Tommy Jones Top Qualifier at PBA Bear Open

One day after missing the stepladder finals of the PBA Wolf Open by four pins, 15-time Professional Bowlers Association Tour champion Tommy Jones of Simpsonville, SC, raced away with the top qualifying berth for the finals of the PBA Bear Open at Fire Lake Bowling Center Tuesday.

Jones, who hasn’t won a PBA Tour title on American soil since the 2008 GEICO Championship in West Babylon, NY, averaged 220.5 for 12 games on the most difficult of the Oklahoma’s Grand Casino Resort PBA Summer Swing lane conditioning patterns, a flat 40-foot condition that is almost identical to the U.S. Open lane oiling pattern. Jones finished with a 2,646 pinfall total to top No. 2 qualifier Bill O’Neill of Langhorne, PA, by 24 pins.

Also advancing to the Bear Open stepladder finals Saturday will be No. 3 Ronnie Russell of Marion, IN, with 2,620 pins; Rhino Page of Dad City, FL, with 2,608 pins and No. 5 Dick Allen of Columbia, SC, with a 2,606 total. The Bear Open finals will be contested at 2:30 p.m. CT on the special lane installation at the Grand Event Center. The finals will air on CBS Sports Network on Tuesday, June 10, at 7 p.m. ET.

Pacing the Bear field was a bit of redemption for Jones after Monday’s disappointment.

“It wasn’t the finish that bothered me as much as I threw a couple of shots into the gutter and missed the TV show by four pins,” he said. “Leaving those pins out there is what leaves a bitter taste in my mouth.”

Jones also is aware it’s been six years since he has won a title in the U.S. He has won three PBA International Tour events since then, but overcoming hip and neck injuries over the past five-or-so years has been frustrating.

“To win in the U.S. is definitely a goal, and to go in feeling healthy is a good thing,” he added. “Some of my problems have been bad bowling and some of it has been being overly cautious about my health issues. But so far this week, everything’s been good.”

The Bear Open is the second of five events that compose Oklahoma’s Grand Casino Resort PBA Summer Swing. All five events will be televised on CBS Sports Network on Tuesdays at 7 p.m. ET, beginning with the Wolf Open on June 3.

The Bear Open also was the second of three qualifying legs in determining the field of 18 who will advance to the round-robin match play segment of the Oklahoma Open. After 12 of 18 qualifying games, the top five were Dom Barrett, England, 2,744; Jones, 2,741; Mike Fagan, Ft. Worth, Texas, 2,737; Bill O'Neill, Langhorne, PA, 2,722, and Chris Barnes, Double Oak, Texas, 2,721. The first six games in Wednesday’s Badger Open will determine the Oklahoma Open match play finalists.

The Badger Open, which features a 52-foot lane conditioning pattern, gets

underway Wednesday when Squad A bowls six qualifying games at 8 a.m. followed by Squad B at 2 p.m. The top 18 after six games advance to an additional six-game qualifying round at 7:30 p.m. to determine the five Badger Open stepladder finalists.

PBA BEAR OPEN
FireLake Bowling Center, Shawnee, Okla., May 20

Final Qualifying Standings (after 12 games; top five advance to stepladder finals at 2:30 p.m. Saturday at Grand Event Center in Shawnee)
1, Tommy Jones, Simpsonville, S.C., 2,646.
2, Bill O'Neill, Langhorne, Pa., 2,622.
3, Ronnie Russell, Marion, Ind., 2,620.
4, Rhino Page, Dade City, Fla., 2,608.
5, Dick Allen, Columbia, S.C., 2,606.
6, Dom Barrett, England, 2,553, $2,000.
7, Tom Smallwood, Saginaw, Mich., 2,551, $1,800.
8, Mike DeVaney, Winchester, Calif., 2,543, $1,600.
9, Dave Wodka, Henderson, Nev., 2,529, $1,400.
10, Jason Belmonte, Australia, 2,528, $1,300.
11, Tom Daugherty, Wesley Chapel, Fla., 2,527, $1,200.
12, Chris Loschetter, Avon, Ohio, 2,525, $1,100.
13, Shawn Maldonado, Houston, 2,487, $1,000.
14, D.J. Archer, Friendswood, Texas, 2,483, $900.
15, Nathan Bohr, Wichita, Kan., 2,469, $800.
16, Jason Sterner, Covington, Ga., 2,468, $700.
17, Kelly Kulick, Union, N.J., 2,456, $600.
18, John Ferraro, Kingston, N.Y., 2,420, $500.

