The Australian Open was held on the long weekend at AMF Sunshine Bowl in Melbourne, and Cara Honeychurch bowled a perfect 300 game along the way to becoming the first person in history to win the Australian Open 3 times in a row.
After qualifying in 4th place and dropping to as low as 6th after 3 games of Matchplay, Honeychurch started a comeback by bowling 803 for 3 games, including her 300 game. “I wasn’t sure how I was going to go this year.” Honeychurch said, “When I saw the condition for this tournament I thought the swingers would have had an advantage and run away with the tournament. So yeah I’m a bit shocked about winning but very happy.” Cara said after her win. “That 300 was probably the worst 300 I have ever bowled. I got a lucky break in the 7th frame when a pin fell really late, but I’ll take it”. That 300 game enabled Honeychurch to take the lead in the tournament, and she held off all challenges courtesy of a 9-6 win loss record in Matchplay. She averaged 231.1 average in Matchplay, and 229.9 overall.
Orange youngster Jason Belmonte won 11 games in Matchplay and was in the hunt all day but was not able to catch Cara. He averaged 224.5 in Matchplay and 226.2 overall to duplicate his second placing from last year. Carl Bottomley, who won the Australian Open in 1996 and 1999, finished in 3rd place, 108 pins in front of Jason Walsh. Walsh bowled a 299 in game 12 of Matchplay, and he was in contention for most of the day. However his 5-10 win loss Matchplay record did nothing to enable him to catch the leaders, and he finished in 4th place.
