PROFESSIONAL BOWLING SPARE SHOTS

PBA Spare Shots

INDIANA YOUTH HAS PERSONAL “PRO-AM” WITH NORM DUKE

Due to circumstances beyond his control, eight-year-old Eric Perkins of Elkhart, Ind., arrived late for his scheduled pro-am at the PBA50 National Championship at Signature Lanes. But it turned out to become the experience of a lifetime because his bowling hero, PBA Hall of Famer Norm Duke, took the time to give Perkins a full game of personal instruction.

“The (PBA League) Dallas Strikers team is my favorite team and Norm is my favorite bowler,” Eric said. “He’s funny and I just like the way he bowls.”

During the game, Duke demonstrated a couple of his patented trick shots including his ball-in-towel strike shot and two-ball 7-10 split spare, both crowd pleasers.

The PBA50 National Championship pro-ams included a youth/Riley Hospital for Children squad, corporate squad and open squad for the general public.

Duke is competing for his second major of the season in Elkhart after winning the Treasure Island Resort & Casino World Championship presented by Storm in July. PBA’s online bowling channel Xtra Frame is providing wire-to-wire coverage of the final tournament of the 2016 PBA50 Tour season.

SIX WEEKS LEFT IN RACE FOR REGIONAL, WOMEN’S REGIONAL CHALLENGE BERTHS

Competition to earn berths in the QubicaAMF Regional Tour’s Regional and PWBA/PBA Women’s Regional Challenge events to be held during PBA’s GEICO World Series of Bowling VIII in Reno is heading toward a Sept. 30 deadline.

The points leader in each of the seven domestic PBA regions plus the PBA Japan Region will earn berths in the eight-player PBA Challenge events as well as paid entries into WSOB VIII worth $1,000. Eight qualifying players in each division will compete in eight-game round-robin match play events on Sunday, Nov. 27 at the National Bowling Stadium in Reno. The PBA Challenge, PWBA-PBA Women’s Regional Challenge and PBA50 Tour finals will be covered live, exclusively on PBA’s Xtra Frame online bowling channel.

In the event a player is points leader in more than one region, the determining factor(s) for awarding the PBA Challenge berth and WSOB entry involve, in order: first, the player’s home region; secondly, the region in which the player bowled the most events and third, if necessary, to the next highest player in points within the region in question.

The PBA50 Tour Challenge will include the 2016 season’s eight leading points earners.

As of Sunday, Aug. 14, the following players ranked one-two in points in their respective regions. For schedules and entry information for all QubicaAMF PBA Regionals, visit pba.com/tours/regional:

PBA East Region: 1, Matt O’Grady, South Amboy, N.J., 89,188. 2, Tommy Gollick, Oberlin, Pa., 59,388. Women: 1, Diana Zavjalova, Latvia, 17,332. 2, Nicole Trudell, Bridgeport, Conn., 4,705.

PBA South Region: 1, Dick Allen, Columbia, S.C., 94,632. 2, Tom Daugherty, Riverview, Fla., 72,761. Women: 1, Elise Bolton, Merritt Island, Fla. 11,736. 2, Summer Jasmin, Beckley, W.Va., 6,145.

PBA Central Region: 1, Eugene McCune, Munster, Ind., 137,240. 2, Dave Wodka, Beavercreek, Ohio, 110,092. Women: 1, Diana Zavjalova, Latvia, 50,179. 2, Rocio Restropo, Colombia, 12,212.

PBA Midwest Region: 1, Tom Hess, Urbandale, Iowa, 120,237. 2, E.J. Tackett, Huntington, Ind., 68,961. Women: 1, Nichole DePaul-Miller, Baytown, Texas, 10,074. 2, Diana Zavjalova, Latvia, 6,395.

PBA Southwest Region: 1, Shawn Maldonado, Houston, 129,679. 2, Tyler Jensen, Ft. Worth, Texas, 96,917. Women: 1, Clara Guerrero, Pflugerville, Texas/Colombia, 33,295. 2, Maria Rodriguez, Pflugerville, Texas/Colombia, 17,169.

