When it comes to the Bud Light York County Match Play Championship, Adam Baer is a student of history.
Baer knows that he is one of only three bowlers to win the prestigious 15-year tournament twice, and that no bowler has been able to win in back-to-back years.
Baer, a powerful, 29-year-old right-hander from Gettysburg, captured the tournament in 2008 and 2010. If he’s victorious this year, he’ll be the first back-to-back winner and the first to win the tournament three years out of four. The accomplishments would separate him from a handful of the county’s elite bowlers.
The tournament opens this weekend with six-game qualifying sets at Hanover Bowling Centre at 2 p.m., Saturday, and Lincolnway Bowling at 10 a.m., Sunday. The top 12 bowlers from qualifying advance to match play the following weekend. Six-game match play sets are scheduled at Colony Park North at 2 p.m., Saturday, April 16, and at East Lincoln Lanes at 10 a.m., Sunday, April 17. The winner collects $1,000.
Despite his past accomplishments, Baer isn’t taking anything for granted. He knows all too well that the past provides no guarantees for the present.
After winning the 2008 title, he failed to qualify for match play in 2009. As a student of history, he hopes to learn from his past.
“You can’t win until you’re there (in match play),” he said. “You have to make it through 12 games of qualifying first. Being a past champion doesn’t mean anything.”
Although the first six games of qualifying are at Hanover Bowling Centre, where Baer rolls regularly and averages 237, it isn’t necessarily an advantage.
“When I failed to make match play in 2009, Hanover hosted six games of qualifying, and I bowled very poorly there. I think I was trying to do too much,” he pointed out.
After enjoying a blockbuster 2010 season when he won a PBA East Region title, Baer has been steadily recovering from a knee injury. Physically, he’s not 100 percent, but he’s getting closer every week.
Baer says the biggest difference from 2009 and now is his mental approach to the game.
“Ninety percent of my success last year was due to my improved mental game,” he offered. “I finally learned how to be patient.”
Looking ahead, Baer, one of six former champs in the tournament, said, “It won’t be easy for whoever wins. The competition is intense. You have to get through qualifying and things can change very quickly during match play.”
The student of history hopes to make some history beginning this weekend.
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BUD LIGHT YORK COUNTY MATCH PLAY CHAMPIONSHIP
PAST WINNERS
1996—Dave Zelger
1997—Billy Heltzel Jr.
1998—Tony Lewis
1999—Jeff Hamme
2000—Dave Zelger
2001—Brian Lafko
2002—No tournament
2003—Steve Carbaugh
2004—Chris Lakatosh
2005—Steve Carbaugh
2006—Scott Farley
2007—Ken Dixon
2008—Adam Baer
2009—Terry Miller
2010—Adam Baer
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