December 6, 2022 Professional Bowlers Association

New Senior WSOB Features Highest Winner’s Share in Decades; TOC returns

The 2023 PBA50 Tour schedule will feature the greatest bowlers in the world aged 50-and-over competing in 12 title events, including five major championships, from early June to the end of August, with a total purse of more than $1 million.

The Professional Bowlers Association also announced fans will be able watch every PBA50 Tour event start-to-finish, livestreamed on BowlTV.

Highlighting the season will be the first-ever PBA50 World Series of Bowling, at JAX60 in Jackson, Mich., July 15-23. The inaugural senior WSOB will feature four title events including the main-event PBA50 World Championship, which will boast a first-place prize of $25,000, the highest on the senior circuit in more than two decades.

Similar to the PBA Tour’s World Series, the PBA50 WSOB will have multiple oil pattern championship stages leading to the World Championship. 

Another exciting addition to the schedule finds the 2023 PBA50 Tour season concluding with the return of the PBA50 Tournament of Champions, at Orange Bowl Lanes in Lakeland, Fla., Aug. 26-30. Back for the first time this century, the PBA50 TOC and its $15,000 winner’s check will be open to PBA champions over the age of 50 who have won a PBA title of any kind in their careers from the PBA Tour and PBA50 Tour, including PBA and PBA50 Regional Tour titles.

Last season, legendary PBA Hall of Famer Parker Bohn III earned PBA50 Player of the Year honors, winning four titles and leading the Tour in points and earnings.

Lennie Boresch Jr. won the 2022 Senior U.S. Open, and the victory earned the 10-year PBA50 Tour veteran eligibility into the PBA Hall of Fame, based on his senior Tour accomplishments. Boresch was elected to the HOF by vote and will be inducted in March. 

Andres Gomez, the first Colombian to win a PBA Tour title, will cross the age 50 threshold on July 19, and is expected to compete.

In addition to Bohn and Boresch, PBA Hall of Famers Walter Ray Williams Jr., Chris Barnes, Pete Weber, Jason Couch, Amleto Monacelli, Ron Mohr, Tom Baker and Johnny Petraglia once again figure to be regulars on the PBA50 Tour.

Rounding out the major championships on the 2023 PBA50 Tour schedule are the USBC Senior Masters at Sam’s Town in Las Vegas, the Senior U.S. Open at Highland Park Lanes in Greeley, Colo. and the PBA50 Players Championship at Bowl America Dranesville in Virginia. The Players Championship finals and its record-high $20,000 first place prize will be contested on specially-installed lanes at the home of PBA50 player Bill Moore.

Other cities hosting 2023 PBA50 Tour regular events include Hammond, Ind., Morgantown, W.Va., The Villages, Fla., and Fort Myers, Fla.

The PBA50 Tour schedule will also allow for players to participate in the new PBA LBC National Championships at Bowlero Wauwatosa in Milwaukee, Wis. Depending on which division the PBA50 players choose to enter, the National Championships have a $25,000 first-place prize in the Open Classic division, and $5,000 first in the Men’s Senior Classic division. The top three finishers in the Open Classic division and winner of the men’s Senior Classic division will join winners in other divisions earning trips to the FOX Sports presentation of the PBA LBC National Championships Clash, and its $100,000 purse, from Bayside Bowl in Portland, Maine.

The PBA LBC National Championships will run on weekends from June 3-July 17, with June 24-25, July 1-2 and July 8-9 being ideal weekends for the touring PBA50 players to enter.

Two PBA50 Regional events will also be available along the way for touring players, July 24-26 in Wyoming, Mich.; and July 28-30 in Bowling Green, Ohio. Dozens more PBA50 Regionals around the country will be announced soon.

Two PBA60 National Tour events for players age 60-and-over are also on the schedule, including the season-opening USBC Super Senior Classic in Las Vegas, which will kick things off on May 31, prior to the Senior Masters. PBA60 Tour players will also travel to Ohio for the PBA60 Tristan’s T.A.P.S. Memorial Tournament at Wayne Webb’s Columbus Bowl in July.

2023 PBA50 (and PBA60) National Tour Schedule

PBA50 majors are bolded
PBA60 majors are italicized

May 31-June 4: USBC Super Senior Classic, Sam’s Town, Las Vegas (PBA60)
June 5-11: USBC Senior Masters, Sam’s Town, Las Vegas
June 14-19: Senior US Open, Highland Park Lanes, Greeley, Colo.
July 2-5 (rescheduled from July 4-7): PBA60 Tristan’s T.A.P.S. Memorial Tournament, Wayne Webb’s Columbus Bowl, Columbus, Ohio (PBA60)
July 10-13: PBA50 South Shore Classic, Olympia Lanes, Hammond, Ind.
July 15-23: PBA50 World Series of Bowling, JAX60, Jackson, Mich.
     July 16, 19: PBA50 Ballard Championship
     July 17, 20: PBA50 Monacelli Championship
     July 18, 21: PBA50 Petraglia Championship
     July 16-23: PBA50 World Championship
July 31 – August 3: PBA50 Morgantown Classic, Suburban Lanes, Morgantown, W.Va.
Aug. 6-10: Bud Moore PBA50 Players Championship, Bowl America Dranesville, Sterling, Va.
Aug. 14-18: PBA50 The Villages Classic, Spanish Springs Lanes, The Villages, Fla.
Aug. 20-23: PBA50 Fort Myers Classic, Lightning Strikes Bowling Lanes, Fort Myers, Fla.
Aug. 26-30: PBA50 Tournament of Champions, Orange Bowl Lanes, Lakeland, Fla.

Entries for 2023 PBA50 Tour events will open on Jan. 9, 2023.

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