PBA SPARE SHOTS

PBA Spare Shots

 

PBA50 PLAYERS IN HAMMOND TEACH A LESSON ABOUT THE VALUE OF A PIN

There’s a school of thought in bowling that you should never throw away a pin, and if you need an object lesson, consider what happened during the PBA50 South Shore Open at Olympic Lanes in Hammond, Ind., last week.

 

● The first cut after 16 games of qualifying saw Ernie Segura Jr. survive with a 3,475 total, one pin ahead of PBA Hall of Famer Parker Bohn III and Rick Zakrajsek, who went home with 3,474 pins.

 

● In the five-game cashers round, PBA Hall of Famer Tom Baker and fellow PBA50 competitor Leroy Johnson tied for seventh place, advancing to modified match play with 1,086 totals – one pin ahead of Dale Traber.

 

● In the first five-game modified match play elimination round, Tom Baker again slipped through, qualifying eighth with a 1,131 total – one pin ahead of Leroy Johnson, who went home.

 

Thus in three consecutive rounds, players saw their chance to remain in the title hunt disappear by a single pin. It happens more often than you might think. Remember the old adage: when in doubt, go for count…

 

MARK SCROGGINS, JOE ELLISON TO ENTER PBA SOUTHWEST HALL OF FAME

The PBA Southwest Region has announced that 13-time PBA Regional Tour champion Mark Scroggins of Canyon, Texas, and long-time PBA Southwest tournament host Joe Ellison of Junction City, Kan., will be the 2018 inductees into the PBA Southwest Region Hall of Fame on Sept. 8 at the Grand Casino Hotel & Resort in Shawnee, Okla.

 

Scroggins, an Amarillo native and the twin brother of PBA Hall of Famer Mike Scroggins, will be inducted in the Performance category. In addition to his regional titles, he was the 1993 PBA Tour Rookie of the Year and the 2001 PBA Southwest Region Player of the Year. He has recorded 19 PBA 300 games and career earnings of over $314,000, with approximately $200,000 coming in regional events. Brother Mike is already a member of the region’s Hall of Fame.

 

Ellison, the proprietor of Junction City Bowl, will be inducted in the Meritorious Service category. He has hosted PBA Southwest Regional events for 11 consecutive years, and in 2014 added PBA50 Regional events to the Southwest schedule. All of his events have been joint tournaments with the PBA Midwest Region.

 

Ticket information for the Southwest Region Hall of Fame ceremonies will be announced later.

 

“BEASTS” WIN “LUCI MIXED DOUBLES” SPECIAL EVENT

The team of five leading male qualifiers from the 2017 Striking Against Breast Cancer Mixed Doubles tournament – affectionately called “The Luci” in honor of the late Luci Bonneau, a breast cancer victim who inspired the creation of the event – won a new special event kicking off the 2018 event, edging an all-female team in a one-game roll-off.

 

“The Beauties vs. The Beasts” competition began as a five-game Baker format contest pitting Birgit Poppler, Stefanie Johnson, Holly Harris, Josie Earnest-Barnes and Natalie Cortese against Chris Barnes, Brad Miller, Kyle Troup, Clint Land and Tommy Jones. The “Beasts” won the first two games, 198-188 and 190-181, and game four, 216-192. But the “Beauties,” with 223-199 and 223-204 wins in games three and five, created a 1,007-1,007 tie. In the one-game roll-off concluding the live stream coverage by PBA Xtra Frame on FloBowling, the “Beasts” won, 225-197, to claim the $5,000 first prize.

 

HAUGEN HOLDS BIG LEAD AS PBA50 PLAYER OF YEAR RACE ENTERS FINAL TWO EVENTS

With the PBA50 Security Federal Savings Bank Championship, presented by Track, in the books, two events remain on the PBA Xtra Frame on FloBowling schedule to decide the 2018 PBA50 Player of the Year race plus 12 berths in a new end-of-season PBA50 Storm Invitational that will be held at Planet Fun Bowling and Entertainment Center in Shallotte, N.C., Sept. 28-30.

 

The Player of the Year race, based on competition points, concludes with the PBA50 Dave Small’s Championship Lanes Classic, presented by Roto Grip, in Anderson, Ind., Aug. 4-7, and the PBA50 Cup, presented by DV8, from Wyoming, Mich., Aug. 9-12. Heading into Anderson, Michael Haugen Jr. continues to lead the race with 25,998 points, more than 6,000 ahead of Kokomo winner Norm Duke (19,734). A PBA50 Tour player can earn a maximum of 5,000 points in a standard event (Anderson, Ind.) and up to 7,500 in a major (Wyoming, Mich.), so Duke would need a big finish and some help in order to overtake Haugen, the 2017 PBA50 Rookie of the Year.

 

Others in the top 12 in points as of today are Ron Mohr (17,817), Walter Ray Williams Jr. (17,207), Brian Kretzer (16,201), Lennie Boresch Jr. (15,235), Ryan Shafer (14,294),  Bob Learn Jr. (12,525), Parker Bohn III (12,093), Amleto Monacelli (11,054), Chris Warren (9,302) and, in 12th place, Pete Weber (9,261). Also in the top 12 hunt are Brian Voss (8,750) and Harry Sullins (8,724).

 

The PBA50 Storm Invitational will feature a field of 14 including two invitational spots to be decided later. The special event offers a $10,000 first prize. To follow the Player of the Year and PBA50 Storm Invitational points races, click here: https://www.pba.com/SeasonStats/Points/130.

 

“Bonus coverage” on Xtra Frame will also include the PBA60 Dick Weber Championship for players 60 and older, presented by 900 Global, at Pro Bowl West in Fort Wayne, Ind., Aug. 14-16.

