PBA Spare Shots

RED SOX STAR MOOKIE BETTS TO RECEIVE BPAA MEDIA AWARD

Boston Red Sox star Mookie Betts, after an American League Most Valuable Player season that included earning his first World Series championship ring, also will be honored by the bowling family in late June when he receives the Bowling Proprietors’ Association of America Media Award for the significant mass media coverage he has generated for bowling over the past three years.

Betts, an accomplished bowler, participated in the 2015 and 2017 PBA World Series of Bowling in Reno, highlighted by a 300 game he bowled in the 2017 Scorpion Championship. That unique accomplishment led to an on-field presentation of a PBA 300 ring by PBA CEO and Commissioner Tom Clark at a Red Sox game at Fenway Park last summer.

Ever since he began competing in PBA-level competition, Betts’ athletic skills as a bowler have accompanied almost every media conversation about his talents on television, radio, social media and in newspaper and magazine stories. He also has participated in NBA star Chris Paul’s popular CP3 PBA Celebrity Invitational bowling event that airs on Super Bowl Sunday. Betts will be a participant for the third consecutive year when the 2019 event airs for the first time on FOX on Sunday, Feb. 3, at 2 p.m. Eastern.

SHEDDING A LITTLE LIGHT ON THE SUBJECT

Jacques Darden has been providing the lighting services for professional bowling telecasts for 33 years, but like everything else in today’s world, technology has changed his contribution to the sport.

Darden is in the process of converting his vast array of lights to LED, which veteran players have already noticed because LED lighting is much cooler and cleaner. Because LED lights don’t generate heat, they don’t affect lane conditions like tungsten lights did in the good ol’ days. Observant television fans might also notice the lighting is much closer to “daylight white,” and Darden said some of his new LEDs include color options that allow him to change lighting to red, blue, green or whatever special effect the situation might call for, just by making some subtle adjustments.

PBA REGIONAL UPDATE: PAVONE WINS FIRST TITLE AS PBA REGIONAL ACTION RESUMES

Skip Pavone of San Jose, Calif., won nine of his 12 matches to post a winning 22-game total of 5,552 pins Sunday in the PBA50 Patton Amusement West Senior Open at West Valley Bowl in Tracy, Calif.

Pavone, who won his first PBA Regional title and the $1,800 first prize, defeated Bob Rosenau of Redding, Calif., by 142 pins. Pavone had a 9-3 match play record and 5,410 pins to earn the $1,000 second prize.

● The PBA Central and Southwest Regions will hold their first events of 2019 over the Jan. 18-20 weekend. Legend Lanes in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, will host the PBA/PBA50 Don Vay Memorial Central Doubles while South Plains Lanes in Lubbock, Texas, hosts the Lubbock Sports Southwest Open presented by Ebonite.

● The only regional event on tap for the Jan. 26-27 weekend is the PBA Japan Region’s Roto Grip Cup and Shark Open at PBA Fuji Bowl in Iruma, Japan.

● 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 and Android device users using the PBA app).

QUICK NOTES:

• Fans can follow the points status of eligible PBA Tour players competing for berths on the U.S. and European Weber Cup teams as the 2018 Go Bowling! PBA Tour season progresses on Twitter and Facebook by clicking on the following links”: Twitter: https://twitter.com/webercup/status/1085141731685945344 or Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WeberCup/photos/a.643454192442977/2027287540726295/?type=3&theater

• Creating the Difference, an educational company offering products and services for the bowling industry, has become product registered with the PBA as an accessory company, CEO Ron Hickland Jr. has announced. Creating the Difference offers ball cleaning products and ball restoration products, and recently introduced sanding pads to its product mix. For more information, visit ctdbowlig.com.

VERMONT BOWLER ROLLS 900 SERIES

ARLINGTON, Texas - Jonathan Wilbur owned the record for the highest three-game series ever bowled in the state of Vermont for nearly a decade, before his friend and teammate visited the Green Mountain State and beat his set by a single pin.

Wilbur reclaimed the record Monday and guaranteed himself a permanent spot atop the list by rolling the state's first 900 series, which included 36 consecutive strikes during the Commercial men's league at Rutland Bowlerama in Rutland, Vermont.

The perfect set makes the 36-year-old right-hander the 34th bowler overall to record a 900 series. His achievement is pending approval from the United States Bowling Congress and would be the 35th USBC-approved 900. It marks the first perfect set of the 2018-2019 season and first since October 2017.

