PBA Bowling Tour: 2017 season
| PBA Bowling Tour: 2017 Season | |
|---|---|
| League | Professional Bowlers Association |
| Sport | Ten-pin bowling |
| Duration | January 10 – TBD |
| PBA Tour | |
2017 is the 58th season of the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) Tour. The 2017 schedule currently has 27 singles title events, two doubles title events, and one non-title team event (PBA League).
Tournament schedule and recaps
For the second year in a row, the PBA held three consecutive major tournaments in "Big February": The Barbasol PBA Players Championship, Fire Lake PBA Tournament of Champions, and the USBC Masters. The U.S. Open is scheduled for October 25 through November 1.
The season's final major, the PBA World Championship, is again part of the World Series of Bowling (WSOB), which takes place November 7–19 at the National Bowling Stadium in Reno, NV. WSOB IX consists of four "animal oil pattern" tournaments (Cheetah, Chameleon, Scorpion and Shark), each of which are standalone PBA title events while collectively serving as initial qualifying for the PBA World Championship. Total pinfall from the 40 games of animal pattern qualifying (10 games per tournament) determine the 40 bowlers for the Cashers Round of the World Championship. Cashers will then bowl 20 more games on the World Championship oil pattern to determine the top five for the November 19 live stepladder finals.[1]
In April, the PBA announced the first-ever Main Event PBA Finals, to be held May 18–20 in Orlando, Florida and broadcast for five consecutive Tuesdays on CBS Sports Network, starting May 30. This is an invitational event that serves as a type of bowling "playoffs", similar to The Chase for the Cup in NASCAR or the FedEx Cup in PGA golf. The event features the top eight players in PBA Tour earnings, from the start of the 2015 season through this year's USBC Masters. Players are seeded 1–8 based on earnings, and split into Group 1 (1, 4, 5 and 8 seeds) and Group 2 (2, 3, 6 and 7 seeds). The groups bowl a mixed roundrobin match play session of four matches each, which make up the first two broadcasts. Players are then re-seeded within their groups, based on total pinfall plus a 50 pin bonus for every match win. Group 1 and Group 2 stepladder matches are held next, and are broadcast in the third and fourth weeks. The Group 1 and Group 2 winners then face off in the fifth and final broadcast in a three-game, total pinfall head-to-head match to determine the PBA Finals champion.[2]
For a second straight year, the PBA will keep a rolling points list for all of the season's Xtra Frame tournaments (so designated because they are broadcast start-to-finish on the PBA's Xtra Frame subscription webcast service). Last season, a $10,000 winner-take-all bonus was awarded to the top points earner in the series. For 2017, the Xtra Frame series has been renamed the XF PBA Tour Storm Cup, with Storm Bowling sponsoring an expanded award platform. The top points earner in 2017 will win a $20,000 bonus, with additional payouts for second through fifth-place finishers ($10,000, $8,000, $7,000 and $5,000).[3] Eight tour stops make up the Storm Cup series. Two additional tournaments (DHC PBA Japan Invitational and PBA-PWBA Striking Against Breast Cancer Mixed Doubles) are also covered exclusively by Xtra Frame, but do not qualify for Xtra Frame series points.[3]
Tournament summary
Below is a current schedule of events for the 2017 PBA Tour season. Major tournaments are in bold. Career PBA title numbers for winners are shown in parenthesis.
| Event | Airdate | City | Preliminary rounds | Final round | Oil pattern | Winner | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DHC PBA Japan Invitational | Jan 14 X | Osaka, Japan | Jan 10–13 | Live | E. J. Tackett, USA (6) | Invitational event. ¥5 million (US$43,800) first prize. | |
| Barbasol PBA Players Championship | Feb 12 E | Columbus, OH | Feb 6–11 | Live | Jason Belmonte, Australia (13) | Open event. PBA major. $40,000 top prize. | |
| 52nd Fire Lake PBA Tournament of Champions | Feb 19 E | Shawnee, OK | Feb 14–18 | Live | TOC Custom | E. J. Tackett, USA (7) | Invitational event. PBA major. $50,000 top prize. |
| USBC Masters | Feb 26 E | Las Vegas, NV | Feb 20–25 | Live | USBC Custom | Jason Belmonte, Australia (14) | Open event. PBA major. $30,000 top prize. |
| World Bowling Tour Men’s and Women’s Finals | Feb 26 E | Las Vegas, NV | 2015–16 WBT events | Live | Women: Danielle McEwan, USA Men: Anthony Simonsen, USA |
Top 3 men and Top 3 women in 2015–16 WBT tournament points. Non-title event. $20,000 top prize each player. | |
| PBA Xtra Frame Reality Check Classic | Mar 19 X | Tamarac, FL | Mar 17–18 | Live | Josh Blanchard, USA (3) | Open event. $10,000 top prize. | |
