Professional Bowlers Association

NORTH BRUNSWICK, N.J. – The 69th U.S. Open, one of professional bowling’s most demanding tournaments, will return to Brunswick Zone-Carolier in North Brunswick, N.J., in 2012 for a record seventh time. Defending champion Norm Duke of Clermont, Fla., will be on hand to try to win his eighth career major title, his third U.S. Open crown and the $60,000 first prize.

The 2012 U.S. Open is scheduled for Monday, Feb. 20, through Sunday, Feb. 26, concluding with the live stepladder finals in high-definition at 3 p.m. ET on Sunday. Carolier has previously hosted U.S. Opens in consecutive years between 2005 and 2009, and in 2011.

The U.S. Open is considered by many competitors to be the most difficult title in all of bowling to win because of its unfriendly scoring environment, demanding schedule and mental challenges. It is an extreme test of bowling skill, patience and perseverance, and traditionally includes a world-class field of non-professionals, men and women, as well as the world’s top professionals.

It also will be one of 14 events on the World Tenpin Bowling Association’s World Bowling Tour, an international series of tournaments that award points to male and female competitors en route to the 2012 WBT Finals presented by the PBA which will be conducted in November 2012 in Las Vegas.

Duke won his 34th career title in North Brunswick in 2011, staging a valiant comeback against Mika Koivuniemi of Hartland, Mich., and won, 225-216, when Koivuniemi failed to convert a 10 pin spare in the 10th frame.

The next chapter in U.S. Open history will begin with 18 qualifying games for all players and continue through a grueling 51-game contest to determine the four finalists. In addition to Duke, other U.S. Open champions expected include Chris Barnes, Tommy Jones, Pete Weber, Mike Scroggins, Walter Ray Williams Jr., Bill O’Neill and Johnny Petraglia.

Duke (2011), Barnes (2005), Jones (2006), Weber (2007) and Scroggins (2009) all have won at Carolier. Weber is a four-time U.S. Open winner. Williams and Duke are two-time Open champions. Koivuniemi, a native of Finland, is the only international player ever to win the U.S. Open.

Entries are now being accepted on pba.com. Click on the U.S. Open link under PBA Tour on the “Schedules” drop-down menu.

All preliminary rounds of the Open will be webcast live on PBA’s exclusive online bowling channel, Xtra Frame. For subscription information, visit pba.com and click on the Xtra Frame logo.

69TH U.S. OPEN SCHEDULE
Brunswick Zone-Carolier, North Brunswick, N.J., Feb. 20-26 (all times Eastern)

Monday, Feb. 20
8 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. - Practice squads
4 and 7 p.m. – Pro-Am squads

Tuesday, Feb. 21
8 a.m. - A Squad qualifying (6 games)
Noon - B Squad qualifying (6 games)
6 p.m. - C Squad qualifying (6 games)

Wednesday, Feb. 22
8 a.m. - B Squad qualifying (6 games)
Noon - C Squad qualifying (6 games)
6 p.m. - A Squad qualifying (6 games)

Thursday, Feb. 23
8 a.m. - C Squad qualifying (6 games)
Noon - A Squad qualifying (6 games)
6 p.m. - B Squad qualifying (6 games)
Top 25 percent of field advances to Cashers’ Round

Friday, Feb. 24
9 a.m. – Cashers’ Round (9 games)
Top 24 advance to match play
6 p.m. – Top 24, 8 games match play

Saturday, Feb. 25
11 a.m. – Top 24, 8 games match play
6 p.m. – Top 24, 8 games match play
Sunday, Feb. 26
3 p.m. – Top four, live ESPN finals

LAS VEGAS – Sean Rash of Montgomery, Ill., who qualified for the ESPN finals in a record six Professional Bowlers Association World Series of Bowling events, will meet two-handed rivals Jason Belmonte of Australia and Osku Palermaa of Finland in the PBA Chameleon Open finals Sunday on ESPN. Rounding out the field of four will be unsung Venezuelan Ildemaro Ruiz, making his third career PBA television appearance.

