Davis' victory surprises everyone—including himself - Senior PBA: Greater Detroit Open - Dave Davis wins Professional Bowler's Association Senior Greater Detroit Open - Brief Article

Bowling Digest, August, 2002

PBA Hall-of-Famer Dave Davis came out of nowhere to win his fifth senior title in the PBA Senior Greater Detroit Open at Lodge Lanes, defeating tournament leader Norb Wetzel in the title match, 217-171. "I'm surprised that I won," Davis said after the event. "I'm just hanging around all week, not really making any moves, and all of the sudden I'm the tournament winner. I'm shocked."

Davis opened the tournament in 63rd place, but he jumped all the way to fifth after qualifying. He remained in the top five throughout match play and earned the second seed for the stepladder finals.

After beating the hot-handed Bob Chamberlain in the semifinal, 202-191, Davis needed only a clean game on two quick-changing lanes to thump Wetzel. "The left lane was touchy" Davis said. "I had to slam the ball on the floor as hard as I could to keep it from hooking too early. If I put any fingers in the shot, the ball would go right through the nose [1-pin]. The right lane was different. I never missed the pocket. I could just stand up straight and extend through the ball--it had a nice pattern"

Wetzel never felt confident on the lanes. "I never got comfortable," he said. "Two or three shots that I really thought I threw well had no reaction. That just made me uncomfortable, and I felt as if I had to force something that wasn't there"

The two left-handed bowlers both played a far outside line, squaring up and throwing directly to the pocket. Davis converted five single-pin spares (in the 1st, 4th, 5th, 8th, and 10th frames) and rolled strikes in the other frames. Wetzel struck only in the 5th and 7th frames and failed to convert spares in the 2nd (6-7 split) and 10th (4-6-7 split).

Greater Detroit Open

May 14, 2002
Lodge Lanes, Belleville, Mich.

Name                 Avg./Games   Winnings

1. Dave Davis          209.5/2      $8,000
2. Norb Wetzet           171/1       4,500
3. Bob Chamberlain     225.3/3       3,500
4. Mark Roth             210/1       3,000
5. Bob Glass             219/1       2,500

Championship Finals

Match 1   Chamberlain def. Glass   238-219
Match 2   Chamberlain def. Roth    247-210
Match 3   Davis def. Chamberlain   202-191

Final     Davis def. Wetzel        217-171