PBA Rookie of The Year E. J. Tackett Tops Oklahoma Open Finalists

Professional Bowlers Association 2013 Rookie of the Year E.J. Tackett of Huntington, IN, tamed the PBA’s Bear lane condition Thursday afternoon and used that momentum to capture the No. 1 position in the PBA Oklahoma Open stepladder finals Thursday night at FireLake Bowling Center.

 

Tackett, a 21-year-old in search for his first PBA Tour title, averaged 223.255 for 36 games on the PBA’s Wolf, Bear and Badger lane conditions, and as top qualifier, selected the flat, 40-foot Bear lane condition for the Oklahoma Open finals. The finals in all five Oklahoma’s Grand Casino Resort PBA Summer Swing events will be contested Saturday and Sunday at the Grand Resort Event Center for telecast on CBS Sports Network beginning June 3.

 

Tackett, who finished the Oklahoma Open with a 36-game total of 8,367 pins, including 330 bonus pins for winning 11 of his 18 matches. It’s the first time he has led a traditional PBA Tour event, although he was the leading qualifier in the United States Bowling Congress Masters – a double-elimination match play tournament – earlier in the year before losing to reigning PBA Player of the Year Jason Belmonte in the title match, 221-177.

 

Also advancing to the Oklahoma Open stepladder finals were Chris Loschetter of

Avon, Ohio, with 8,358 pins; Bill O’Neill of Langhorne, PA, with an 8,307 total; Tommy Jones of Simpsonville, SC, with 8,297 pins, and Belmonte, who rallied from seventh place in the final game to qualify fifth with 8,257 pins.

 

“I think the only lane condition I’ve bowled on that was more difficult than the Bear pattern today was in the U.S. Open,” Tackett said. “I don’t know why I bowled better than the other guys. I don’t think I threw the ball that much better than anyone. I think my bowling ball just matched up with the condition better."

 

“It feels really good to lead the field,” Tackett continued. “The only way to learn how to deal with the pressure of bowling for a title is to put yourself in position to win, so I’ll try to do what I did today – stay positive and make good shots."

 

“I watched my performance in the Masters finals a couple of times,” he added. “I started okay, but I didn’t make moves fast enough. It comes with experience. The Masters was mine to win. Belmo got a couple of breaks, but he made shots when he had to and I didn’t. I didn’t beat myself up over losing, but we’ll see what happens this time.”

 

The Summer Swing concludes Saturday and Sunday with the stepladder finals in five events: the Wolf, Bear and Badger Opens on Saturday, and the Oklahoma Open and Oklahoma’s Grand Casino Resort King of the Swing special event on Sunday. All finals will be contested on a special lane installation in the Grand Resort Events Center.

 

PBA OKLAHOMA OPEN

FireLake Bowling Center, Shawnee, Okla., May 22

 

FINAL MATCH PLAY STANDINGS (after 36 games, including match play bonus pins; top five after 36 games advance to stepladder finals Sunday at noon at Grand Event Center)