The Chameleon Open is the second of four PBA “animal pattern” championships conducted during the World Series of Bowling at South Point Casino and Hotel in Las Vegas. ESPN will air the finals at 3 p.m. ET (noon PT).

Rash, a four-time PBA Tour champion who is trying for his first title since the 2007 USBC Masters, will try to derail the two international two-handed stars who finished one-two in Chameleon Open qualifying. Belmonte averaged 236.29 to pace the Chameleon field with Palermaa 16 pins behind, averaging at a 235.14 pace. Rash was another 25 pins behind Palermaa while Ruiz qualified fourth for the four-man eliminator format finals.

Eliminator-format finals feature three one-game rounds. All four players bowl the opening game, with the lowest-scoring player after each game being eliminated.

Belmonte, the 2008-09 PBA Rookie of the Year, is trying for his second career title. He won his only Tour title in the 2009 Bowling Foundation Long Island Open. In the meantime, Palermaa, his primary rival in the world of two-handed players, has won twice including the 2012 PBA World Championship. Ruiz is trying for his first PBA title.

In their only two previous meetings in PBA Tour televised competition, Palermaa is 2-0 vs. Belmonte. Palermaa defeated Belmonte, 182-176, in the 2010 GEICO Shark Championship semifinal match and he nipped the Aussie, 10-6, in a one-ball rolloff after they tied at 203-203 in round one of the PBA World Championship elimination finals, knocking Belmonte out of title contention in that event.

The Chameleon Open winner will earn $15,000 and a berth in the Round of 36 for the end-of-season PBA Tournament of Champions, April 8-15, at Red Rock Lanes in Las Vegas.

A Chameleon Open pre-event show will be webcast at no cost on pba.com’s Xtra Frame online bowling channel starting Wednesday, with a follow-up post-game show immediately following Sunday’s ESPN telecast. To subscribe to Xtra Frame , visit pba.com and click on the Xtra Frame logo.

LOS ANGELES – National Basketball Association All-Star point guard Chris Paul and his new Los Angeles Clippers teammate, power forward Blake Griffin, are rapidly becoming the most dynamic duo in the NBA.

But on the bowling lanes in Sunday’s ESPN telecast of the Chris Paul PBA Celebrity Invitational presented by Sheets Brand from Lucky Strike LA Live, Paul gave Griffin an unwanted “assist” that helped Griffin’s team win the trios event and end Paul’s two-year hold on the trophy.

The fourth annual Chris Paul PBA Celebrity Invitational presented by Sheets Brand, a fundraiser to benefit Paul’s CP3 Foundation, featured PBA stars Pete Weber, Jason Belmonte, Wes Malott and Ryan Shafer along with several of Paul’s celebrity friends from the worlds of sports and entertainment.

In this year’s event, an expanded roster of celebrities got the competition underway with a special one-ball, low-man-out Super Shootout. Miami Dolphins running back Reggie Bush was the first player eliminated, followed by Grammy Award-winning recording artist Ciara, former New York Giants defensive end Michael Strahan, comedian Kevin Hart, Entourage actor Jerry Ferrara and Griffin. In the final showdown frame between Paul and Grey’s Anatomy actor Jesse Williams, Williams threw back-to-back strikes for the victory.

The celebrities then teamed up with the PBA stars for the Baker format trios event, with the PBA player throwing shots in the first, fourth, seventh and 10th frames, and the celebrities filling out the other frames. In the opening round, Belmonte, Hart and Paul routed Shafer, Ciara and Strahan, 178-90, while Weber, Ferrara and Griffin eliminated Malott, Williams and Bush, 154-131.

In the championship match, Belmonte, Hart and Paul trailed Weber, Ferrara and Griffin by only one pin after seven frames. Hart and Paul converted eight-count spares in the eighth and ninth frames, respectively, but consecutive strikes by Ferrara and Griffin set up a dramatic finish. Belmonte’s double in the 10th frame forced Weber to strike on his first shot to lock up the 187-180 victory.

“Blake (Griffin) set me up for the 10th frame when he threw the best shot of the entire night,” Weber said. “It was kind of neat of him to do that. I don’t think Chris (Paul) enjoyed it, but I’m sure Blake enjoyed it a whole lot.

