calif., 1,545.
66, Sammy Ventura, Syracuse, N.Y., 1,539.
67, Edward Silva, Manteca, Calif., 1,537.
68, a-Pat Kruse, Castro Valley, Calif., 1,535.
69, a-Dennis Jones, Fremont, Calif., 1,530.
70, Rick Francis, Galt, Calif., 1,527.
71, Lauri Karppala Jr., Folsom, Calif., 1,524.
72, Don Lane, San Francisco, 1,512.
73, Dan Clausse, Reno, Nev., 1,509.
74, a-Bob Rhiner, Discovery Bay, Calif., 1,503.
75, (tie) Pete Milkovich, Hercules, Calif., and Dave Schultz, Jackson, Wis., 1,489.
77, Tim Shirlock, Mather, Calif., 1,486.
78, Scott Hansel, Stockton, Calif., 1,464.
79, Van Fenner, Reno, Nev., 1,445.
80, a-Douglas Thompson, Aberdeen, S.D., 1,442.
81, Chuck Best, Buda, Texas, 1,431.
82, Thomas Goodchild, Fairfield, Calif., 1,407.
83, (tie) Sam Perrotta, Lincoln Park, N.J., and Sam Loftus, Stockton, Calif., 1,388.
85, Duane Wilson, Brentwood, Calif., 1,373.