1, E.J. Tackett, Huntington, Ind., 11-7, 8,367.
2, Chris Loschetter, Avon, Ohio, 12-6, 8,358.
3, Bill O'Neill, Langhorne, Pa., 8-9-1, 8,307.
4, Tommy Jones, Simpsonville, S.C., 10-8, 8,297.
5, Jason Belmonte, Australia, 11-7, 8,257.
6, Chris Barnes, Double Oak, Texas, 11-6-1, 8,200, $4,000.
7, Ryan Shafer, Horseheads, N.Y., 11-7, 8,185, $3,500.
8, Mika Koivuniemi, Hartland, Mich., 6-11-1, 8,178, $3,000.
9, Tom Daugherty, Wesley Chapel, Fla., 8-10, 8,160, $2,800.
10, Mike Fagan, Ft. Worth, Texas, 9-9, 8,149, $2,500.
11, Pete Weber, St. Ann, Mo., 9-9, 8,139, $2,300.
12, Sean Rash, Montgomery, Ill., 8-10, 8,107, $2,100.
13, Anthony Lavery-Spahr, Pasadena, Texas, 9-9, 8,100, $2,000.
14, Dave Wodka, Henderson, Nev., 10-8, 8,017, $1,900.
15, Dom Barrett, England, 9-9, 8,013, $1,800.
16, Thomas Larsen, Denmark, 9-9, 7,990, $1,700.
17, Tom Smallwood, Saginaw, Mich., 5-12-1, 7,921, $1,600.
18, Marshall Kent, Yakima, Wash., 4-14, 7,538, $1,500.

  
 
 

300 Games: Mika Koivuniemi, Chris Loschetter.

O'Neill Leads PBA Badger Open Field in OK

Bill O’Neill of Langhorne, PA, charged out of 11th place Wednesday night to capture the top qualifying berth for Saturday’s finals in the Professional Bowlers Association’s Badger Open at FireLake Bowling Center in a battle that saw the top five players separated by only 18 pins, and defending champion Jake Peters eliminated from the stepladder finals by another three pins.

 

O’Neill, a four-time PBA Tour champion, averaged 230.33 to finish the 12-game Badger Open qualifying rounds with 2,764 pins, winning the top spot in the stepladder finals by two pins over PBA Hall of Famer and 37-time champion Pete Weber of St. Ann, MO, PBA rookie Marshall Kent of Yakima, WA, who joined the PBA the week before Oklahoma’s Grand Casino Resort PBA Summer Swing started, qualified third with a 2.761 total – one pin behind Weber. Two-handed player Brian Valenta of Lockport, Ill., qualified for his first PBA television show in fourth place with 2,750 pins, and 13-time PBA Tour winner Mika Koivuniemi, a Finnish native now living in Hartland, MI, fired a 257 final game to nip Peters for the fifth spot in the finals.

 

“If you don’t like matches being close and games coming down to final frame, you’re in the wrong business,” O’Neill said. “That’s why we do what we do. If you lead by 100 pins, when it’s over, it’s over; it’s kind of anticlimactic. When it’s tight like this was and you lead, there’s no better feeling.”

 

O’Neill, who has admittedly been in a funk over the past couple of years, said he

discovered a flaw in his game only a couple of weeks ago, and that was the difference here.

 

“On my fourth step in my delivery, I was drifting to the right instead of going straight,” he said, “so my arm swing was going off to the right which means the ball could go either direction. When I straightened out my fourth step, the ball fell right into place. Now if I throw a bad shot, I know exaxtly what to do to fix it.”

 

Earlier Wednesday, with a big first round in the Badger Open, Tom Daugherty of Wesley Chapel, FL, led the field of 18 players who qualified for the Oklahoma Open based on combined six-game rounds in the Wolf, Bear and Badger Opens. Three rounds of match play in the Oklahoma Open will be contested Thursday at 10 a.m., 2 and 6:30 p.m. at FireLake with the top five advancing to the stepladder finals Sunday at noon at the Grand Events Center.

 

After a total of 36 games, the 18 Oklahoma Open match play finalists will be reduced to the top five for the Oklahoma Open finals Sunday at noon at the Grand Event Center. In leading the Oklahoma Open field, Daugherty averaged 227.33 across the three “animal” lane conditions for a 4,092 total. O'Neill, who also qualified third for the Bear Open finals, is second with 4,088 pins followed by Mike Fagan, Ft. Worth, Texas, at 4,069; Bear Open qualifying leader Tommy Jones, Simpsonville, S.C., at 4,054, and Koivuniemi with 4,031 pins.Thursday’s Oklahoma Open match play rounds will be covered live on PBA’s  online bowling channel, Xtra Frame. To subscribe to Xtra Frame, visit pba.com and click on the Xtra Frame link. Live scoring of all preliminary rounds also will be available at no cost on pba.com.

