WYOMING, Mich. – Grand Rapids area sports fans will be able to see some of the Professional Bowlers Association’s all-time greats when PBA’s tour for players 50 and older concludes the 2018 season with the PBA50 Cup presented by DV8 Aug. 9-12 at Spectrum Lanes in Wyoming.
A field of approximately 90 players, including 10 PBA Hall of Famers, will compete in the final major tournament of the season which could have PBA50 Player of the Year implications.
Among the players already entered are Hall of Famers Walter Ray Williams Jr., Norm Duke, Pete Weber, Parker Bohn III, Bryan Goebel, Brian Voss, Amleto Monacelli, Tom Baker, Johnny Petraglia and Ron Mohr.
Williams is the PBA Tour’s all-time title leader with 47 wins. Duke is third on the all-time list with 38 wins and Weber fourth with 37 titles. Williams and Weber are both tied for fifth on the PBA50 all-time titles list with 11 wins.
As the 2018 PBA50 Tour season concludes with the PBA50 Cup, five-time PBA Tour winner and 2017 PBA50 Tour Rookie of the Year Michael Haugen Jr. of Phoenix currently leads the PBA50 Player of the Year points race. After his win in the recent PBA50 River City Extreme Open, he has further strengthened his grip on the player of the year points race but there’s still time for several players to mount a challenge to Haugen.
Also entered in the event is former Major League All-Star pitcher John Burkett. Burkett, a native of New Brighton, Pa., is an accomplished bowler who has top finishes of fourth and 11th in PBA50 Tour events. The two-time All-Star had a 16-year career in the majors with five teams (Red Sox, Giants, Marlins, Braves and Rangers).
Competition begins on Friday, Aug. 10 with the first of two eight-game qualifying rounds with squads at 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. The entire field returns Saturday, Aug. 11 for the second eight-game qualifying round, again with squads starting at 10 a.m. and 3 p.m.
Match play begins Sunday, Aug. 12 with squads at 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. which will determine the top five players for the stepladder finals at 7 p.m.
On Thursday, Aug. 9 a practice session will be conducted from 10 a.m. – 1 p.m. and a pro-am where grassroots amateur bowlers can compete with the pros will be conducted at 2, 4 and 6 p.m.
For additional pro-am entry information contact Spectrum Lanes at (616) 530-2400.
PBA’s online bowling channel, PBA Xtra Frame on FloBowling will provide live start-to-finish coverage of the tournament. Subscription and schedule information is available by visiting http://www.flobowling.com.
