Glenmerry Bowl’s Tim Flack is taking up the torch passed on by Trail’s Ron Sandnes and Darren Rich in this year’s 5-Pin Master Bowlers Association National championship in Hamilton, Ont. at the end of June.
The 21-year-old Trail resident capped off his Master Bowlers debut season with a strong finish in his final two events in Vancouver on the weekend to book his ticket to the Canadian championship as part of Team B.C.
“It was really intense,” said Flack. “There are some really good bowlers, and it was my first time in the Masters class.”
Sandnes and Rich have been perennial Kootenay zone champions and last year were part of the Kootenay-Okanagan team that won provincial gold. But with Sandnes’ retirement earlier this year, Flack seized the opportunity to play against the province’s best.
The Glenmerry Bowler played in six Master matches strung out over the year with the final two matches going in Vancouver this past weekend.
Each match consists of eight games and in his final contest Sunday, Flack tossed the second highest score at Old Orchard Lanes in Burnaby bowling a total of 2,162 to put him comfortably in fourth place overall.
Flack finished behind the Men’s provincial champion and Team B.C.’s singles representative at the nationals, Stu Ryan who rolled in at 2,313.
While, Flack came in fourth overall with a best-of-four-match total scratch pinfall of 8,501 and a 265.7 average, his ring total for all six events was third best among 15 competitors at 12,452.
The top men’s and ladies’ bowlers at the event are chosen as the singles representative at nationals, while the next five bowl in the team competition.
Rounding out Team B.C. Men’s team along with Flack is Larry Johnson, Clive Moir, Jordon Schuss, and Marco Tsang.
“That’s a pretty good team, those guys are all good bowlers,” said Sandnes who played with many of them on last year’s squad.
But Flack has proven he can hold his own amongst his Master bowling competition, and last month rolled a perfect 300 game in league play at Glenmerry Bowl, the only perfect game rolled in the province this year.
Flack bowls in two leagues and practices about three hours each week to stay sharp, and will increase his regimen when he begins preparation for the nationals.
“Once it gets closer I’ll do a lot more,” Flack added. “But it’s a lot of mental preparation as well.”
Flack will join Team B.C. for the nationals in Hamilton from June 28 to July 1.
Meanwhile, in the Youth Doubles Provincial championship, Glenmerry Bowl’s Erika Kivi and Nicole Smith won silver in the Junior division at Revs Lanes in Maple Ridge on Saturday.
