Parkin finishes strong to lead opening round at 2019 PWBA Fountain Valley Open

STANDINGS

FOUNTAIN VALLEY, Calif.
- After admitting to some struggles on the fresh variation of this week's oil pattern at the Professional Women's Bowling Association Fountain Valley Open, Missy Parkin of Laguna Hills, California, found the right look to finish with 278 and 279 to take the lead after Friday's opening round.

Parkin, the 2011 United States Bowling Congress Queens champion, started with a 175 game at Fountain Bowl on the 37-foot lane condition, but she averaged more than 234 in her final seven games to finish with an eight-game total of 1,817, a 227.13 average.

"They were really difficult on the fresh," said Parkin, who finished in fourth place at last year's PWBA Fountain Valley Open. "I was having some issues trying to figure out which ball to throw, and they were just tough. If you missed right, it went right, and if you missed left, there was no hold. You had to throw really good shots.

"Luckily, they transitioned pretty quick, and I was able to ball down and use cleaner equipment, which allowed me to pop some good games and loosen up my swing. From there, I just kept chasing it a little left and balling down to cleaner equipment."

Parkin has been on a roll during the tour's last three events. She was the top seed for the stepladder finals at the PWBA Sonoma County Open and finished as the runner-up to Singapore's Shayna Ng and recorded a top-10 finish at the PWBA Tucson Open last week.

Gazmine Mason of Cranston, Rhode Island, is second with 1,773, and Bryanna Coté of Red Rock, Arizona, is third with 1,764. Erin McCarthy of Omaha, Nebraska, and Ashly Galante of Palm Harbor, Florida, round out the top five with 1,759 and 1,756, respectively.

All competitors at the PWBA Fountain Valley Open will return to Fountain Bowl on Friday at 8 p.m. Eastern for the final eight-game round of qualifying. After 16 games, the top 32 players will advance to the next round, which will begin Saturday at noon Eastern.

With eight games remaining, USBC Hall of Famer Carolyn Dorin-Ballard of Keller, Texas, and Giselle Poss of Nashville, Tennessee, are tied for 31st place with a 1,621 total, a 202.63 average.

Danielle McEwan of Stony Point, New York, is the defending champion at Fountain Bowl and finds herself in 37th place with eight games remaining. McEwan is just 17 pins out of the cut with a 1,604 total.

Bowlers advancing to Saturday's Round of 32 will bowl an additional eight games to determine which 12 players make the next round. The Round of 12 will consist of six additional games, with total pinfall for 30 games determining the four players advancing to the stepladder finals.

The stepladder finals will take place Saturday at 8:30 p.m. Eastern and be broadcast live on BowlTV.com. BowlTV is providing wire-to-wire coverage of the PWBA Fountain Valley Open.