Josh Williams of Tempe came away with the $2,500 champion's prize after a solid performance wire-to-wire at the SBT Saturday Shootout III held on March 7th at Lucky Strike Gilbert!

Bowlers in this event competed on the 2025 PBA Webb lane pattern, a 37-foot Challenge pattern at 4.58:1 with 27.7mL of volume. The average cut score was +39, with the lowest being -1 in the Foundation Division's morning cut and the highest +93 for the Scratch Division, also in the morning cut. SBT paid out $18,744 in cash & prizes in this event, bringing the year's total to $58,859 in just three events!

In the title match, Williams, the 23-year-old former ASU bowler and Challenger Division champion, fended off Jeff Millmier of San Tan Valley, the Foundation Division representative, along with Kyle Gilbert of Maricopa from the Scratch division, and Kyle Howard of Queen Creek, who represented the Senior Division. 

Going into the 8th frame, Millmier was in control with two doubles and only one open to go with his 33 pins of handicap. Williams and Howard tracked close behind, with Gilbert struggling to find the great look that he had had on the lanes all day. Williams, first up in the 8th frame and carrying 8 pins of handicap, missed a 10-pin, which appeared to put Millmier even more firmly in the driver's seat, but then Millmier left the 4-6-10 and Howard left the 4-7-10 to keep the outcome in question. In the 9th, Williams spared a 10-pin to keep the pressure on Millmier to stay clean, while Howard left a 4-9 on a high hit to take himself out of contention for the title.

The lefty Millmier had a chance to lock up a victory by staying clean, and looked to be in good shape to do so after breaking up a 2-7 when the 2 fell late, but his spare ball dropped into the gutter to give Williams a chance to seize the victory in the 10th with a double, which is exactly what he did with two clutch strikes. Millmier finished second for $1,000, Gilbert third for $750, and Howard rounded out the field for $500.

Williams was unable to convert on his first strike attempt to break the Progressive Pot, so the balance of the pot will carry over to both of our next two events.

Many thanks to Jodi Bach and her entire fine staff at Lucky Strike Gilbert for hosting us for this event. We love coming to this center and can't wait to come back!

We at SBT would like to again thank the bowling community of Arizona and throughout the southwest for your amazing support. We've had 535 entries combined in our first three events, which is just incredible and well beyond what we were expecting. Thank you also for your patience as we dealt with some early glitches with our software, particularly in our first event at Bowlero Kyrene. We've gotten through the early hiccups now and this weekend's event ran very smoothly. We expect it to only get better from here... and we can't wait for you to see what new features we have up our sleeves in the future!

SBT would again like to thank our great sponsors, many of whom provide prize giveaways for our bowlers that are awarded randomly throughout the day. Winning a FREE high performance bowling ball courtesy of Brunswick was Jeff Millmier. Josh Mabry won a free SBT jersey from EFX, while Justin Boom won a free single entry for any SBT event in 2026. Jim Cote won a B3 Performance lane package with Specto, and Joshua Umstead won a one-year subscription to Tenpin Toolkit! In addition, the high scores from the 8:30 squad that qualified also won a free single entry to a future Saturday Shootout in 2026. Congratulations to Buddy Darnell, Tracy Miller, and Kyle Gilbert!

Thanks also to local sponsors Chuck Lucas with Chuck's Painting, Michael Arce with Acclaim Garage Doors, Melody Rane with Rane Family Insurance, Marcus Haley with weightloss-peptides.com, and Marc Bakunowski with Jake's Bethany Auto Repair, all of whom are stepping up to support bowling in our community. Please show your appreciation to our sponsors by patronizing these businesses and letting them know how much you appreciate their support of SBT!

Our Mystery Score pot paid out $575 in this event, including a $250 prize won by Izak Dunn, and nearly $1,400 carries over to our next Saturday Shootout at Bowlero Via Linda on March 7th.

Lastly, a shout-out to our staff for this event: Amanda Larson, Norm Shucart, and Robin Verbil. Thank you for making the day run so smoothly!