PBA West Region: 1, Jakob Butturff, Chandler, Ariz., 195,768. 2, Greg Thompson Jr., Dublin, Calif., 173,470. Women: 1, Jill Cramer, Folsom, Calif., 12,965. 2, Catherine Rawsthorne, Federal Way, Wash., 11,904.

PBA Northwest Region: 1, Jakob Butturff, Chandler, Ariz., 153,436. 2, David Haynes, Las Vegas, 123,287. Women: 1, Catherine Rawsthorne, Federal Way, Wash., 29,236. 2, April Lord Wittig, Steilacoom, Wash., 24,038.

TICKETS NOW ON SALE FOR FALL SWING’S MULTI-EVENT TELEVISION WEEKEND

Tickets are now on sale for the multi-event PBA Fall Swing television weekend Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 10-11, when the PBA will conduct the championship finals for the Wolf, Bear, Badger and Detroit Opens along with the Fall King of the Swing finale – all for delayed broadcast on CBS Sports Network.

The five stepladder finals will be conducted in the historic Thunderbowl Lanes arena in suburban Allen Park, Mich. The Wolf Open finals will be contested at 11 a.m. on Saturday followed by the Bear Open finals at 2:30 p.m. and the Badger Open finals at 5:15 p.m. Sunday’s telecasts will include the Detroit Open finals at noon and the Fall King of the Swing finale – featuring the previous four event winners plus the next highest player in Fall Swing competition points – will conclude the weekend at 3:30 p.m. All times are Eastern.

To order tickets, visit pba.com/tickets. Tickets are $30 for each full day, or $20 for each individual event.

CBS Sports Network telecasts of the PBA’s Fall Swing events will begin on Wed., Sept. 21, at 9 p.m. ET and continue over five consecutive Wednesdays, concluding on Oct. 19.

NEXT UP ON XTRA FRAME:

The chase for a special $10,000 winner-take-all prize in the Xtra Frame PBA Tour Series points race resumes Saturday and Sunday when Mid-County Lanes in Middletown, Del., hosts the PBA Xtra Frame Gene Carter’s Pro Shop Classic. Ryan Shafer of Horseheads, N.Y., who won the 2015 Delaware title to end a 12-year PBA Tour title drought, will be back to try to defend his title against a sold-out field of 180 competitors.

The Delaware tournament is the fifth in a schedule of eight Xtra Frame Tour points events. Yet to come are the Xtra Frame Parkside Lanes Open in Aurora, Ill., Oct. 1-2; the Xtra Frame Reality Check Classic from Sawgrass Lanes in Tamarac, Fla., Oct. 8-9, and the Xtra Frame Las Vegas Open from South Point Bowling Plaza, Oct. 29-30.

Xtra Frame’s coverage of the 2016 PWBA Tour results Sept. 2-3 with coverage of the preliminary rounds of the Smithfield PWBA Tour Championship from Uptown Alley in Midlothian Va. The PWBA Tour Championship, the final event of PWBA’s2016 season, concludes with live stepladder finals on CBS Sport Network on Sunday, Sept. 4.

Three-day ($3.99), 30-day ($7.99) and Xtra Frame Season Ticket (a full-year’s coverage at an average cost of $1.25 per week) subscriptions are available by clicking on the Xtra Frame link on pba.com. New monthly or Season Ticket subscribers also are automatically entered into monthly sweepstakes where they have chances to win a new high-performance bowling ball from Brunswick, DV8 or MOTIV.

QUBICA AMF PBA REGIONAL UPDATE: BOHN WINS 22ND TITLE IN KILLEEN

PBA Southwest Region Hall of Famer Nathan Bohr from Austin, Texas, defeated Andy Patterson of Tyler, Texas, 247-195, to win his 22nd PBA Regional title in the 20th annual PBA Killeen Southwest Open at Hallmark Lanes in Killeen, Texas, Sunday.

Bohr opened the title match with a 7-10 split, but then strung seven strikes to coast to his fourth Killeen Open PBA victory and a $2,700 first prize.