 

PBA BADGER OPEN

FireLake Bowling Center, Shawnee, Okla., May 21

 

Final Qualifying Standings (after 12 games; top five advancee to stepladder finals Saturday at Grand Event Center)

1, Bill O'Neill, Langhorne, Pa., 2,764.
2, Pete Weber, St. Ann, Mo., 2,762.
3, Marshall Kent, Yakima, Wash., 2,761.
4, Brian Valenta, Lockport, Ill., 2,750.
5, Mika Koivuniemi, Hartland, Mich., 2,746.
6, Jake Peters, Henderson, Nev., 2,743, $2,000.
7, Stuart Williams, England, 2,730, $1,800.
8, Chris Loschetter, Avon, Ohio, 2,705, $1,600.
9, Anthony Lavery-Spahr, Pasadena, Texas, 2,703, $1,400.
10, Sean Rash, Montgomery, Ill., 2,666, $1,300.
11, Jason Belmonte, Australia, 2,647, $1,200.
12, Thomas Larsen, Denmark, 2,638, $1,100.
13, Mike Fagan, Ft. Worth, Texas, 2,623, $1,000.
14, Nathan Bohr, Wichita, Kan., 2,602, $900.
15, Lee Vanderhoef, Greenville, S.C., 2,601, $800.
16, Tom Daugherty, Wesley Chapel, Fla., 2,600, $700.
17, Dino Castillo, Carrollton, Texas, 2,555, $600.
18, Dave Wodka, Henderson, Nev., 2,521, $500.

 

PBA OKLAHOMA OPEN

(Top 18 after 18 games advance to round-robin match play Thursday at 10 a.m., 2 and 6:30 p.m.; top five after 36 games advance to stepladder finals Sunday at Grand Event Center)

1, Tom Daugherty, Wesley Chapel, Fla., 4,092.
2, Bill O'Neill, Langhorne, Pa., 4,088.
3, Mike Fagan, Ft. Worth, Texas, 4,069.
4, Tommy Jones, Simpsonville, S.C., 4,054.
5, Mika Koivuniemi, Hartland, Mich., 4,031.
6, Chris Loschetter, Avon, Ohio, 4,019.
7, Sean Rash, Montgomery, Ill., 4,013.
8, Jason Belmonte, Australia, 3,992.
9, Dave Wodka, Henderson, Nev., 3,987.
10 (tie), E.J. Tackett, Huntington, Ind., and Marshall Kent, Yakima, Wash., 3,977.
12 (tie), Anthony Lavery-Spahr, Pasadena, Texas, and Dom Barrett, England, 3,967.
14, Chris Barnes, Double Oak, Texas, 3,960.
15, Tom Smallwood, Saginaw, Mich., 3,959.
16, Ryan Shafer, Horseheads, N.Y., 3,941, $100.
17, Pete Weber, St. Ann, Mo., 3,938.
18, Thomas Larsen, Denmark, 3,931.

Professional Bowlers Association Player of the Year Race

SEATTLE (May 14, 2013) – The Professional Bowlers Association’s 2012-13 Player of the Year race may take a decisive turn during the final two weeks of May when four PBA Tour titles are decided during the GEICO PBA Summer Swing in the Milwaukee.

 

With the Badger, Wolf, Bear and Milwaukee Open titles at stake in the Milwaukee series, a hotly-contested six-man race for PBA Player of the Year honors could quickly change in favor of one of the leading contenders. Or it could move a couple of dark horse candidates into position to challenge for the end-of-season honor.

 

The Player of the Year will be selected in balloting by the PBA membership and members of the bowling news media at the close of the season. Key criteria most voters use are titles won, competition points, earnings, averages and television finals. Major titles won, or championship round appearances, are commonly factors that will tip the scales if voting is close.

 

The 2012-13 Player of the Year competition will be based upon overall performance over an expanded 14-month campaign which began with the 2012 PBA World Series of Bowling IV and will conclude on Dec. 31, 2013, as the PBA heads toward a return to a traditional calendar year schedule beginning on Jan. 1, 2014.

