Year-end championship open to Racine County bowlers, $5,000 in prize money
By Mike Ramczyk
Union Grove resident Chip Gehrke was looking for a way to reward his bowling comrades from Racine County.
League bowling is strong in the county, with nightly leagues at Towne & Country Lanes in Burlington, River City Lanes in Waterford and Old Settler’s in Union Grove.
Gehrke bowls Tuesday nights at Old Settlers, and he said the leagues are reaching the end of their seasons, and it’s time for a little bit of a payoff.
Gehrke went out, found a sponsor in Miller Lite, and with a little help from Old Settler’s owner Butch Schoenfuss, the Racine County Bowling Classic was born.
“We want to reward all Racine County league bowlers with a quality end-of-year scratch singles tournament with a nice prize pool,” Goehrke said. “I’ve been in Racine 16 years and I’ve never seen a local tournament that went out, got sponsors and had a big prize pool.”
The guaranteed prize pool of $5,000 could be a much-needed attraction for county bowlers, as April and May are “slow times” for the bowling alley, Schoenfuss said.
Goehrke said bowling is a dying sport, and a county championship at the end of the year could become a yearly event.
“I anticipate a decent number of people bowling when there’s this much money at stake,” Schoenfuss said.
For Goehrke, it’s an opportunity for the best of the best to compete against each other. There’s a bowling alley owner in Racine who plays professionally, and Schoenfuss said there are plenty of talented scratch bowlers in the area.
The tournament kicks off with qualifying rounds April 23 through 26 and 28, while the finals will be held April 30 through May 4.
There will be a men’s, women’s and senior division (ages 50 and over).
Schoenfuss said if a bowler qualifies for the final, he or she will make more money than their entry fee.
Bowlers must have bowled a minimum of 66 games during the 2016-17 season at one of the county’s six bowling venues (T & C, River City, Old Settlers, Castle, Hillside, The Lanes on 20).
All bowling will be scratch.
Schoenfuss said he believes people will come to watch the county’s best bowlers, and he said the top bowler in the men’s division, which should feature anwhere from 30 to 50 bowlers, will leave with a hefty prize.
“The top bowler is going to get $1,000 for first place,” Schoenfuss said. “The top bowler in our state tournament doesn’t get $1,000, and that’s against hundreds of bowlers.”
Gehrke said he couldn’t think of a better way to get people excited about the sport he loves.
“I hope to achieve more much-needed bowling exposure,” he said. “People should check it out for the prize fund as it only costs a mere $50 dollars to enter. People not bowling should check it out for a chance to watch the area’s best bowlers compete against one another in a year-end championship.”
The entry deadline is Sunday, April 23.
For more information and registration, please visit www.racinecountyclassic.com.
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