 

The PBA Xtra Frame Tour resumes Aug. 17-19 with the 10th anniversary Gene Carter’s Pro Shop Classic at Mid-County Lanes in Middletown, Del., followed by the Kenn-Feld Group Classic at Pla-Mor Lanes in Coldwater, Ohio, Aug. 24-26. PBA Tour titles will be at stake in both exclusive PBA Xtra Frame Tour events.

 

All PBA Xtra Frame events on FloBowling are covered live, from first ball to last. Existing Xtra Frame subscribers need to transition their current subscriptions to FloBowling by visiting https://www.flobowling.com/claim-account. New subscribers can enroll at FloBowling.com.

 

USBC/BPAA ANNOUNCE CHANGES FOR 2018 U.S. OPEN

The U.S. Open, the final major championship on the 2018 Go Bowling! PBA Tour schedule, will include some notable breaks from tradition when it takes place Oct. 24-31 at Northrock Lanes in Wichita, Kan.

 

● This year’s U.S. Open will use four different lane conditioning patterns for qualifying and match play, with a fresh application of oil planned before each squad. The oil patterns will be posted before the start of the official practice sessions.

 

● All players will be limited to a maximum of 10 bowling balls for qualifying which must be listed on an equipment registration form before A Squad begins its first round of competition. Players will be able to make changes to their ball registration cards prior to the cashers round and stepladder finals.

 

● The tournament will be limited to a field of 144 players. Warmup lanes will be designated for 20 minutes of use prior to each round, but at the start of competition, players will be limited to one warmup ball on each of their starting lanes.

 

● The U.S. Open will use its traditional format: three eight-game qualifying rounds for all players, a cashers round for the top 36 after 24 games, and three eight-game round robin match play rounds leading to the five-man stepladder finals airing live on CBS Sports Network on Wednesday, Oct. 31.

 

Visit BOWL.com/USOpen for the complete rules and to see how bowlers qualify for the event.

 

PBA REGIONAL UPDATE: ROOKIE DIMARTINO WINS INAUGURAL NED MICELLI MEMORIAL

Steven DiMartino of Upper Saddle River, N.J., bowling in his first PBA regional event as a member, compiled a 5-2-1 match play record and a 15-game total of 3,352 pins to win the PBA50 Ned Micelli Memorial at Herrill Lanes Saturday by 49 pins over reigning PBA50 East Region Player of the Year Ray Edwards of Middle Island, N.Y.

 

DiMartino, who bowled in a handful of events as a non-member prior to joining in February, qualified for the match play finals in 10th position. He then rolled games of 256, 255, 232, 229, 170, 215, and 228 prior to the final position round match where he tied Edwards at 224-224 to split the 30 bonus pins awarded for match play wins, but it was enough to secure the victory and the $1,500 first prize. Edwards earned $800 as the runner-up. 

 

The event, which was new to the PBA East Region, was organized by PBA member Glenn Smith of New York to honor Ned Micelli, a long-time fellow competitor. Micelli, who died in July 2017, competed well into his 80s throughout the Long Island area.

 

● Kicking off the August PBA Regional calendar this week will be the PBA50 Progressive/Gerdeman Insurance Agency/Al Smith Chrysler/Dodge/Jeep Central/Midwest Classic at Al-Mar Colonial Lanes in Bowling Green, Ohio; the Bowlers Supply/Storm Open at Colony Park Lanes North in York, Pa.; the Glo Bowl Midwest Open presented by 900 Global in Marengo, Ill., and the PBA50 SpareTimes Hampton South Open presented by Radical in Hampton, Va.

 

● The Aug. 10-12 PBA Regional schedule will include the AMF Western Branch South Open presented by Hammer in Chesapeake, Va.; the annual Tony Reyes Memorial West/Northwest Member/Non-Member Doubles at Fourth Street Bowl in San Jose, Calif., and the Greater Richmond Central Open at Richmond 40 Bowl in Richmond, Ind.

 

● On tap over the Aug. 17-19 weekend will be the Emerald Bowl Southwest Challenge presented by Track and Bowling Dynamix for non-PBA title winners in Houston, Texas; the Dave Husted Northwest/West Open presented by MOTIV at Husted’s Milwaukie Bowl in Milwaukie, Ore., and the Sunday-only BowlerX.com Midwest Challenge for non-titlists at Strike N Spare II in Lockport, Ill.

 

● PBA’s Japan Region will hold the DHC Chameleon Open and Women’s Chameleon Open Aug. 25-26 in Nagano, Japan.

 

● Labor Day weekend will include the PBA60 Wilson & Sons Pest Control Super Senior Open and the PBA50 Mooresville South Open presented by Columbia 300 at George Pappas’ Victory Lanes in Mooresville, N.C.; the PBA50 Hammer/Strike Zone Alleys Open in Pottsville, Pa., and the annual Illinois Valley Midwest/Central Open presented by Ebonite at Illinois Valley Super Bowl in Peru, Ill.

 

● 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…and remember, you can follow “live scoring” for all PBA Regional events on pba.com (easily accessible for Apple device users using the PBA app).

 

QUICK NOTES

● The PBA has advised its members that the PBA will comply with new United States Bowling Congress bowling ball specifications and timelines as announced by USBC in late June. The specs and timelines are effective as of today (Aug. 1, 2018). For a complete explanation of the specifications and timelines, click here: https://www.bowl.com/News/NewsDetails.aspx?id=23622331380

 

● The PBA has learned of the late June death of PBA50 competitor John Bennett, a Detroit area native who was living in The Villages, Fla., at the time of his death after a lengthy battle with ALS. The two-time PBA50 Tour titlist was 70.

 

● Check out the new PBA-logoed products at the PBA Store: http://pba.firelakedesigns.com/.