WARREN — The sixth stop on the 2023 edition of the Duckpin Professional Bowlers Association Tour schedule took place last weekend, Aug. 4-6, at Dudek Lanes in Warren and featured of a couple of local competitors in the field.

Neither East Providence's Kyle Walmsley or Barrington's Chris Brindamour could crack the main draw, but that wasn't the sole purpose why each entered the event.

Thirty players of 108 entrants advanced out of the eight-game qualifying stage. Walmsley averaged 131.8750 with a high game of 155 to place 71st. Brindamour was a bit better, finishing 56 with a 136.75 average and a high of 157. The cut line fell at 142.5.

For city resident Walmsley, specifically, this is his first year attempting to show his wears on the DPBAT, which is based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Dudek tourney was the third tournament he's taken part in to date.

"The ultimate aim is just to try to test my mettle against the more well known bowlers who do travel around to all the tournaments and to Canada for five pin tournaments as well," explained Walmsley, 30 and a 2011 graduate of East Providence High School where he played hockey.

Walmsley, who also works at Dudek Lanes, said he's bowled duckpin since his parents took him to the old East Providence Bowling Academy, which once stood on Taunton Avenue until a few years ago when the business closed and the building was demolished.

Last month he traveled to Parkville Lanes in Parkville, Md., near Baltimore. In April he went to Johnson's Lanes in Hamden, Conn. The next tour stop takes place in September at Suitland Bowl also in Maryland.

"Obviously I'm disappointed in my own personal placement, but overall as an employee at Dudek I think I can speak for everyone that it ran very smoothly and we're grateful for that," Walmsley said of last week's competition. "The atmosphere on Sunday was great and all the matches were very close and fun to watch, especially the finals match."

The feel at Dudek was spirited likely in part because there were other area competitors in the hunt, including the eventual tournament winner Bill Fox, who defeated Colin Dunnack of Connecticut 140-132 for this third victory. Fox, a native of Baltimore, now lives in Cranston.

On the flip side, East Bay native Steve Dryer, who now resides in Baltimore, took part in the event. Dryer, one of the top duckpin bowlers in the state before moving away in pursuit of his career in meteorology, grew up bowling at Dudek Lanes. Last weekend, he earned his way into the main draw for the first time this season as his family watched on.

Dryer, who won his division round-robin portion of the tourney in the main draw, reached the quarterfinals before losing to Jonathan Green by a mere two pins, 162-160.

In his semi, Fox defeated Green, to whom he placed second in the division, 144-132. Fox actually took the long road to the title after finishing as the eighth seed in the "Star Round" top 10 championship field. Needing to win four matches to claim the title, he defeated Colton Gue 135-122 to begin his journey, then bested the No. 1 qualifier Colby DeAntonis 156-148 in the quarters.

— East Providence Post and eastbayri.com contributing photographer Julie Furtado shot the accompanying gallery of photos.