Brian Dennis Leading the 2025 PBA50 Senior U.S. Open
Greeley, Colorado – Brian Dennis is your new leader at the 2025 PBA50 Senior U.S. Open, and his traveling roommate Mark Clark will be posting a video about it. The Georgia native bowled the highest game out of 12 round-robin match play games on Sunday with a 299 on his way to taking over the lead.
During the first six-game block, the 51-year-old shot 1,243 on the fresh oil pattern winning two matches. He had games of 193, 205, 223, 210, 208 and 204 for 1,243.
“It felt like more people started to the left on the fresh than in qualifying for the most part, so they transitioned and broke down pretty quick for everyone,” Dennis said. “I didn’t execute great this morning, but I didn’t feel like I had the area on the lane that I had previously had the last couple of days. It just tightens everything up and gives you a little less target to shoot at, but I was able to pull out some 200's.”
When he returned for six more games, he decided to try a ball he had drilled before the tournament began yet he hadn’t really used this week at Highland Park Lanes. That helped him bounce back in a big way with five wins, starting off with 299 followed by 211, 247, 234, 179 and 258 for 1,428. Combining that block with his 7-5 record and 210 bonus pins put him at the top of the leaderboard.
“I stuck with that ball the whole block. Game 5, I hit a bad pair bowling against Andres Gomez. It was just one of those pairs where neither one of us could figure out the right lane as it hooked so much,” he said. “The last game, I bowled against Pete, and it was back to where I felt like I had plenty of room on the lane. Even my marginal shots went through the pins the correct way. A big thing that block was the off hits went my way this afternoon.”
“Today felt more like the U.S. Open with the way the lanes played. When you get down to match play, everybody’s mindset is a little different,” he said. “The guys at the bottom are really grinding, trying to figure out a way to climb the ladder. The guys at the top are trying to figure out a way to stay there. It is just a little different when you get to the match play portion.”
Looking ahead to Monday’s final 12 games of round-robin match play, Dennis is hoping for better execution in the morning with either a new ball he will be drilling or better yet, one he has already had success with.
“Later in the day, I am sure there will be some nerves, but I’ve got to just go out there and bowl, have some fun with it and whatever happens, happens,” he said. "(Mark Clark) has been sitting behind me and confirming my guesses. Whatever I run by him he agrees; that way if it is not right, he can blame me. It’s been great and I am sure there will be a video posted.”
Last week’s USBC Senior Masters champion Tom Daugherty has put himself in a solid position to possibly win back-to-back major titles during his rookie season. He came into the day in 18th place, then posted the best record at 9-2-1 to add 285 bonus pins to his score. He shot 1,392 in the first six-game block with a 5-1 record then 1,359 to get four wins and a tie. He is 41 pins behind Dennis at +953 overall. He is followed by Chris Barnes at +938 in third, qualifying leader Pete Weber in fourth at +925 and defending champion John Janawicz in fifth at +911.
On Monday, the first six games will start at noon Eastern followed by the final six games at 4:30 p.m. ET to determine the top five. The stepladder finals will start at 8:30 p.m. ET. The winner will collect $15,000 and a major title. You can watch it all only on BowlTV.
Top 10 PBA50 Senior U.S. Open standings (with bonus pins):
- Brian Dennis, 6,994 (+994)
- Tom Daugherty, 6,953 (+953)
- Chris Barnes, 6,938 (+938)
- Pete Weber, 6, 925 (+925)
- John Janawicz, 6,911 (+911)
- Brad Angelo, 6,869 (+869)
- Jon Rakoski, 6,811 (+811)
- Andres Gomez, 6,786 (+786)
- Dan Knowlton, 6,768 (+768)
- Chris Martinez, 6,726 (+726)