 

Heading into the GEICO PBA Summer Swing, the Player of the Year leaders, in alphabetical order, are:

 

● Jason Belmonte, Australia: won the 2013 USBC Masters for his only 2012-13 title, leads the PBA Tour in competition points and average (234.97), and ranks third in earnings ($131,586). Finished second in the PBA World Championship and PBA Tournament of Champions, and has three other TV appearances.

 

● Parker Bohn III, Jackson, NJ: won the 2012 PBA World Championship for his only 2012-13 title, ranks fifth in competition points, and seventh in earnings ($77,688) and average (228.91). He also finished fourth in the USBC Masters.

 

● Mika Koivuniemi, Finland/Hartland, MI: has won two 2012-13 titles, both on the PBA International Tour (Round1 Japan Cup and Qatar Open), ranks seventh in points, first in earnings ($158,412) and sixth in average (228.99). Koivuniemi also finished fifth in the USBC Masters.

 

● Scott Norton, Mission Viejo, CA: has won two 2012-13 titles (Chameleon Open and Earl Anthony PBA Players Championship), and ranks fourth in points, fifth in earnings ($87,970) and eighth in average (228.85).

 

● Sean Rash, Montgomery, IL: reigning PBA Player of the Year’s only title this season is Kuwait Open. He ranks third in points, second in earnings ($145,472) and third in average (232.58), and is tied with Belmonte with five TV appearances, including finishing third in PBA World Championship and PBA Tournament of Champions.

 

● Pete Weber, St. Ann, MO: won a PBA-record 10th major title in the PBA Tournament of Champions at age 50. Ranks 13th in points, sixth in earnings ($82,306) and fourth in average (229.97).

 

Heading the “dark horse” list includes Tommy Jones of Simpsonville, SC, a one-time title winner in 2012-13 who ranks sixth in points and fourth in earnings, and non-winner Wes Malott of Pflugerville, Texas, who is second in points and average and eighth in earnings. Other players who have won one title during the 2012-13 season are Bill O’Neill, Langhorne, PA; Brad Angelo, Lockport, NY; Tom Daugherty, Wesley Chapel, FL; Andres Gomez, Colombia; Michael Haugen Jr., Carefree, AZ; Jason Sterner, McDonough, GA, and Ronnie Russell, Marion, IN.

The GEICO PBA Summer Swing begins with the Badger Open May 19-21 at AMF Waukesha, followed by the Wolf Open May 22-24 at AMF West, Bear Open May 26-28 at AMF Bowlero, Milwaukee Open May 29-30 at Bowlero, and two days of CBS Sports Network stepladder finals June 1-2 at Bowlero.

 

Thus far in 2012-13, the PBA Tour has conducted 16 individual tournaments in the United States and around the world and the extended 14-month season will include 14 more PBA Tour and International Tour events – including the four Milwaukee title events – before it ends.

 

REMAINING 2013 PBA TOUR EVENTS

 

May 20-June 2 – GEICO PBA Summer Swing (Badger, Wolf, Bear and Milwaukee Open), AMF Waukesha, AMF West and AMF Bowlero, Milwaukee, Wis.

 

July 7-13 - It's Daejeon International Open Bowling Tournament, Daejeon, Korea

 

July 21-27 – U.S. Open, Wayne Webb’s Columbus Bowl, Columbus Western Bowl, and Holiday Lanes, Columbus, Ohio

 

Oct. 1-6 – 11th annual Columbia 300 Vienna Open, Plus Bowling Center, Vienna, Austria

 

Oct. 14-21 – 2013 World Bowling Tour Thailand, Bul-O Paragon, Bangkok, Thailand

 

Oct. 25-Nov. 3 – PBA World Series of Bowling V (Cheetah, Viper, Chameleon and Scorpion Championships plus PBA World Championship), South Point Bowling Center, Las Vegas

 

Nov. 28-30 – Round1 Japan Cup, Tokyo Port Bowl, Tokyo, Japan

Dave Ryan and Randy Pederson to Team Up for GEICO PBA Summer Swing

from Bill Vint 

Veteran Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) announcer Dave Ryan returns as play-by-play announcer for the PBA, partnering with color analyst Randy Pedersen, for the five-event GEICO PBA Summer Swing series on CBS Sports Network.