Bohr started his road to victory by topping hometown favorite Josh Maxson of Killeen, Texas, 2-0 in their best-of-three-game Round of 16 match. He then eliminated two-time Southwest Region Player of the Year Shawn Maldonado of Houston, Texas, in the Round of 12, 2-0, followed by another 2-0 victory over Fort Worth’s Tyler Jensen. Anthony Lavery-Spahr could not keep up with Bohr in the semifinal match, succumbing to Bohr, 259-183.

       

Patterson received byes to the Round of 8 by finishing third in the 13-game qualifying portion of the event. He then eliminated Lee White of Odessa, Texas, 2-1, and he ousted active Army serviceman Allan Smith, serving at Fort Hood, 200-191, to reach the final match.

● Kyle Troup of Taylorsville, N.C. defeated non-member Chris Via of Springfield, Ohio, 234-212, to win $4,000 and his 10th QubicaAMF PBA Regional title in the ninth annual PBA Lefeld Implement Central Classic at Pla-Mor Lanes in Coldwater, Ohio, Sunday.

Troup defeated PBA Hall of Famer Parker Bohn III of Jackson, N.J., 213-191, to advance to the championship match. In the first stepladder match, Bohn downed J.R. Raymond of Bay City, Mich., 201-171.

● Dave Beres of Waukesha, Wis., defeated Travis Anderson of Peoria, Ill., in a two-frame roll-off, 20-16, after they tied at 227-227 to win the PBA Poplar Creek Midwest Open at Poplar Creek Bowl in Hoffman Estates, Ill., Sunday.

Beres collected his seventh career regional title along with a $2,000 prize.

Anderson defeated Gerald Marrs of Huntley, Ill., 214-189, in the semifinal match after Marrs eliminated Jesse Buss of Belvidere, Ill., 221-172, in the first stepladder finals match.

● The Aug. 19-21 weekend will be headlined by the PBA Gene Carter Pro Shop Classic, presented by Xtra Frame, at Mid-County Bowling and Entertainment Center in Middletown, Del. The PBA Xtra Frame Tour event is projecting a $15,000 first prize along with a PBA Tour title. Also over the Aug. 19-21 weekend, the QubicaAMF PBA Regional schedule includes the Emerald Bowl Southwest Challenge for non-champions and the PWBA-PBA Emerald Bowl Open for women. Both events in Houston, Texas, will be presented by Hammer.  Also on tap is the Dave Husted Northwest Open presented by 900 Global at Milwaukie Bowl in Milwaukie, Ore.

● Concluding the August schedule of QubicaAMF PBA Regional events over the Aug. 26-28 weekend will be the Fayetteville South Open presented by MOTIV along with the PWBA-PBA Fayetteville South Open – a women’s only event - at Lafayette Lanes in Fayetteville, N.C.; the AMF Garland Lanes Southwest Open, presented by Classic Products & Ultimate Bowling Products, in Garland, Texas, and the Aquimo West Open at Mesa East Bowl in Mesa, Ariz.

● Looking ahead to Labor Day weekend, the QubicaAMF PBA Regional calendar includes the PBA60 Wilson & Sons Pest Control South Open followed by the PBA50 Budweiser Open presented by Mooresville Ford and Columbia 300 at George Pappas’ Victory Lanes in Mooresville, N.C.; the PBA50 Strike Zone Open presented by Columbia 300 in Pottsville, Pa., and the PBA Japan Region’s Viper Open presented by Ebonite in Iruma, Japan.

● For complete QubicaAMF PBA Regional schedules, rules and entry information, visit pba.com, open the “schedules” tab and click on QubicaAMF Regional Tours to find the event(s) in your area. For more information about QubicaAMF, visit www.qubicaamf.com or, for social media posts, visit http://bit.ly/QAMFSponsorship1.

QUICK NOTES

● Concrete Software’s PBA Bowling Challenge Mobile game is asking fans to vote on what new Product Registered balls they would like to see introduced into the game. This week fans can vote on the Columbia 300 ball they’d like to see added to the PBA Bowling Challenge. To take the survey, click here: http://bit.ly/ColumbiaBallVote.  When the “winning” ball based on fan input is selected, it will be available along with a code to purchase the ball for 50% off (the code will only be available on the specific companies’ social media pages). Each company also will have a flashback weekend where all its previous balls will be available for that weekend only.