In an epic finish that went right down to the wire, 23-year-old Jack Haines of Mesa pulled out a 1-pin victory in the SBT Saturday Shootout II on February 21st. Haines earned $2,540 for his victory in a memorable event that saw extremely high scores at Bowlero Union Hills in Phoenix. 105 bowlers rolled a total of 146 entries on the day, with SBT paying out $16,713 in cash and prizes. This event included competitors not only from across Arizona, but from Nevada, South Dakota, Kansas, Michigan, Washington, Minnesota, and New Mexico!

In the championship match, Haines, an HVAC technician representing the Challenger Division, duked it out with Derek Acuff, the lefty Scratch Division representative, along with Seth Krich of Cave Creek from the Foundation Division and John Talon of Ypsilanti, MI from the Senior Division. Haines struck 7 out of the first 8 frames, but Acuff laid down the gauntlet with the front 7, and Krich stalked them both by staying clean and adding a triple of his own. Talon only had one open in that stretch and was otherwise clean, but the scoring pace required stringing strikes. 

By the eighth frame, all eyes were on Acuff's string, but both Haines and Krich stayed well within range. Acuff finally created an opening in the eighth, coming up high and getting a small break leaving only a four pin, which he converted. That left things neck-and-neck (and -neck) going into the foundation frame, with Haines' 4 pins of handicap creating the only separation between the top two and Krich not far behind with his 21 pins. Bowling on opposite lanes in the 9th, Haines started by leaving a devastating (or so it seemed) 3-6-7-9-10 while Acuff left the 7-pin on his first ball, putting Acuff firmly in the driver's seat. But in an incredible turn of events, Haines' spare attempt splashed the 6-pin into the side board, which ricocheted and pushed the 3-pin into the 7-pin for the conversion, and then Acuff then flagged his 7-pin. This created an opening for Krich, who had a strike up in the 8th. With a double, he would have been in the driver's seat, but his very well-thrown ball denied him with a ringing 10-pin. 

Even so, all three of them had a chance at the top prize going in to the 10th, with Krich only 8 pins behind Haines with handicap. He just needed both of them to not double. Haines and Acuff, however, were determined to take it all the way to the wire, trading strikes in the tenth, with both of them striking out for Haines to take the 1-pin victory, 258 (254+4) to 257. Krich also struck out to close out the scoring, only 8 pins behind the victor at 250 (229+21). Talon, who has been visiting the Valley over the past month or so from Michigan, rounded out the championship field with 183 (181+2).

Haines had the opportunity to break the Progressive Pot after his victory, but managed just one additional strike to add $40, giving him $2,540 for his victory. Acuff received $1,000 for his second place finish, Krich $750 for third, and Talon $500 for fourth.

Competitors bowled on the Kegel Titanium pattern, a 44-foot Challenge pattern with 25mL of volume and a 4.21:1 ratio... but it did not play anything like it was drawn up. Scores were absolutely stratospheric all day, with most cut scores above +100. Topping the scoring, Acuff also tossed a 300 game during the Cashers Round.

We are very thankful for all of our sponsors, many of whom provide prize giveaways for our bowlers. Winning a FREE high performance bowling ball courtesy of Brunswick was Paul Schuler. Keith Fung won a free SBT jersey from EFX, while Tom Warren won a free single entry for any SBT event in 2026. Brian Rowley, Sr. won a B3 Performance lane package with Specto, and Paul Mahar won a one-year subscription to Tenpin Toolkit! In addition, the high qualifiers from the 8:30 squad won a free single entry to a future Saturday Shootout in 2026. Congratulations to Alex Vu, Harley Nicholson, Derek Acuff, and Marcus Haley! Thanks also to local sponsors Chuck's Painting, Acclaim Garage Doors, Melody Rane with Rane Family Insurance, weightloss-peptides.com, and Jake's Bethany Auto Repair, all of whom are stepping up to support bowling in our community. Please show your appreciation to our sponsors by patronizing these businesses and letting them know how much you appreciate their support of SBT!

Our Mystery Score pot paid out $800 in this event, including a $500 prize won by Jack Stewart, and nearly $900 carries over to our next event at Lucky Strike Gilbert on March 7th. With a minimal payout from our Progressive Pot in this event, someone breaking the pot in Gilbert could win as much as $3,500!