Ryan, who served as Voice of the PBA for five years (2002-07), joined CBS Sports Network in 2009 and has spent the past four years covering college football, basketball and baseball, college and professional lacrosse, as well as professional tennis.

“It’s been awhile since I’ve done PBA coverage, but I’m really looking forward to it,” Ryan said. “I joined CBS Sports Network in 2009 and it’s been great. I’ve done a lot of events for CBS. I’ve pretty much had the same role I had with ESPN, but with a different network.

“I’m thrilled, really excited. I miss being around the guys, and I’m particularly excited to work with Randy again. We’re good friends. I’ve been following the PBA since I left,” he added.

Ryan is a graduate of Syracuse University with a degree in broadcast journalism.

Pedersen, a 13-time PBA Tour champion and 2011 PBA Hall of Fame inductee, is currently in his 12th season as color analyst for PBA Tour telecasts.

“Dave called me and started singing, ‘Reunited.’ I didn’t know what he was talking about until then, but it was great news,” Pedersen said. “Dave Ryan is a great guy, a friend and he’s a real professional. It’ll be great to work with him again. I’m looking forward to it. It’ll be a lot of fun.”

The GEICO PBA Summer Swing will feature five two-hour telecasts on CBS Sports Network – the Badger, Wolf and Bear Opens, the Milwaukee Open and the GEICO Summer King of the Swing – which will air on consecutive Tuesdays at 7 p.m. ET beginning June 11.

The GEICO PBA Summer Swing will be held at three different Milwaukee area bowling centers – AMF Waukesha, AMF West and AMF Bowlero – May 20-June 2. PBA’s online bowling channel, Xtra Frame, will provide wall-to-wall coverage of all preliminary rounds of the Summer Swing. For subscription information, visit pba.com and click on the Xtra Frame logo.

PBA Summer Swing Will Air on CBS Sports

The Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) and CBS Sports Network have entered into a multi-year television agreement that features a series of five telecasts originating from the new GEICO PBA Summer Swing in Milwaukee in June.

The agreement, announced Tuesday by PBA CEO Geoff Reiss and Dan Weinberg, Senior Vice President, Programming, CBS Sports Network, includes five two-hour telecasts featuring stepladder finalists from four PBA Summer Swing events, and concludes with a GEICO PBA Summer King of the Swing special event featuring the top five competition points leaders from the Summer Swing events.

Summer Swing telecasts debut Tuesday, June 11 (7:00 PM, ET) on CBS Sports Network and continue for five consecutive Tuesdays at 7:00 PM, ET.

“We're thrilled at how committed CBS Sports Network is to the PBA and we're looking forward to their telecasts of the debut of the Summer Swing,” Reiss said. “The PBA's long-term success is predicated on developing great partnerships and we're looking forward to working with everyone at CBS Sports Network to grow both the PBA and the Network.” 

”We’re excited to partner with the PBA and showcase the world’s best bowlers,” Weinberg said. “The PBA has a storied history and an established fan base and we’re pleased to add it to our extensive lineup of event programming.”

The GEICO PBA Summer Swing is a new series of PBA Tour events which will be contested on three new “animal pattern” lane conditions that will debut in Milwaukee. The qualifying segments of the PBA Badger Open, PBA Wolf Open and PBA Bear Open will be hosted by three different Milwaukee area bowling centers (AMF Waukesha, AMF West and AMF Bowlero) between May 19-30. The cumulative pinfall totals from the three animal pattern events will qualify players for the Milwaukee Open, the fourth event in the series, and the GEICO PBA Summer King of the Swing will feature the top five points leaders based on the four previous events.

The Badger Open finals will air on June 11, the Wolf Open on June 18, the Bear Open on June 25, the Milwaukee Open on July 2 and the GEICO PBA Summer King of the Swing on July 9. All will be two-hour, five-player stepladder finals.