PBA Tour Returns to Action

After a three-month layoff following the conclusion of the inaugural Professional Bowlers Association World Series of Bowling in suburban Detroit, the PBA Tour will return to action in a big way in Wichita, KS, in early December.

Thanks in large part to the voluntary organizing efforts of Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour champion and Wichita resident Sean Rash, one of the largest PBA “Super Regionals” ever held will serve as the opening act to the Pepsi Red, White and Blue Open presented by the United States Bowling Congress, and the live ESPN finals of the PBA World Championship.

The curtain goes up Dec. 4 at Thunderbird Lanes when the PBA teams up with the Kansas Chapter of Make-A-Wish Foundation for a Friday night PBA “Bowling for Wishes” Celebrity Charity Pro-Am, hosted by Rash. The fundraiser will feature four Chicago Cubs baseball players (catcher Koyie Hill, pitchers Randy Wells and Ryan Dempster, and shortstop Mike Fontenot), New York Mets pitcher Mike Pelfrey, PGA golf tour champion Woody Austin, Grammy award-winning country music artist Tracy Byrd, Wichita Wingnuts manager Kevin Hooper, local media celebrities and PBA Tour champions Chris Barnes, Pete Weber, Wes Malott, Lonnie Waliczek, Justin Hromek, Rick Steelsmith and Rash.

Bowling for Wishes Pro-am participants will be eligible for prizes including a 42-inch plasma flat-screen TV, passes to Wichita area golf courses, Kansas City Royals baseball tickets, restaurant passes, Brunswick bowling balls and more.
Make-A-Wish will receive $10 from each pro-am entry as well as proceeds from a special silent auction that will accompany the event.

For national and regional PBA members, and any amateur bowlers who care to participate, competitive bowling takes the stage Saturday and Sunday when the unique “Super Regional” will require all players to bowl six-game qualifying rounds at 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. at two different Wichita bowling centers - Northrock Lanes and Thunderbird Lanes.

The top one-third of the field will advance to a five-game semifinal round Sunday at 9 a.m. at Northrock Lanes to trim the field to 16 for the single-elimination match play finals starting at 1 p.m. The Round of 16 and Round of 8 will be best-of-five-game rounds. The semifinal and championship rounds concluding the event will be best of three games.

Entry fees for the Super Regional are $250 for PBA members and $325 for amateurs.

“It’s going to be a great opportunity for some good bowling prior to the start of the Pepsi Red, White and Blue Open,” Rash said. “It’ll give the guys a great tune-up for the national event, and first prize is going to be $5,000, so that will make them happy, too. If the field fills up (to a maximum of 160 players), the prize fund will be better than advertised.”

Capping the weekend will be a special “sponsor’s dinner,” also hosted by Rash, where corporate sponsors for the events will go to dinner at a premium Wichita restaurant with a PBA Tour star as their dinner partner.

“It’s been a lot of work,” said Rash, who also made two-week trips to Asia and Europe on behalf of Brunswick during the so-called break. “But it’ll all be worth it. Any time you can involve charities and professional athletes for a good cause, it’s going to be a great event.”

Immediately following the Bowling for Wishes Super Regional weekend, the Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour resumes action in the Pepsi Red, White and Blue Open presented by the United States Bowling Congress at Northrock Lanes.

This event, which is open to amateurs as well as PBA members, will showcase three new lane conditioning patterns developed by the USBC for grassroots league bowling competition starting in the fall of 2010. All players will bowl eight games on the Red and White patterns – each in advancing degrees of difficulty – and the top one-third of the field will advance to an eight-game cashers’ round Thursday morning on the Blue pattern.

The top 24 qualifiers then advance to match play where they’ll bowl another three eight-game rounds on the USBC patterns. The top six after 48 games will advance to a modified match play final which will be conducted immediately following the live finals of the PBA World Championship and taped for airing on ESPN on Sunday, Jan. 10, at 1 p.m. Eastern.

The PBA World Championship, which will air at 1 p.m. Eastern on Sunday, Dec. 13, will feature matches between Bill O’Neill of Southampton, PA, vs. Thomas Smallwood of Saginaw, MI, and reigning PBA Player of the Year Wes Malott of Pflugerville, TX, vs. Rhino Page of Wesley Chapel, FL. The winners of the two matches will meet for the first major title of the 2009-10 season.