Pete Weber Leads Day One in 2025 PBA50 Senior U.S. Open
Greeley, Colorado – When Pete Weber is comfortable and confident, look out. During the first day of qualifying on Thursday in the 2025 PBA50 Senior U.S. Open, his arm swing was loose, and he only relied on one ball for his first six games averaging 240.83. He had games of 207, 227, 247, 269, 268 and 227 for +245. After Game 2, he never got less than nine pins with 60 clean frames.
“Things are going good for me, and it is showing in my bowling. I am just going through the motions, letting it off my hand and it is doing what I want it to do,” Weber said. “When you are not pressing and you are relaxed, it is a lot easier to bowl. It gives you that much more confidence.”
During last year’s tournament, Weber led at the end of qualifying and the first day of match play. On Thursday, he felt like he bowled really good all day, but he knows there is a long way to go at this event.
“I am very relaxed with what I am doing. I made the show last year finishing in third,” he said. “There is plenty of bowling to be done. I would like to keep doing what I am doing and not have to change too much.”
Craig Auerbach had Weber in his sights. He bowled on the final squad of the day posting 256, 237, 269, 216, 234 and 223 coming up just 10 pins behind him, sitting in second place.
Chris Barnes finished fifth in last year’s Senior U.S. Open and he is always in contention at Highland Park Lanes. He got his tournament started on A-squad with the fresh 41-foot oil pattern. He shot 279, 245, 235, 235, 238 and 200 to get to +232, averaging 238.67. Barnes is feeling a sense of relief, getting off to a solid start in third place.
“I haven’t bowled very good this year, so I’m trying to put the pieces back together. Luckily, I have a world-renowned coach as my roommate (Mika Koivuniemi),” Barnes said. “Today was really the first good block I have bowled this season, so it was nice to feel that."
Barnes admits he carried over some bad habits from the PBA Tour, so he has gone back to the basics to get his swing in line. He hopes rooming with Koivuniemi, defending champion John Janawicz and Tom Adcock — three players with straight swings — will positively rub off on him.
“At some point, no matter how many things you have done or how things have gone in the past, that confidence has to be earned, at least for me. I have to go prove that to myself,” Barnes said. “It is very refreshing that the ball feels normal in my hand again and some of the tools and things I have done in the past are starting to come back. It is a good reminder of how fleeting this whole thing is and sometimes, how thin that line is between good, great and average or below average. I always love challenges. It brings in the challenge of the U.S. Open, regardless of the tour, this is one of the big pieces of the whole thing. You have to embrace it, otherwise, it will drive you crazy.”
Behind Barnes is Greg Thomas at +219 and local bowler Ricky Schissler is in fifth place at +195. The 136-player field will be back on the lanes Friday for six more games of qualifying. B-squad will get things started at 11 a.m. Eastern followed by C-squad at 2:30 p.m. ET and finally A-squad beginning at 6 p.m. ET. Watch the action only on BowlTV.
Top 10 PBA50 Senior U.S. Open standings:
- Pete Weber, 1,445 (+245)
- Craig Auerbach, 1,435 (+235)
- Chris Barnes, 1,432 (+232)
- Greg Thomas, 1,419 (+219)
- Ricky Schissler, 1,395 (+195)
- Jeff Beasley, 1,373 (+173)
- Josh Hale, 1,352 (+152)
- Steve Kloempken,1,350 (+150)
- Tom Hess, 1,341 (+141)
- Albert “Buddy” Mountcastle, 1,336 (+136)