Frank Goebel
April 16th, 2007, 08:25 PM
While it may be common to see a league bowl a Hi-Lo at the end, my league has done something different dating back to prior to my joining and becoming secretary.
Hi-Los work best when nearly everyone bowls (or can at least make a committment a week ahead) for planning. But we do something different: We do a doubles tournament, but everything is at random, and totally optional.
Before we start, immediately after we've handed out all prize money, the president conducts a brief meeting to determine what the entry shall be. Tonight we decided on $20 apiece. Then, I have to take entries from those who decide to enter. It's strictly optional, although many of the non-participants stay to watch the first game.
I learned to prepare myself ahead of time. I got myself some of those pre-perforated business card blanks and was able to print everyone's name, average, and handicap; I even did the subs that I expected to show. I laid all 90+ cards on a table (somewhat alphabetically). Bowlers found their card, handed me $20, and I let them drop their card into the bowl for the draw. Then we had a non-entrant draw the first name; that bowler came to draw his partner and they were assigned to the first lane (I stapled the two cards together and marked the lane assignment on them). The second bowler then drew the next name, who then came forward to draw his partner, who were assigned to the next lane, and the process repeated until everyone was paired and assigned a lane. With the handicaps already printed on the card, it was a snap to manually write a recap.
As bowlers went to their lanes, the president had one more business item: How many places to pay? Tonight we had 36 bowlers (18 paired entries), a prize fund of $720, and they quickly settled on 5 places. The president worked out a distribution (literally, the only bit of actual league-related work other than a signature or two that he's actually had to do) and we were underway.
For those who are interested, we did also change lanes each game. And yes, I did bowl (I did not cash). It was well-received.
Hi-Los work best when nearly everyone bowls (or can at least make a committment a week ahead) for planning. But we do something different: We do a doubles tournament, but everything is at random, and totally optional.
Before we start, immediately after we've handed out all prize money, the president conducts a brief meeting to determine what the entry shall be. Tonight we decided on $20 apiece. Then, I have to take entries from those who decide to enter. It's strictly optional, although many of the non-participants stay to watch the first game.
I learned to prepare myself ahead of time. I got myself some of those pre-perforated business card blanks and was able to print everyone's name, average, and handicap; I even did the subs that I expected to show. I laid all 90+ cards on a table (somewhat alphabetically). Bowlers found their card, handed me $20, and I let them drop their card into the bowl for the draw. Then we had a non-entrant draw the first name; that bowler came to draw his partner and they were assigned to the first lane (I stapled the two cards together and marked the lane assignment on them). The second bowler then drew the next name, who then came forward to draw his partner, who were assigned to the next lane, and the process repeated until everyone was paired and assigned a lane. With the handicaps already printed on the card, it was a snap to manually write a recap.
As bowlers went to their lanes, the president had one more business item: How many places to pay? Tonight we had 36 bowlers (18 paired entries), a prize fund of $720, and they quickly settled on 5 places. The president worked out a distribution (literally, the only bit of actual league-related work other than a signature or two that he's actually had to do) and we were underway.
For those who are interested, we did also change lanes each game. And yes, I did bowl (I did not cash). It was well-received.