Wilbur, of North Clarendon, Vermont, surpassed the 888 series he rolled at Rutland Bowlerama in March 2004. That performance included games of 299, 289 and 300.

In 2012, Todd Lathrop of Colchester, Connecticut, visited and rolled games of 300, 289 and 300 for an 889 set, also at Rutland Bowlerama. It was just a small piece of the special history between the two competitors.

"I probably was the second-happiest guy in the center the day Todd broke the previous record, and it was extra special because I was bowling on the same pair of lanes at the time," Wilbur said. "We've joked about me getting it back, and I'm incredibly proud to have been able to do so. To shoot 900 is something I can't wrap my head around. I'm still pinching myself. It's something you dream about but never think can really happen."

In his career, Wilbur has rolled more than 100 certified perfect games, but despite all of the strikes and honor scores, the majority of which have come at the 32-lane Rutland Bowlerama, he only has rolled back-to-back 300s on one other occasion, and that came after a 246 start.

In 75 previous sets of 800 or better, he has eclipsed the 850 mark seven times and always wondered if 900 was a realistic possibility.

"I've bowled many 300s and some big sets before, but I've found myself shaking like a leaf going for back-to-back 300s before," said Wilbur, a three-time winner in the famed New England Bowlers Association (NEBA). "I didn't feel a lot of nerves the first two games last night, but I started to get really shaky and nervous about the seventh frame of the last game. I got away with a shot I didn't think was going to make it back, and that actually helped with the nerves."

Rutland Bowlerama is one of 11 USBC-certified bowling centers in Vermont, a place that means a lot to Wilbur and the most special potential backdrop for his historic night.

As he closed in on his place in the record books, the venue grew quiet, while he still was surrounded by his closest bowling friends. The crowd included 12 three-player teams from his league, eight five-player teams from the women's league and some bowlers in for open play. He even got a special visit from his parents after the set concluded.

Wilbur has spent time in the national spotlight before, finding success at the USBC Open Championships and Bowlers Journal Championships presented by USBC.

In 2015, he teamed with Lathrop to claim the Open Doubles title and $7,500 top prize at the Bowlers Journal Championships.

They made headlines together again in Las Vegas in 2017 when they helped HOF Silver Lanes 1 of New Hartford, Connecticut, into the lead in Regular Team at the Open Championships. The team went on to finish fifth in the 10,286-team field.

During that performance, Wilbur opened the night's final game with eight consecutive strikes, before an 8 pin ended his run at the first 300 of the tournament's debut at the new South Point Bowling Plaza.

The next day, Lathrop claimed that honor during his first game of singles. It was one of 10 perfect games at the 2017 tournament.

"Me, Todd and John Kirker bowl a lot of team and doubles stuff together, and we just vibe really well," Wilbur said. "We don't necessarily push each other, but we have the same will to win, and we just click."

Together, Wilbur and his fellow competitors have helped put Vermont and the Northeast on the bowling map, but even past success could not help Wilbur prepare for the attention that comes with rolling a 900 series.

"I definitely never thought I'd be the guy to do this, and it's incredibly surreal," said Wilbur, who still has his eye on an Open Championships Eagle and a Professional Bowlers Association title. "It's just little old me from a small town in a tiny state. It's overwhelming, but such a dream come true. And, I couldn't have picked a more special place to shoot it."

The first USBC-approved 900 occurred Feb. 2, 1997 when Jeremy Sonnenfeld rolled three consecutive perfect games in Lincoln, Nebraska.

