Entries opened today (July 8) for the GEICO PBA World Series of Bowling VII, set for Dec. 7-19 in Reno, Nev., and for the PBA South Point Bowling Plaza Fall Classic, Oct. 19-26, in Las Vegas. Entries for both events are limited and will be processed on a first-come basis.
Entry fee for the GEICO WSOB VII is $1,000 for members and $1,200 for non-members. Entry includes participation in the PBA Cheetah, Viper, Chameleon and Scorpion Opens, plus the PBA World Championship. The field is limited to 312 players. Players must have a reservation confirmation number for a room at the Silver Legacy at the time of entry.
Multiple entry fees for the South Point Bowling Plaza Fall Classic include:
● PBA Team Challenge: $500 per member entry fee ($600 per non-member), $40,000 first prize, $5,000 for 15th place, 1:4 cashing ratio, field limited to 60 teams.
● Roth/Holman PBA Doubles Championship: $500 per member entry fee ($600 per non-member), $22,000 first prize, $2,000 for 15th place, 1:4 cashing ratio, field limited to 60 teams.
● PBA Xtra Frame South Point Las Vegas Open: $300 member entry fee ($325 non-member), $10,000 first prize, 1:3 cashing ratio, field limited to 120 entries.
● PBA South Point West Challenge : $220 member entry fee ($285 non-member), open to players who have not won a PBA title, $1,500 first prize, 1:3 cashing ratio, field limited to 120 entries.
● PBA50 Western Open: $220 member entry fee ($285 non-member), open to players age 50 and older, $2,000 first prize, 1:3 cashing ratio, field limited to 120 entries.
World Series entries must be submitted to PBA Membership Services Manager Mary von Krueger (email: maryvk@pba.com; cell: 206-332-9688). PBA members will have first priority. Fall Classic entries can be submitted online through PBA.com. Click on “schedules” followed by “PBA Tour” and select the appropriate event for the entry form. PBA West Region entries should be submitted to West Region Manager Gary Mage (email: gary.mage@pba.com; cell: 360-600-1229).
MOTIV REVOLUTION TOURNAMENT INSPIRES PLAYERS TO COMPETE ON PBA TOUR
PBA’s Xtra Frame online video-streaming service is covering a non-PBA tournament today and Thursday that inspires participants to pursue their PBA Tour dreams. The MOTIV Revolution Tournament, created by the PBA Product-Registered bowling ball manufacturer and hosted by long-time PBA tournament host Thunderbowl Lanes in Allen Park, Mich., will reward its winner with a MOTIV Pro Tour staff contract, two new balls for each new release, participation in the MOTIV PBA National Tour Staff Camp, MOTIV apparel and dye-sublimated jerseys, a professional photo shoot and more – all valued at more than $10,000. The winner must commit to bowling in the GEICO PBA World Series of Bowling VII in Reno in December as well as three additional PBA Tour events with national television coverage.
A number of other MOTIV-themed prizes will be awarded. The tournament itself will involve five games on the PBA Wolf pattern at 8 a.m. ET and five games on the PBA Scorpion pattern at 1 p.m. Wednesday, plus five games on the USBC Masters pattern at 8 a.m. and five games on the U.S. Open pattern at 1 p.m. Thursday. For complete rules and additional information, visit MOTIV.com and click on the “tournaments” tab: http://www.motivbowling.com/motivnation/tournament.html
To subscribe to Xtra Frame, visit pba.com and click on the Xtra Frame link. Subscriptions are available for three days ($3.99), one month ($7.99) or 12 months (XF Season Ticket for $64.99).
COLLEGIATE STAR A.J. JOHNSON JOINS PBA “ROOKIE OF THE YEAR” RACE
He’s getting a late start, but recent McKendree University graduate A.J. Johnson of Oswego, Ill., is expected to make a bid for 2015 PBA Rookie of the Year honors. Johnson, a two-time Team USA member and former Collegiate Bowler of the Year, made his PBA national television debut in the USBC Masters as an amateur, finishing second to three-time Masters winner Jason Belmonte.
Johnson applied for PBA membership in early July. He will have 13 opportunities during the remainder of the 2015 season to compete in PBA Tour-title events, including chances to win two majors in the BowlmorAMF U.S. Open in November, and the PBA World Championship during the GEICO PBA World Series of Bowling VII in December.
PBA REGIONAL UPDATE: BEASLEY, STERNER WIN PWBA, PBA GASTONIA OPEN TITLES
Inngellimar Beasley of Nashville, Tenn., won the PWBA Gastonia South Open, presented by the PBA, and Jason Sterner of Covington, Ga. won the PBA Gastonia South Open presented by Brunswick at George Pappas’ Liberty Lanes over the Fourth of July weekend.
Beasley, the wife of PBA member Mitch Beasley, posted a 1,864 eight-game total in the PBA South Region’s Professional Women’s Bowling Association event, rolling a 258 in her final game to defeat Jasmine Summer of Beckley, W.Va., who finished with 1,852 pins. Beasley, a 38-year-old Venezuela native, earned $1,200 for the win and Summer received $1,000 for her second-place finish.
