Torrance Bowling : Warren Goes All the Way for First Win

Del Warren came close to quitting the pro bowlers tour last year, but not because he was having a bad year. In fact, 1985 was Warren’s best year on the tour as he won more than $27,000.

What had Warren ready to call it quits was the process by which non-exempt bowlers must qualify for tournaments. The top 50 on the Professional Bowlers Assn.’s point list each year are exempt from the 10-game pro tour qualifiers, called the ‘rabbit squads,’ that precede each tournament.

Warren doesn’t have to worry about bowling in any more rabbit squads, at least for a year. The 25-year-old from Lake Worth, Fla., who was seeded fifth in the championship round of the $125,000 PBA Greater Los Angeles Open, breezed through four finals matches Saturday to claim the $18,000 winner’s check at Gable House Bowl in Torrance.

Almost as important as the money is the fact that the win will also give Warren a one-year exemption from the rabbit squads.

“I was thinking about quitting last year--I hate bowling in the rabbits,” Warren said. “But last year was a bad year for me for a number of reasons. I wasn’t in shape so I started working out more and partying less and got in better shape.”

That decision, as well as some changes in his approach and delivery, has paid off. Warren finished 19th last week in the winter tour kickoff in Union City, Calif., and won $1,800. Incidentally, Warren did not have to bowl in the rabbit squad before this tournament because of his top-24 finish the week before.

Warren, who had never made the championship round of a PBA event until this week, appeared dazed after collecting the winner’s check and trophy.

“I just can’t believe it, this is like a dream,” Warren said. “I made the show last night and I was just hoping to make good shots today. I was not worrying about what the other guys were doing.”

Warren certainly made the shots when he had to Saturday. He had strikes in 36 of his 46 frames and averaged 245 to earn his first victory in eight years on the pro tour.

Warren, who rolled a 289 in his final qualifying game Friday night to make the finals, opened the championship round against fourth-seeded Steve Wunderlich of St. Louis. An obviously nervous Warren overcame an open second frame, failing to pick up the 10-pin with his second ball, and finished with six strikes to post a 228-200 win.

“I was real nervous that first game,” Warren said. “I missed that 10 and I was even more nervous. The first game was kind of close, and I just kept thinking I would like to bowl another game, I didn’t want to stop with just one.”

In the second match, Warren defeated his boyhood idol, Marshall Holman of Medford, Ore., 260-225. Warren started with four strikes, had an open fifth frame and finished with seven strikes.

Warren said he tried to block out of his mind the fact that he was bowling against Holman.

“I think Marshall’s the greatest. As far as I’m concerned, he’s the best,” Warren said. “When you’re bowling against the best, you try harder. I just tried not to think about bowling against him.”

After he disposed of Holman, Warren went up against Mark Baker of Garden Grove. Warren left the 4-6 split in the first frame, but followed with five strikes to open up a 24-pin advantage after seven frames and went on to a 236-200 win.

In the championship match, Warren started with four strikes against tournament leader Mark Williams of Beaumont, Tex., and posted an easy 256-218 victory.

Williams collected $9,500 for his second-place finish; Baker took home $7,000 for third; Holman got $5,500 for fourth, and Wunderlich received $4,500 for fifth.