USBC-Approved 900 Series (35)
Jeremy Sonnenfeld (R), Lincoln, Neb., Feb. 2, 1997
Tony Roventini (L), Greenfield, Wis., Nov. 9, 1998
Vince Wood (R), Moreno Valley, Calif., Sept, 29, 1999
Robby Portalatin (L), Jackson, Mich., Dec. 28, 2000
James Hylton (R), Salem, Ore., May 2, 2001
Jeff Campbell II (R), New Castle, Pa., June 12, 2004
Darin Pomije (R), New Prague, Minn., Dec. 9, 2004
Robert Mushtare (R), Fort Drum, N.Y., Dec. 5, 2005 and Feb. 19, 2006
Lonnie Billiter Jr. (R), Fairfield, Ohio, Feb. 13, 2006
Mark Wukoman (R), Greenfield, Wis., April 22, 2006
P.J. Giesfeldt (R), Milwaukee, Dec. 23, 2006
Rich Jerome Jr. (R), Baltimore, Dec. 22, 2008
Chris Aker (L), Winnemucca, Nev., Oct. 30, 2009
Andrew Teall (R), Medford, N.J., Nov. 2, 2009
Andrew Mank (R), Belleville, Ill., March 18, 2010
William Howell III (L), Middletown, N.Y., Oct. 21, 2010
Matt Latarski (R), Medina, Ohio, Nov. 28, 2010
Bob Kammer Jr. (R), Crown Point, Ind., Jan. 8, 2011
John Martorella Sr. (R), Greece, N.Y., April 12, 2012
Jimmy Schmitzer (R), Riverside, Calif., April 20, 2012
James Williams (R), Pawcatuck, Conn., (bowled in Wakefield, R.I.), April 16, 2013
Joe Scarborough (R), Charlotte, N.C., (bowled in The Villages, Fla.), April 21, 2013
Todd James (R), East New Market, Md., (bowled in Laurel, Del.), March 18, 2014
Amos Gordon (R), Colorado Springs, Colo., April 11, 2014
Earon Vollmar (R), Toledo, Ohio, Jan. 19, 2015
Hakim Emmanuel (R), Stoughton, Mass., Feb. 19, 2015
David Sewesky (L), Dearborn, Mich., Jan. 10, 2016
Dale Gerhard (R), Mill Hall, Pa., Jan. 12, 2016
Sean Osbourn (R), Houston, Nov. 21, 2016
John Buchanan III (R), Evansville, Ind., Jan. 11, 2017
Sam Esposito (R), Homer Glen, Ill., Feb. 3, 2017
Brady Stearns (R), St. Cloud, Minn., March 28, 2017
Joe Novara (R), East Patchogue, N.Y., Oct. 16, 2017
Jonathan Wilbur (R), North Clarendon, Vt., Jan. 14, 2019**

** Pending formal approval by the United States Bowling Congress.

For more information on USBC records, visit BOWL.com/Records.

United States Bowling Congress
The United States Bowling Congress serves as the national governing body of bowling as recognized by the United States Olympic Committee (USOC). USBC conducts championship events nationwide including the largest participation sporting events in the world - the USBC Open and Women's Championships - and professional events such as the USBC Masters and USBC Queens.

Founded in 1895, today USBC and its 1,638 state and local associations proudly serve more than a million members. USBC is headquartered in Arlington, Texas, working toward a future for the sport. The online home for USBC is BOWL.com.

THOMPSON HOPING TO CONTINUE MOMENTUM INTO 2019

This week’s LPGA Tour season-opening Diamond Resorts Tournament of Champions presented Insurance Office of America features 26 LPGA Tour winners from the last two seasons, but it is top-ranked American Lexi Thompson with the freshest winner’s circle memory to draw from.

In November, Thompson took home the final trophy of the 2018 LPGA Tour season at the CME Group Tour Championship. After a self-admitted tough year, she ended her season on a high note by extending her yearly winning streak to six years (2013-2018), the longest active streak on the LPGA Tour.

“Last year was a tough year emotionally,” Thompson said on Wednesday at Tranquilo Golf Course, “but I learned a lot, and I took the time for myself that I needed. And just to be refreshed coming into the year.”

A short offseason was in order for Thompson, who estimated she put the clubs away for a week and a half. “I wanted to continue to see what I was working on with CME and the previous tournaments to that,” she said, “if it was continuing to work, and I still wanted to engrave it in my golf swing and be confident coming into this year.”

Although it happened three months ago, Thompson was still smiling about capturing her 10th LPGA victory and hopes to begin her 2019 season on the same high note she finished her 2018 season.

“It was a great week,” Thompson said of the 2018 CME Group Tour Championship. “Just to let it all soak in in the month of December being around my family and celebrating it and realizing my hard work paid off. I think that was the best feeling of it. But it's still sinking in. I still like replay videos of it just to refresh it in my mind and get into this year.”

Thompson will tee off her first round of the 2019 season on Thursday off the first tee at 10:10 a.m. alongside Major League Baseball Hall of Fame members Greg Maddux and John Smoltz.