“For someone who doesn’t bowl a lot, Blake understands the object of the game,” Weber added. “He hit the headpin almost every time he threw the ball, and then he made his spares.”

“Normally it comes down to the pro needing to strike to win, but in this case it was up to the celebrities,” Belmonte said. “Chris and Kevin did their jobs on my team by getting spares, but unfortunately Jerry and Blake got strikes on the other team. Kevin made lots of comments about the odds of that ever happening. It was very funny. I didn’t expect both of them to strike, but they both stepped up and did their jobs.

“I doubled to force Pete to strike and then he did what he does best, which is strike when he has to strike.”

If Paul would have struck in the ninth frame, the outcome might have been different.

“Chris is a competitor. They all are,” Belmonte added. “He doesn’t like losing, whether it’s basketball or bowling, or anything else. He was a good sport about it, but I know it killed him to tell the other guys they did well.”

“Michael Strahan was great,” said Shafer, who bowled with the former NFL star, “and he doesn’t like to lose. But I don’t think anyone doesn’t like to lose as much as Chris Paul. He really doesn’t like to lose.

“It was a great time for all of us,” Shafer added, “and I gained a lot of respect for Chris Paul because he had to play host, he had to do the PBA thing, the charity thing, the Sheets Brand thing, and bowl. He did all of them and he did a great job.”

The PBA Tour’s next telecast will be the finals of the Chameleon Open Sunday at 3 p.m. ET on ESPN. The finalists will be Belmonte, Finland’s Osku Palermaa, Sean Rash of Montgomery, Ill., and Venezuela’s Ildemaro Ruiz. A free preview of the finals will be webcast on pba.com’s Xtra Frame starting Wednesday.

SEATTLE – The Professional Bowlers Association has launched a new membership drive to encourage new members to experience PBA competition, former members to return to the fold, young bowlers to test their skills at the PBA level at an affordable price, and bowlers from around the world to enjoy the benefits of PBA membership as competitors in the new PBA-World Tenpin Bowling Association World Bowling Tour program.

The new membership campaign introduces a new low-cost PBA24 membership specifically designed for players ages 19-24, and a new PBA International membership to grant specific PBA benefits, including the ability to win PBA Tour titles, to international players who bowl in PBA-WBT events.

“The PBA24 program is designed to make membership significantly more accessible to a vital group of talented young bowlers who have decided they are not going to bowl in college or exhausted their collegiate eligibility, and are looking for the next challenge to expand their skills,” said PBA CEO Geoff Reiss. “There is no better place to do that than in PBA competition.”

In addition to the competitive challenges, membership in the PBA includes financial advances including discounted lineage fees for practice at hundreds of bowling centers across the nation that support the PBA, discounts on the latest in bowling equipment provided by PBA’s Registered Product Companies, instructional opportunities, a membership newsletter and a number of other privileges.

“From a purely economic standpoint, PBA membership provides a wide range of benefits that vastly out-weigh the cost of membership dues,” said PBA Commissioner Tom Clark.

For past members, the PBA is offering a no-penalty renewal program through March 31. Reinstatement and/or initiation fees will be waived for those who restore full and standard memberships – a savings of $99 – and an amnesty program will waive up to three months of dues owed for 2010 and/or 2011. Players who rejoin by March 1 who have won a PBA Tour, Regional or Senior title at any point in their careers will be eligible to enter the 2012 PBA Tournament of Champions.

New members and players who rejoin will be eligible for the new Regional Players Doubles Championship presented by Hammer (Feb. 10-12 at South Point Bowling Center in Las Vegas), and to receive invitations for the 2013 Dick Weber PBA Playoffs. And they will be eligible for all PBA Tour events during the 2012-13 season when the PBA returns to an open entry (non-exempt) policy for all tournaments.

The new PBA24 membership costs only $49 and includes all Standard Membership benefits plus a $50 discount off the entry fee for the player’s first PBA Regional tournament. Players must have a 200 or higher average for at least 36 games in the current league season, or a 190 or higher average in a PBA Experience or USBC Sport league, or in USBC-certified collegiate competition.

