April 7, 2026 Nolan Hughes

The 2026 PBA Tour powered by Go Bowling heads to Rochester for the Surfside PBA New York Classic.

This will mark Rochester’s first time hosting the PBA Tour since 1998. Norm Duke captured his 15th career title in that event.

Competition begins on Tuesday, building towards the championship round on Sunday, April 12.

This week’s finals will air at 1 p.m. ET on The CW.

 

Western New York is where three-time PBA Tour champion Jason Sterner has called home for the past seven years.

Sterner has not been at his best this season, cashing just once in his seven title events with a high finish of 28th.

A homecoming, where he can spend more time with his wife and toddler, could be exactly what the 42-year-old needs to turn his season around.

EJ Tackett can empathize with Sterner’s struggles, well, at least on Sundays. Tackett has made five of seven championship rounds this season, but has not yet been able to hoist a trophy.

Nonetheless, Tackett leads the tour in points, earnings, and average. 

Tackett will need to win at least one title to qualify for the Chris Schenkel PBA Player of the Year ballot, an award he has won each of the past three seasons. No player has won the award in four consecutive seasons.

Tackett’s dominance this season has coincided with the rise of a new generation of PBA stars.

Four players under the age of 25 — Brandon Bonta, Spencer Robarge, Ryan Barnes, and Eric Jones — rank among the top 10 in points.

Robarge, who defeated Barnes to win the Pilgrim’s PBA Ohio Classic on Sunday, marked the seventh unique champion through seven title events this season.

Format

All players will bowl 16 games of qualifying on the 38-foot Bear oil pattern.

The top third of the field will move onto Thursday’s Advancers Round. Those six games will determine the 24 players who will advance to elimination match play, starting on Thursday night. Each match will be the best of seven games.

Match play continues on Friday with rounds at 11 a.m. ET and 6 p.m. ET. The winners of each bracket, as well as the highest-seeded loser in the Round of 8, will advance to the stepladder finals.

The stepladder finals will air live Sunday, April 12 at a special time of 1 p.m. ET on The CW.

All qualifying rounds will be livestreamed on BowlTV.

Tournament Schedule

All times Eastern

Tuesday, April 7 — BowlTV
11 a.m. — A-Squad Qualifying Round 1 (eight games)
6 p.m. — B-Squad Qualifying Round 1 (eight games)

Wednesday, April 8  — BowlTV
11 a.m. — B-Squad Qualifying Round 2 (eight games)
6 p.m. — A-Squad Qualifying Round 2 (eight games)

Thursday, April 9 — BowlTV
11 a.m. — Advancer Round (six games)
6 p.m. — Elimination Match Play - Round of 24 (best-of-seven games)

Friday, April 10 — BowlTV
11 a.m. — Elimination Match Play - Round of 16 (best-of-seven games)
6 p.m. — Elimination Match Play - Round of 8 (best-of-seven games)

Sunday, April 12 — The CW
1 p.m. — Surfside PBA New York Classic finals

More information on the Surfside PBA New York Classic is available here.