IN THEIR OWN WORDS – CELEBRITIES ON THE DIAMOND RESORTS TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS

“This kind of stuff is great for us because it allows us to get back into what we love, and that's the competition, to get those energy – those juices flowing to go out there and compete, and that's what I love the most is to be able to come back out here and focus the way I focused before I played a hockey game or before he played a football game or before he pitched a Major League Baseball game. We miss those days, and when we have great events like the Diamond Resorts that allows us to come out, have some fun with each other, now play with the LPGA champions. I'm really excited for that because, when you play with the best of the best in the sport, that brings the best out in you. So it's going to motivate me to play with some of the LPGA players this week. I think it's a great combination. It's the start of their season. Hopefully, we don't screw them up enough off the start to get them going on their season.” – Jeremy Roenick

“I think the interesting thing that these ladies are going to find out is that, when they're playing competitive golf, they're going to have – if they're playing with two guys, they're going to have two cheerleaders cheering them on and rooting them on and anticipating them to make the putt.” – Mark Rypien

“I think everybody understands that the personalities in your group, when you play with other people, you know who wants to talk and who doesn't. You learn -- you just know to stay out of some people's way and let them do their thing and let them get comfortable. We've done this a bunch, and you just learn that in Pro-Ams or anything like that, you just try to stay out of the way.” – John Smoltz

“We've all played a lot of golf with professional golfers, and we really stay out of the way. We're all playing an event here, and I think even the guys that are not going to be competing for the lead still understand that this is a golf tournament for the professionals. You know, the players that really have a chance to win, we all kind of understand what professional golf is and we all play accordingly. It's going to be fun. Looking forward to it. I think it's really a great testament to NBC that they've really gotten on board here, as well as the Golf Channel, and they've said, we're behind this, and we think this could be a really cool combination.” – Jack Wagner

NOTABLE FIRST-ROUND GROUPINGS

Marina Alex will hit the first ball of the 2019 LPGA Tour season at 8 a.m., playing alongside country music superstar Toby Keith and World Series champion Roger Clemens

Leading the contingent of LPGA mothers, Stacy Lewis and Cristie Kerr tee off back to back at 9 a.m. and 9:10 a.m.; Lewis will play with World Series-winning pitchers Tom Glavine andJon Lester, while Kerr will play with NHL All-Star Jeremy Roenick and fan-favorite actor Jack Wagner

Mardy Fish, who has won this celebrity event two times, tees off at 10:20 a.m., playing with 2018 Rolex First-Time Winner Nelly Korda and two-time MLB All-Star Mark Mulder

DESIGNATED HOLE FOR AON RISK REWARD CHALLENGE

The first-of-its-kind Aon Risk Reward Challenge, which gets underway on the LPGA Tour at this week's season-opening event, will highlight the world’s best professional golfers as they tackle the most strategically challenging holes across both the PGA TOUR and LPGA Tour schedules. The player from each Tour on top of the Aon leaderboard at the end of the regular season will receive a $1 million prize. The Aon Risk Reward Challenge takes the best two scores from every participating event in which a player competes, ensuring that all play is counted and providing a small advantage to those that make the cut with the overall winner having the best average score to par on the designated holes. Players must complete in a minimum of 40 rounds throughout the season.

The designated Aon Risk Reward Challenge hole at the Diamond Resorts Tournament of Champions is the par-4 16th, which will be played this week at 330 yards for two of the four days and at 290 yards for the other two. This hole, a short dogleg right which can be drivable for the longer players, provides a great risk-reward opportunity because of its two-tiered green and the angle at which it sits. To drive the green, the player must clear a bunker and a few trees on the right side of the fairway. The risk off the tee is a miss to the right or a shot that ends up in the bunker. Failure to reach the green can leave a tricky pitch shot into an elevated putting surface guarded by a large bunker on the front left side.

For more information on the Aon Risk Reward Challenge, visit www.lpga.com/statistics/aon-risk-reward-challenge.

WHO’S IN THE DIAMOND RESORTS TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS FIELD