| PBA International WBT Brunswick Euro Challenge | N/A | Munich, Germany | Mar 20–25 | Mar 26 | Dominic Barrett, England (5) | WBT and PBA title event. €12,500 (US$13,452) first prize. | |
| MaineQuarterly.com Mark Roth-Marshall Holman PBA Doubles Championship | Apr 16 E | Portland, ME | Apr 9–12 | Live | Mark Roth | Jesper Svensson, Sweden (6) and Kyle Troup, USA (2) | Open event. $24,000 top prize. |
| L.L.Bean PBA League Elias Cup | Quarters: Apr 23, 30 E Semis: May 7 E Finals: May 14 E |
Portland, ME | Apr 13–15 | Apr 16 | Multiple | Shipyard Dallas Strikers: Norm Duke (player-manager), Tommy Jones, Bill O'Neill, Rhino Page, B.J. Moore | Team event. $60,000 top prize. |
| Main Event PBA Tour Finals | Roundrobin (matches 1-8): May 30 C Roundrobin (matches 9-16): Jun 6 C Group 1 Stepladder: Jun 13 C Group 2 Stepladder: Jun 20 C Finals: Jun 27 C |
Orlando, FL | May 18–19 | May 20 | Main Event (custom) | E. J. Tackett, USA (8) | Invitational event, $30,000 top prize. Top 8 in PBA Tour earnings, Jan 2015 through Feb 2017: (1) Jason Belmonte, (2) E.J. Tackett, (3) Dominic Barrett, (4) Jesper Svensson, (5) Anthony Simonsen, (6) Ryan Ciminelli, (7) Tommy Jones, (8) Sean Rash. |
| PBA Xtra Frame Wilmington Open | May 29 X | Wilmington, NC | May 26–28 | Live | Anthony Simonsen, USA (3) | Open event. $10,000 top prize. | |
| PBA Xtra Frame Jonesboro Open | Jun 4 X | Jonesboro, AR | Jun 2–3 | Live | François Lavoie, Canada (3) | Open event. $12,500 top prize. | |
| PBA Xtra Frame Lubbock Sports Open | Jun 11 X | Lubbock, TX | Jun 9–10 | Live | Marshall Kent, USA (3) | Open event. $12,500 top prize. | |
| PBA Xtra Frame Billy Hardwick Memorial Open | Jun 25 X | Memphis, TN | Jun 23–24 | Live | Low-volume oil | Matt Sanders, USA (1) | Open event, $10,000 top prize. Players limited to using two plastic (polyester) bowling balls.[4] |
| Grand Casino Hotel & Resort PBA Oklahoma Open | Play-in Stepladder: Jul 1 E Finals: Jul 2 E |
Shawnee, OK | Jun 26 – Jul 1 | Live | Wolf, Bear, Badger, Oklahoma. Top seed chooses finals pattern. |
Marshall Kent, USA (4) | Open event. $30,000 top prize. |
| Storm PBA-PWBA Striking Against Breast Cancer Mixed Doubles | Jul 30 X | Houston, TX | Jul 27–29 | Live | Jason Sterner, USA (2) and Birgit Poppler, Germany | Joint open event with PWBA. $16,000 top prize. | |
| PBA Xtra Frame Chesapeake Open | Aug 13 X | Chesapeake, VA | Aug 11–12 | Live | Open event. | ||
| PBA International Sweden WBT | N/A | Malmö, Sweden | Aug 15–26 | Aug 27 | WBT and PBA title event. | ||
| PBA Xtra Frame Gene Carter's Pro Shop Classic | Aug 20 X | Middletown, DE | Aug 18–19 | Live | Open event. | ||
| PBA Xtra Frame Kenn-Feld Group Classic | Aug 27 X | Coldwater, OH | Aug 25–26 | Live | Open event. | ||
| PBA International WBT Thailand | N/A | Bangkok, Thailand | Sep 30 – Oct 5 | Oct 6 | WBT and PBA title event. | ||
| U.S. Open | Nov 1 C | Liverpool, NY | Oct 25–31 | Live | U.S. Open (custom) | Open event. PBA major. | |
| PBA WSOB IX Cheetah Championship | TBD E | Reno, NV | Nov. 8, 15 | Nov. 18 | Cheetah | Open event. | |
| PBA WSOB IX Chameleon Championship | TBD E | Reno, NV | Nov. 9, 15 | Nov. 18 | Chameleon | Open event. | |
| PBA WSOB IX Scorpion Championship | TBD E | Reno, NV | Nov. 11, 16 | Nov. 19 | Scorpion | Open event. | |
| PBA WSOB IX Shark Championship | TBD E | Reno, NV | Nov. 12, 16 | Nov. 19 | Shark | Open event. | |
| PBA World Championship | Nov 19 E | Reno, NV | Nov. 8–9, 11–14 | Live | World Championship | Open event for WSOB IX entrants. PBA major. $60,000 top prize. | |
| WBT Kingdom of Saudi Open | N/A | Riyadh, Saudi Arabia | Nov 16–21 | Nov 22 | WBT and PBA title event. | ||
| WBT Kingdom of Bahrain Open | N/A | Manama, Bahrain | Nov 23–27 | Nov 28 | WBT and PBA title event. | ||
| WBT Kuwait Open | N/A | Kuwait City | Nov 29 – Dec 2 | Dec 3 | WBT and PBA title event. | ||
| WBT World Championships | N/A | Kuwait City | Dec 4–17 | Dec 18 | WBT and PBA title event. |
- C: broadcast on CBS Sports Network
- E: broadcast on ESPN
- X: broadcast on the PBA's Xtra Frame webcast service
References
- ↑ Vint, Bill (May 12, 2017). "PBA’s GEICO World Series of Bowling IX Returns to Reno’s National Bowling Stadium November 7-19". pba.com. Retrieved May 15, 2017.
- ↑ Vint, Bill (May 28, 2017). "Tuesday on CBS Sports Network: PBA Unveils Open Round of New Main Event PBA Tour Finals". pba.com. Retrieved June 1, 2017.
- 1 2 Vint, Bill (February 10, 2017). "2017 XF PBA Tour Storm Cup to Provide Added Incentives for PBA Players". pba.com. Retrieved February 13, 2017.
- ↑ Vint, Bill (June 18, 2017). "PBA Returns to Memphis for “Throwback” Tournament Honoring the Late PBA Hall of Famer Billy Hardwick". pba.com. Retrieved June 19, 2017.