PBA SPARE SHOTS

PBA Spare Shots

XTRA FRAME BEGINS EXCLUSIVE COVERAGE OF PWBA IN SONOMA COUNTY

Xtra Frame began its exclusive coverage of the 2017 PWBA Tour today with qualifying in the QubicaAMF Sonoma County Open from Double Decker Lanes in Rohnert Park, Calif. Xtra Frame will cover PWBA events through qualifying up to the stepladder finals, which will be recorded at a later date for broadcast on CBS Sports Network.

Following Rohnert Park will be the Storm Sacramento Open from Steve Cook's Fireside Lanes in Sacramento, Calif., May 4-6, and Fountain Valley Open from Fountain Bowl in Fountain Valley, Calif.,, May 11-13. PWBA’s first major of the season, the USBC Queens, is set for May 17-23 in Baton Rouge, La.

Xtra Frame’s coverage of the PBA50 Tour heads north next week when the 50-and-older players gather in Mooresville, N.C., at George Pappas Victory Lanes for the Race City Open presented by Columbia 300 Monday through Wednesday. The “senior” players then travel to Farmingdale Lanes in Farmingdale, N.Y., for the PBA50 Johnny Petraglia BVL Open presented by Brunswick before heading to Indianapolis for the 2017 season’s first major, the PBA50 Tour Players Championship at Woodland Bowl, May 13-16.

Xtra Frame subscription packages are available for three days, 30 days and a full year. To sign up, visit xtraframe.tv for details.

PBA XTRA FRAME BILLY HARDWICK MEMORIAL TO GO “OLD SCHOOL”

The upcoming PBA Xtra Frame Billy Hardwick Memorial, scheduled for June 23-25 at the Memphis, Tenn., bowling center formerly owned by the late PBA Hall of Famer, will honor Hardwick in more than name only. It will be contested using the kind of limited-technology bowling balls the 18-time PBA Tour champion used when he became the PBA’s first “triple crown” winner back in the late 1960s.

The Hardwick Memorial, which will be live-streamed exclusively on PBA’s Xtra Frame online bowling channel, will be open to a field of 80 bowlers. All players must use approved polyester bowling balls manufactured by a PBA Product Registered company. A list of approved bowling balls can be found on pba.com (https://www.pba.com/Tournaments/Details/2331) and includes the PBA Skill Ball 2.0 which is used in Teen Masters competition.

The tournament will offer a $10,000 first prize and a PBA Tour title, if the winner is a PBA member. The event will not be part of the PBA Xtra Frame Storm Cup series because of its equipment limitations. Competition will include eight qualifying games for all players on Saturday, June 24, with the top one-third advancing to a four-game cashers’ round on Sunday. After 12 games, the top 16 will enter into three-game single elimination match play leading up to one-game semifinal and championship matches.

ENTRIES NOW OPEN FOR PBA XTRA FRAME TOUR EVENTS

Entries are now being accepted for upcoming PBA Xtra Frame Tour tournaments, beginning with the PBA XF Wilmington Open at Ten Pin Alley in Wilmington, N.C., May 26-29, followed by the PBA Xtra Frame Jonesboro Open at Jonesboro Bowling Center in Jonesboro, Ark., June 2-4; the PBA Xtra Frame Lubbock Sports Open presented by Ebonite at South Plains Lanes in Lubbock, Texas, June 9-11, and the PBA Xtra Frame Billy Hardwick Memorial at Billy Hardwick's All Star Lanes in Memphis, Tenn., June 23-25.

The Wilmington, Jonesboro and Lubbock tournaments are Xtra Frame Storm Cup points events. The Memphis tournament, which will be a “throwback” tournament restricted to approved limited-technology bowling balls, is not part of the Storm Cup.

PBA members have preferred entry priority into all PBA Xtra Frame Tour events until 30 days prior to the start of the events when entries will be open to non-members. Entries for all Xtra Frame events must be submitted through the PBA Regional Manager who has responsibility for the area hosting the event.

PBA CHAMPIONS OZIO, SHADY ENTER USBC HALL OF FAME

David Ozio, an 11-time PBA Tour champion and member of the PBA Hall of Fame, and one-time PBA titlist Mike Shady were inducted into the USBC Hall of Fame Wednesday during the USBC Annual Meeting at The Orleans in Las Vegas.

