But there was no denying Mitchell Crooks as the eventual winner.

A field of 20 qualified for the final where a mixed group of men and women were out to blast away as many strikes as possible under the competition format.

The No Tap format is a popular system where bowlers only need to knock down eight pins with their first ball to record a strike, so it’s a no fear game if you end up with a 7-10 split because you simply press the reset button and record a strike.

But consistency in hitting the pocket and head pin is a must to avoid those seven and under counts which you then have to try and spare, but all in all it’s a great fun event and the six weeks of qualify and final all carry cash winning prizemoney which the bowlers love to recoup.

Every year the tournament seems to find a different winner and once again this was the case with Mitchell Crooks whose pre Christmas average of 119 certainly paved the way for his dominating performance.

He is the father of Dubbo’s most recent 300 game bowler Nathan and no doubt the continued practise that this father and son team are putting in on the lanes is going a long way to their current successes.

Mitchell was in the top three after the first two blocks and then powered his way to an 85 pin lead after three blocks before hammering home his domination resulting in a 215 pin winning margin.

Mitchell bowled scratch games of 184, 276, 212, 250, 280, 242, 300 and 209 for an average of 244 and a total of 2601 to snare the $300 guaranteed first prize.

Second place went to Sue Stanford who has only returned tenpin bowling recently after a break for a number of years. She posted scores of 213,202,214,220, 300,232,208 and 229 for an average of 227 and a handicap total of 2386 to claim $150.

In second place was pace was previous no tap winner Robert Cowper with games of 277,245,278,277,300,210,196 and 242 for an average of 253, handicap total 2369 and $80 collect.

Then came: 4th Kevin Cowper 2357 ave 249 $40; 5th Leonie Reid 2356 ave 219 $35; 6th John Chapman 2343 ave 247 $30; 7th Ted Martin 2310 ave 249 $25; and rounding out the top eight money winners was 8th William White 2297 ave 250 $20.

In all there were 12 “300 games” bowled under the No Tap format.

One each came from Mitchell Crooks, Sue Stanford, David Coffey, Robert Cowper, John Chapman, Ted Martin and William White; as well as Nathan Crooks (3) and Vic Stanford (2).