Sterner, who qualified fourth for the South Open stepladder finals, defeated Zack Brown of Holly Springs, N.C. in match one, 227-214; No. 2 qualifier Tom Daugherty of Wesley Chapel, Fla., 225-213, in the semifinal match, and 20-game match play leader Matt Taylor of Youngsville, N.C., 217-150, in the title match to earn his seventh PBA South Region title. Sterner earned $2,500 while Taylor pocketed $1,300 for his second-place finish.
● Former PBA member Jason Duran of Littleton, Colo., and Tyler Jensen of Ft. Worth, Texas, teamed up to win the PBA FireLake Grand Casino Resort Member/Non-Member Southwest Doubles presented by 900 Global at FireLake Bowling Center over the Fourth of July weekend in Shawnee, Okla.
Duran and Jensen battled runners-up Keven Williams from Springfield, Mo., and his PBA partner Austin Boulds from Creal Springs, Ill., from qualifying to the final game to claim the title. Duran strung six strikes early in the title game and Jensen added a couple of doubles. Williams and Boulds were unable to string strikes, and unconverted splits in the late frames helped Duran and Jensen secure a 468-388 team victory and the $4,000 winners’ check. Jensen won his 15th PBA Regional title. Duran has won four PBA Regionals, but only one as a member.
● PBA’s regional fireworks continue during another busy month of activity, beginning with the July 10-12 weekend when Playdrome Cherry Hill hosts the PBA50 Cecil Raymond East Memorial presented by Track in Cherry Hill, N.J.; Cordova Bowling Center in Cordova, Tenn., hosts the PBA50 Resorts Lifestyles Communities Robinwood Greater Memphis Tri-Regional Open; Double Decker Lanes in Rohnert Park, Calif., hosts the PBA Wine Country West/Northwest Open presented by Roto Grip, and Plaza Lanes hosts the Shock Top Midwest Open on Saturday followed by the St. Charles Lanes Midwest Open on Sunday - both in St. Charles, Mo.
● The July 17-19 PBA Regional calendar includes the Fort Sill Southwest Open presented by Ebonite at Twin Oaks Bowl in Fort Sill, Okla.; the Boss Snow Plows/Ebonite Central/Midwest Open at PinHeads Bowling Center in Fishers, Ind., and the PBA50 AMF Fredericksburg Lanes South Open in Fredericksburg, Va.
● Immediately following the PBA50 Treasure Island Resort & Casino Open presented by Roto Grip from Island Xtreme Bowl in Welch, Minn. (which will be covered live from start to finish on Xtra Frame, July 20-22), the PBA Midwest Region will conduct the PBA50 Treasure Island Resort & Casino Baker Doubles Classic July 23-24.
● The July 24-26 PBA Regional schedule features the Pure-It Pro Shop East Open presented by DV8 at Cedar Lanes in Lebanon, Pa.; the Farmer’s State Bank Central Open presented by Roto Grip at Angola Bowl in Angola, Ind.; the Poplar Creek Bowl Midwest Open at Hoffman Estates, Ill., and the PBA/PBA50 Sands Regency West/Northwest Doubles presented by MOTIV at High Sierra Lanes in Reno, Nev.
● Closing out the July schedule over the July 31-Aug. 2 weekend will be the PBA Xtra Frame Striking Against Breast Cancer Mixed Doubles, a PBA Tour-PWBA Tour title event, at Palace Lanes in Houston, Texas; the Lakewood Bowl Midwest Open in Richton Park, Ill.; the PBA/PBA50 Northwest/West Open from 20th Century Lanes in Boise, Idaho, and the PBA Japan Region’s first events of the year, the DHC Japan Cheetah and Women’s Cheetah Opens at Nagoya Grandbowl in Aichi, Japan.
For complete PBA Regional schedules, rules and entry information, visit pba.com, open the “schedules” tab and click on Regional Tours to find the event(s) in your area.
QUICK NOTES
● Walter Ray Williams Jr. added another milestone note to his remarkable career when he became the first PBA member to bowl 100 300 games in PBA competition during qualifying in the recent PBA50 Northern California Classic at Harvest Park Bowl in Brentwood, Calif. In reaching the century mark, Williams broke a tie for most PBA 300s with Parker Bohn III who recorded his 99th during the PBA50 UnitedHealthcare Sun Bowl In The Villages in April. Unofficially Pete Weber is a distant third with 79 perfect games bowled in PBA competition.
● This week on Xtra Frame: Xtra Frame will video-stream the MOTIV Revolution Tournament, a non-PBA event, from Thunderbowl Lanes in Allen Park, Mich., Wednesday and Thursday. Friday and Saturday, Professional Women’s Bowling Association competition makes its Xtra Frame debut with start-to-finish coverage of the PWBA Storm Sacramento Open from Steve Cook’s Fireside Lanes in Citrus Heights, Calif. To subscribe to Xtra Frame, visit pba.com and click on the Xtra Frame link.
● Reminders: book a room through the “Book Hotel” link on pba.com and you will be automatically entered into HotelPlanner.com’s monthly sweepstakes that awards a $200 lodging gift certificate. Or sign up for a new Xtra Frame subscription – monthly or XF Season Ticket – and you could win a new MOTIV bowling ball in the monthly MOTIV Xtra Frame sweepstakes. Look for the Xtra Frame link on pba.com’s home page.