 

Ozio, 63, resides in Beaumont, Texas. His resume includes 1991 PBA Player of the Year honors along with a PBA Tournament of Champions title. He was ranked 34th on the PBA’s list of the 50 greatest players in PBA history during the organization’s 50th anniversary celebration in 2009.

"When you think back to the dedication and the things it took to get here, was it worth it?” Ozio asked during his induction speech. “By all means, I would've done it again 10 times over."

Shady, 51, is a former collegiate star at Nebraska and Wisconsin-LaCrosse who now lives in Girard, Pa. The 1992 Earl Anthony PBA Open winner also is a two-time USBC Open Championships title holder who currently leads the tournament’s lifetime average list with a 222.28 average for 21 years of participation.

THIS WEEK: “PICK THE RADICAL BALL” FOR PBA BOWLING CHALLENGE GAME

Concrete Software’s “pick the ball” survey for PBA Bowling Challenge mobile game continues this week with players invited to select a new Radical ball from among three options provided weekly for each PBA-participating brand.

Based on fan voting which begins Thursday (click here: http://bit.ly/Radical_17 to cast your vote), the “winning” Radical ball will be available for play on May 12.

A code to purchase the ball for 50% off (the code will be available on PBA’s and the specific companies’ social media pages) will be posted. Each company also will have a flashback weekend where all its previous balls will be available for that weekend only.

PBA REGIONAL UPDATE: WILLIAMS, DAUGHERTY WIN IN HAWAII

Stuart Williams of Phoenix, Ariz., defeated Tom Daugherty of Riverview, Fla., 199-191, to win the PBA Hawaii West/Northwest Open presented by Ebonite at Schofield Army Base Lanes Sunday, and on Wednesday, the top two swapped places in the Ft. Shafter Army Base event.

The Schofield and Ft. Shafter tournaments were the first two events in a traditional PBA West and Northwest Region Hawaii tripleheader series which concludes with the Hickam AFB West/Northwest Open presented by Ebonite Friday through Sunday.

Williams, who won his third PBA Regional title, received $2,000 for his win. He advanced to the title match by eliminating Troy Kendrick of Coto De Caza, Calif., 224-182, while Daugherty defeated Cameron Weier of Tacoma, Wash., 213-179, in the semifinal round.

On Wednesday, Daugherty posted an 8-2 match play record and an 18-game total of 4,215 pins to win his 13th PBA Regional title in the PBA Fort Shafter West/Northwest Hawaii Open presented by Ebonite, defeating Williams by 32 pins for the $2,000 top prize.

● Brandon Novak of Chillicothe, Ohio, defeated Larry Verble of Mason, Mich. by 165 pins Sunday to win the PBA Debbie & Leo Nunan Memorial Central Open presented by Track at AMF Stardust Lanes in Grove City, Ohio.

Novak finished with an 8-4 match play record and a total of 4,971 pins for 20 games, including match play bonus pins, for his first Central Region title of 2017 and his fourth overall title. He also earned $2,300.

● Mike Moore of Orlando, Fla., defeated Jason Sterner of Rockledge, Fla., 290-225, to take the first prize in the inaugural PBA Valdosta South Open at Jac’s Lanes in Valdosta, Ga., Sunday.

Moore qualified second for the stepladder finals with an 8-4 match play record and a 20-game total of 4,817 pins, including match play bonus pins, and earned $2,400. Sterner posted a 10-2 match play record and had 4,848 pins to qualify first, 31 pins ahead of Moore.

In the first stepladder match Jeff Piroozshad of Coral Springs, Fla. defeated Anthony DeStasio of Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., 232-183. Moore then disposed of Piroozshad, 190-181, in the semifinal match.

● April’s PBA Regional competition concludes with the PBA50 Cherokee Lanes South Open presented by Roto Grip in Canton, Ga., April 27-29, and the Al Jones Memorial presented by Storm at Rockaway Lanes in Rockaway, N.J., April 28-30.

● For complete PBA Regional schedules, rules and entry information, visit pba.com, open the “schedules” tab and click on PBA Regional Tours to find the event(s) in your area.

QUICK NOTES:

● Reminder: Applications for the 2017 PBA Billy Welu Scholarship, recognizing exemplary qualities in male or female college students who compete in bowling, are due by June 15. Candidates must be currently attending college and maintaining at least a 2.5/4.0 GPA or equivalent. The two-part application can be retrieved using this link: http://www.pba.com/Corporate/Scholarships.