From unemployment to underdog
to champion Tom Smallwood wins
World Championship using Pure Swing

Just a few weeks ago, even the most die-hard bowling fanatic would more than likely not have been able to tell you who Tom Smallwood is.

No one could have quoted you his win/loss record, or any of the other statistics that sports enthusiasts spout about, that to the untrained ear sounds like a foreign language.

Using the yet-to-be-released Columbia 300 Pure Swing, Smallwood narrowly defeated Wes Malott, of Pflugerville, Texas, 244-228, to win the Professional Bowlers Association World Championship title on Dec. 13, at Northrock Lanes in Wichita, Kan. Taking home his first major title; he also earned a $50,000 purse, a two year exemption to the PBA and a chance to bowl in January’s PBA Tournament of Champions.

“Wes really walled them up for me; he burned them up to the right and once I got far enough left I was pretty comfortable. I got fortunate today that the pattern matched up, the ball was awesome and I threw some good shots,” Smallwood said. “When he threw the bad shot in the ninth and struck, I thought it was over but I was just fortunate that he left something and luckily I was on my good lane, too.”

Smallwood chose to use the Pure Swing, which will hit the market for consumer consumption Jan. 7, 2010, because it has an uncanny ability to read the lane.

“It’s a simple drill for Tom because he’s a full roller. He changes surfaces more than he drills and will switch back forth between different covers a lot, but it was pretty obvious the Pure Swing stood out from the beginning,” according to Columbia 300 Brand Manager Chad Murphy.

Smallwood also had with him the Sharp NoiZe and his usual go-to ball, the Power Swing, but in this instance the Pure Swing was the cincher, Murphy said.

“Because of the new construction and the new finish, the Pure Swing really stood out because it was the ball Tom didn’t have to change much to fit his natural game. The Pure Swing showed itself in the middle of the lane early on,” the brand manager said. “The ball gave him enough movement to let him know that the ball was going to standup and therefore he could be confident and aggressive.”

The Pure Swing features a revolutionary new finish that uses 800 then 1000 grit Abralon® and then is immediately polished using the Powerhouse™ Factory Finish Polish, giving the ball the texture and performance of a sanded ball with the look of a shiny ball.

“Tom’s issues during the last year are similar to what our brand has gone through for the last couple of years,” added Chad Murphy

Last Dec. 13, Smallwood was working the assembly line at General Motors, mulling over when he should schedule some vacation days so he could bowl in a few of the PBA tournaments, some of which were being held at Thunderbowl in Allen Park, Mich., just a little more than 100 miles from his home.

Just before Thanksgiving 2008, the 100-year-old General Motors Co. announced that it had posted a $4.2 billion loss on the year and that it expected to run out of money before the end of the year. On Nov. 25, 2008, the company’s stocks closed at $2.92, the lowest the stock had been since April 1943.

Little less than a month later, on Dec. 23, 2008, Smallwood and many other autoworkers were handed pink and a don’t-call-us-we’ll-call-you fashion in a mass layoff that left 10.6 percent of Michigan unemployed — the highest rate since 1984.

In 2006, Columbia 300, then based in San Antonio, Texas, was purchased by Ebonite International, Inc., and moved to Hopkinsville, Ky., where it has regenerated itself to its former glory after being out of the performance ball market for some time.

“Tommy’s story is such an amazing one; it’s similar to what we’ve been through here with the Columbia 300 brand. We were pretty much down and out for awhile and I think people somewhat look at us as the underdog and lately we have made some big strides,” Murphy said. “Tommy has again helped put us back in the spotlight with this win. He made some great shots down the stretch that I’ll remember for a long time and it’s a nice perk that the Pure Swing matched up so well the first time out. He’s a great talent and I’m looking forward to watching him the next few years.”

So how did the now 32-year-old Saginaw native go from the unemployment line to being ranked fourth on the PBA points listing and tied for first with Bill O’Neill for the 2009-2010 player of the year point ranking?

While Smallwood considered himself a good bowler, he had never considered being a professional bowler full-time until the lay off, he said. With the encouragement of his wife he started to practice, and all that practice led to a Cinderella-like fairytale involving bowling shoes instead of glass slippers.

Smallwood earned his exemption for this season by finishing third in the tour trials, which were held in June; from there it’s been one thing after another including making the television finals for the Scorpion Championship, which he dropped to O’Neill.

And quite frankly this is a position he never thought he’d be in, Smallwood said.

“It’s been a wild ride,” Tom added. “I want to thank Columbia 300 for making the best balls in the world. I thought I could have bowled on tour but if I hadn’t gotten to this point and if it weren’t for the layoff I probably wouldn’t have chased it in Detroit.”

Just like when he was competing in Detroit, which is about 100 miles from his home in Saginaw, Smallwood had a packed house of friends and family.

“My two brothers, two sisters and a brother-in-law were there,” he said, “my parents and my wife, too.”

The downside was that his little girl couldn’t get to come and watch, he said.

Next, Smallwood will spend the holidays at home with his family before heading to California, which he said he “never thought would happen,” for the Tournament of Champions in mid-January.

In s twist of irony, GM called Smallwood to come back to work. However, it was an offer he turned down, much to the amazement of the human resource representative’s shock.

“I told her I was a professional bowler now and she was just silent,” Smallwood said. “She finally asked someone; now they are all following me closely.”