BOWLING : Aulby Leads Field Into Lakewood Semifinals

Mike Aulby of Cincinnati took command of the $220,000 AC/Delco pro bowling tournament at Cal Bowl in Lakewood on Thursday.

In quest of his 23rd title in 16 years on the national tour, the president of the Pro Bowlers Assn. highlighted his third round with a 299 game.

As the 180-bowler field was cut to 24 for the match-play semifinals, Aulby, 33, found himself 50 pins ahead of one of the PBA’s budding stars, 20-year-old Robert Smith of Moorpark.

Aulby’s total for 18 games was 4,022 and Smith’s 3,972.

Smith, a member of the national team, is in his second year of adult bowling after having won the Chuck Hall Star of Tomorrow Award, emblematic of the nation’s top junior in 1992.

Aulby left the No. 10 pin on what appeared to be a perfect hit for his 299 game.

“It reminded me of my biggest thrill in bowling,” he said, referring to his 300-279 match victory over David Ozio at Wichita last year. That triumph, on national television, earned him one of bowling’s biggest paydays--$133,000.

Norm Duke, Del Ballard Jr., Wayne Webb and Parker Bohn III were among those reaching the semifinals.

But Walter Ray Williams Jr., Marshall Holman, Brian Voss, George Branham III and Ron Williams failed to advance.

David Cogswell of Canyon Country bowled a 300 Thursday, but finished 47th.

The semifinalists are competing for five spots in the final playoffs at noon Saturday.