LAS VEGAS – A crowd of bowling dignitaries and Las Vegas business leaders got a first-look at the future home of the Professional Bowlers Association World Series of Bowling Thursday when South Point Hotel, Casino and Spa unveiled its new 60-lane, state-of-the-art South Point Bowling Plaza Thursday.
The $35 million facility will make its public debut with the ESPN television finals of seven GEICO PBA World Series of Bowling VI events, six of which will be conducted Saturday and Sunday for delayed telecast on ESPN beginning Sunday, Dec. 14. The seventh event will be the live stepladder finals of the PBA World Series of Bowling on Sunday, Jan. 11.
Bowling fans are invited to attend the inaugural PBA World Series finals at the Plaza Saturday and Sunday. Admission is free, but fans must obtain a pass at the existing South Point Bowling Center where all preliminary competition was held throughout the week. Four PBA finals will be contested Saturday and two additional events will be conducted Sunday.
The plaza, which was built specifically to host major national and international tournaments, will host PBA WSOB VII, Oct. 16-Nov. 1, 2015.
“It’s a beautiful facility,” said PBA Commissioner Tom Clark. “The PBA is proud to be giving the Plaza its first memories with our ESPN-televised events this weekend. PBA history defines bowling and the walls of the Plaza will be echoing with the cheers and excitement we provide. It will be the start of a great relationship between the PBA and the Plaza for many years to come.”
The South Point Bowling Plaza is a 90,000-square-foot facility which features 60 lanes in two parallel 30-lane rows; luxurious spectator seating for 360 people, a one-of-a-kind Daktronics digital scoring system with two 167-foot screens above that lanes to display scoring, and many other bowler-friendly features. A 12-year, 30-event contract with the United States Bowling Congress and the support of Las Vegas Events and the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Bureau were the commitments South Point owner Michael Gaughan,needed to make the permanent bowling facility a reality.
In addition to PBA and USBC events, South Point has already secured championship events with the Amateur Bowlers Tour, High Roller Inc., The National Bowling Association and several other organizations. It has placed an open invitation with World Bowling to host whatever international championship events the world governing body for bowling cares to award to the United States.
“South Point Bowling Plaza offers…a customized facility that was strictly designed with the needs of a tournament bowler in mind,” said South Point Hotel, Casino and Spa General Manager Ryan Growney. “Michael Gaughan’s experience in the bowling industry has allowed us to create an unparalleled tournament bowling plaza that will generate hundreds of millions of dollars in economic impact to this city.”
From a bowler’s perspective, the Plaza features a wide open design with ample room for players to make full use of the approaches, lots of room for seating, open space to move from lane to lane, a huge “squad room” and room for more than 700 lockers to store equipment overnight. The massive Daktronic screens will display scores that can easily be read from one end of the lanes to the other. That and custom seating will make the Plaza a wonderful venue for spectators.
Beyond the bowling facility, the ground floor of the Plaza contains an equally state-of-the-art equestrian facility called Preifert Pavillion which will host a wide range of rodeo, bull riding and equestrian events. To demonstrate the uniqueness of the facility, a 14-inch buffer of concrete and plywood will keep the aroma of the animals away from the bowlers and the noise of crashing pins will be isolated from disturbing the animals below.
As Growney said, “Michael Gaughan doesn’t do mediocre. Everything he does is first-class.”
GEICO PBA WORLD SERIES OF BOWLING VI TELEVISION SCHEDULE
Saturday, noon:PBA Cheetah Championship presented by PBA Bowling Challenge Mobile Game (Dick Allen, Columbia, S.C.; Brad Angelo, Lockport, N.Y.; Anthony Pepe, Elmhurst, N.Y.; Liz Johnson, Cheektowaga, N.Y.)
Saturday, 2 p.m.: PBA Viper Championship (Connor Pickford, Charlotte, N.C.; Ronnie Russell, Marion, Ind.; Dom Barrett, England; Mika Koivuniemi, Finland)
Saturday, 4:45 p.m.: PBA Chameleon Championship (D.J. Archer, Friendswood, Texas; Ronnie Russell, Marion, Ind.; Sean Rash, Montgomery, Ill.; J.R. Raymond, Bay City, Mich.)
Saturday, 6:30 p.m.: PBA Scorpion Championship (Michael Haugen Jr., Phoenix; Scott Newell, Dayton, Fla.; Martin Larsen, Sweden; Tom Hess, Urbandale, Iowa)
Sunday, 10:30 a.m.: PBA Challengepresented by International Bowling Museum and Hall of Fame.Match 1 - Teen Masters Grand Championship Finals (Michael Coffey, Melbourne, Fla., vs. Kelly Skalacki, Coram, N.Y.). Match 2: PBA50 Final (Walter Ray Williams, Oxford, Fla. vs. Amleto Monacelli, Venezuela). Match 3: PBA Women’s Regional Final (Clara Guerrero, Colombia vs. Missy Parkin, Laguna Hills, Calif.). Match 4: PBA Regional Final (Josh Blanchard, Mesa, Ariz. vs. EJ Tackett, Huntington, Ind.).
Match 5: Knock-Out Bonus Round (four match winners in a best-ball elimination finale)
Sunday, 2:45 p.m.: World Bowling Tour Men’s and Women’s Finals presented by PBA. Women’s Final - Kelly Kulick, Union, N.J.; Liz Johnson, Cheektowaga, N.Y.; Sandra Andersson, Sweden. Men’s Final -Mika Koivuniemi, Finland; Sean Rash, Montgomery, Ill.; Jason Belmonte, Australia.