Our next event at Lucky Strike Gilbert on March 7th is coming soon! Register online at bowlsbt.com/portal. If you're already in our system after bowling at either Kyrene or Union Hills, registering online is SUPER EASY with only entering your phone number & password, then a few clicks and you're done! If you did a walk-up registration at either event without pre-registering online, then you'll need to use the "forgot password" link on the website to set your password for the first time.

Lastly, a shout-out to our staff for this event: Barb Wilson, Amanda Larson, Norm Shucart, and Robin Verbil, who kept lines moving and bowlers happy. Thank you!

Southwest Bowling Tour held its inaugural event at Bowlero Kyrene in Chandler, AZ on January 24th, where Chris Klerk of Chandler brought home the title along with a huge $3,700 payday! The center was BUZZING all day with activity as 137 bowlers took to the lanes, rolling a whopping 215 entries. SBT paid out $23,402 in cash and prizes to competitors from across Arizona, with some bowlers hailing from New Mexico, Nevada, Colorado, and even Canada!

Klerk, the 45-year-old Scratch Division champion, had a tremendous look on the championship pair, throwing the back 11 for a 290 and the $3,000 first place prize. He then followed that up with three more strikes on three different lanes to break the nascent Progressive Pot for an additional $700! Klerk needed almost every bit of that 290 as Chongim Dodson of Chandler - the Senior Division champion - was locked in on that pair as well, throwing 10 strikes for a 257 scratch - 271 with handicap. With her handicap, she actually had the upper hand over Klerk until the 8th frame when her ball came up a bit high and she left the 4-7. That was the only opening Klerk needed as he simply could not miss after opening the game with a 7-pin (that was briefly a 7-9). Dodson received $1,200 for her impressive second-place finish that on almost any other day would have been more than enough for the win. Leah Zweig of Scottsdale, representing the Foundation Division, came in 3rd with 211 (190+21) for $800 and Ricky Perez of Mesa, from the Challenger Division, rounded out the championship match field with 198 (195+3) for $500.

Competitors bowled on the Kegel Chromium lane pattern, a 42-foot pattern with 25.56mL of volume and a 6.71:1 ratio, which is on the softer side of Challenge patterns, and it showed with the scores in this event. Scores were generally high throughout the day and got higher on the later squads after the lanes were more burned. Four qualifying squads of 3 games across 6 lanes - two in the morning and two in the afternoon - were split into two independent 1-in-5 cuts by division. Bowlers only had to make one of the cuts to reach the Cashers Round at 5 PM, where all competitors again bowled 3 games across 6 lanes toward a 1-in-3 cut by division. The average cut score in qualifying was a very healthy +44. 

Congratulations to Pat Lombardo, who bowled the only 300 game of the event - in the last game of the last qualifying squad - giving him just enough to make the cut!

Our amazing sponsors provide some terrific prizes to give out to random bowlers in every event. Winning a FREE high performance bowling ball courtesy of Brunswick was Shawn Grant. Kyle Gilbert won a free SBT jersey from EFX, while Buddy Darnell won a free single entry for any SBT event in 2026. Cesar Padilla won a B3 Performance lane package with Specto,and David Nelson won a one-year subscription to Tenpin Toolkit! In addition, the high qualifiers from the 8:30 squad won a free single entry to a future Saturday Shootout in 2026. Congratulations to Leah Zweig, Tyler Milbrandt, Kyle Gilbert, and Marcus Haley!

Our Mystery Score pot paid out $405 in this event, and over $800 carries over to our next event at Bowlero Union Hills on February 21st!

Many thanks to our fantastic sponsors who help make this possible: Brunswick Bowling, EFX, B3 Performance, Tenpin Toolkit, Chucks Painting, Acclaim Garage Doors, Melody Rane with Rane Family Insurance, weightloss-peptides.com, and Jake's Bethany Auto Repair. Please show your appreciation to our sponsors by patronizing these businesses and letting them know how much you appreciate their support of Southwest Bowling Tour!

Thanks also to the amazing support of Jay Jay Newell and his terrific staff at Bowlero Kyrene! It was a very busy day for their crew but they kept everything running amazingly well.

Lastly, a HUGE shout-out to our staff: Chris Wiley, Barb Wilson, Amanda Larson, Norm Shucart, and Robin Verbil. On a day when our brand-new software system - and the internet connection - threw a few curveballs our way, this team hit it out of the park. You all are amazing!