26 LPGA Tour Winners from 2017 and 2018

Marina Alex (2018 Cambia Portland Classic), In Gee Chun (2018 LPGA KEB Hana Bank Championship), Shanshan Feng (2017 LPGA Volvik Championship, 2017 TOTO Japan Classic, 2017 Blue Bay LPGA), Georgia Hall (2018 Ricoh Women’s British Open), Nasa Hataoka (2018 Walmart NW Arkansas Championship, 2018 TOTO Japan Classic), Brooke Henderson (2017 Meijer LPGA Classic, 2017 MCKAYSON New Zealand Women’s Open, 2018 LOTTE Championship, 2018 CP Women’s Open), Eun-Hee Ji (2017 Swinging Skirts LPGA Taiwan Championship, 2018 Kia Classic), Ariya Jutanugarn (2017 Manulife LPGA Classic, 2017 CME Group Tour Championship, 2018 Kingsmill Championship, 2018 U.S. Women’s Open, 2018 Aberdeen Standard Investments Ladies Scottish Open), Moriya Jutanugarn (2018 HUGEL-JTBC LA Open), Danielle Kang (2017 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, 2018 Buick LPGA Shanghai), Cristie Kerr(2017 LOTTE Championship, 2017 Sime Darby LPGA Malaysia), Sei Young Kim (2017 Lorena Ochoa Match, 2018 Thornberry Creek LPGA Classic), Katherine Kirk (2017 Thornberry Creek LPGA Classic), Lydia Ko (2018 LPGA MEDIHEAL Championship), Nelly Korda (2018 Swinging Skirts LPGA Taiwan Championship), Mi Hyang Lee (2017 Aberdeen Asset Management Ladies Scottish Open), Mirim Lee (2017 Kia Classic), Stacy Lewis (2017 Cambia Portland Classic), Brittany Lincicome (2017 Pure Silk-Bahamas LPGA Classic, 2018 Pure Silk-Bahamas LPGA Classic), Pernilla Lindberg (2018 ANA Inspiration), Gaby Lopez (2018 Blue Bay LPGA), Anna Nordqvist (2017 Bank of Hope Founders Cup, 2017 The Evian Championship), Annie Park(2018 ShopRite LPGA Classic), Thidapa Suwannapura (2018 Marathon Classic), Lexi Thompson (2017 Kingsmill Championship, 2017 Indy Women in Tech Championship, 2018 CME Group Tour Championship), Amy Yang (2017 Honda LPGA Thailand)

49 Celebrities

Marcus Allen, Ray Allen, Josh Beckett, Lee Brice, Clay Buchholz, Roger Clemens, Richard Dent, Mark DeRosa, Josh Donaldson, Mardy Fish, Michael Flaskey, Colt Ford, Terry Francona, Eric Gagne, Tom Glavine, Denny Hamlin, John Hart, Danny Kanell, Toby Keith, John Lackey, Jon Lester, Ryan Longwell, Derek Lowe, Greg Maddux, Brian McCann, Kevin Millar, Mark Mulder, Phil Nevin, Bud Norris, Blair O’Neal, Carson Palmer, Patrick Peterson, Chad Pfeifer, AJ Pierzynski, Alfonso Ribeiro, Willie Robertson, Ivan Rodriguez, Jeremy Roenick, Joe Don Rooney, Mark Rypien, Sterling Sharpe, John Smoltz, Cole Swindell, Joe Theismann, Brian Urlacher, Jack Wagner, Tim Wakefield, Michael Waltrip, Larry the Cable Guy

SOCIAL MEDIA

Tournament: @DiamondResorts (Twitter and Instagram), #DiamondLPGA

LPGA: @LPGA, @LPGAMedia (Twitter), @lpga_tour (Instagram)

TV TIMES (all times Eastern)

Thursday, Jan. 17 – 12-3 p.m., Golf Channel

Friday, Jan. 18 – 12-3 p.m., Golf Channel

Saturday, Jan. 19 – 2-3 p.m., Golf Channel; 3-5 p.m., NBC

Sunday, Jan. 20 – 2-3 p.m., Golf Channel; 3-5 p.m., NBC

IN OTHER NEWS

NBC SPORTS TO BOOKEND 2019 LPGA TOUR SEASON; 33 LPGA EVENTS ON GOLF CHANNEL IN 2019

NBC Sports Group kicks off its coverage of the 2019 LPGA Tour season this week with the inaugural Diamond Resorts Tournament of Champions, the first of 33 official events totaling 435 hours of tournament coverage, marking the highest number of events and most hours ever in a single calendar year for the LPGA Tour.

For the first time, NBC will bookend the LPGA Tour season, beginning this week with the inaugural Diamond Resorts Tournament of Champions and concluding with live coverage of the CME Group Tour Championship, the season-ending event on the LPGA Tour in November. NBC also will air live coverage of the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship and the AIG Women’s British Open in 2019, nearly doubling the number of live tournament hours on NBC.

For more information, visit www.lpga.com/news/33-lpga-events-on-golf-channel-in-2019.

JOHN KONICEK NAMED AWARD RECIPIENT FOR LPGA’S AXA XL LPGA VOLUNTEER SERVICE AWARD

The AXA XL LPGA Volunteer Service Award is a program launched in 2018 to recognize exemplary volunteers at each LPGA tournament. John Konicek, the general chairman for the Diamond Resorts Tournament of Champions, is this week’s award recipient.