The PBA International membership costs $99 and is designed to allow international bowlers who compete in World Bowling Tour events to earn PBA titles, and to make those players eligible to bowl in the 2012 PBA World Series of Bowling. International members also will be allowed to enter up to three PBA Regionals and one non-WBT PBA Tour event in the U.S. other than a World Series event.

Players who apply for PBA International membership must be members-in-good-standing in their home country’s WTBA federation. A player who wins a PBA-WBT co-branded event must upgrade to full or standard membership in order to bowl future PBA events.

The PBA also has introduced a referral program whereby existing PBA members will earn a $50 discount on a PBA Regional entry for every PBA24 member who enrolls and designates the player as his/her “sponsor.”

To join, click on the “Join PBA” link in the upper right-hand corner on pba.com’s home page.

The nation’s top youth bowlers will have the opportunity to compete on Professional Bowlers Association lane conditions and rub elbows with the greats in the game when Teen Masters qualifiers will be conducted in conjunction with selected PBA Regional tournaments in 2012.

PBA has entered into an agreement with Killer ‘B’ Promotions to conduct 18 Teen Masters qualifiers at PBA Regional events beginning in March through the end of May. The Teen Masters qualifiers will be conducted on lanes designated for Teen Masters competition.

The Teen Masters, America's longest running national championship event for youth bowlers, has featured challenging lane conditions since its beginning in 1997. “Our slogan has always been ‘Bring Your Spare Game!’ Our partnership with the PBA strengthens the opportunity for America’s top high school competitors to test their bowling skills and mental fortitude in a demanding environment,” said Teen Masters founder, Gary Beck.

“This is a great program because it will provide youth bowlers with additional topflight competitive bowling opportunities through the setting of PBA competition,” said PBA Commissioner Tom Clark. “The goal is to grow competitive bowling among youth bowlers who love the sport and this is a great vehicle in which to do it.”

Many Teen Masters champions have gone on to advance to the top levels of the sport. On the boys side, Mike Fagan, the 1997 champion, and Ryan Ciminelli, the 2004 champion, have both become national PBA champions. On the girls side, Brittni Hamilton, the 2006 champion, and Danielle McEwan, the 2009 champion, have both claimed NCAA titles and membership on Team USA.

Teen Masters will also conduct a regular schedule of stand-alone qualifiers that youth bowlers can enter to earn spots for the National Championships. All qualifying events will determine invitations for the Teen Masters National Championships which will be conducted July 8-12 in Cleveland, Ohio.

The Teen Masters conducted a landmark national championship event in 2011 that culminated with the Grand Championships being conducted on a specially-constructed lane in New York’s Grand Central Terminal where Zack Hattori of Las Vegas earned a record $64,000 scholarship.

The Teen Masters consists of four youth divisions: Boys High School, Boys Under 14, Girls High School, and Girls Under 14.

Entries are now being taken for Teen Masters qualifiers. For entry and additional schedule information visit http://www.teenmastersbowling.com/.

PBA Regional schedule that will include Teen Masters qualifiers

Midwest

March 2-4 – Pla Mor Lanes Open Presented by Brunswick, Muscatine, Iowa

March 30-April 1 – Liberty Lanes Senior Open Presented by Chuck Suda Allstate, Carpentersville, Ill.

May 18-20 – Stars & Strikes Open Presented by Ebonite, Scott AFB, Ill.

Central

April 20-22 – Grove City Open, AMF Stardust Lanes, Grove City, Ohio

May 18-20 – Baldo Campana Senior Open, Rebman Recreation, Lorain, Ohio

Southwest

March 2-4 – Etonic Open, Freedom Lanes, Duncan, Okla.

April 13-15 – Shawnee Firelake Bowling Center/Flintco Open, Shawnee, Okla.

May 18-20 – Fort Sill Open, Twin Oaks Lanes, Fort Sill, Okla.

Northwest

March 16-18 – DV8 Open, Caveman Bowl, Grants Pass, Ore.

March 30-April 1 – Tacoma Dodge Open Presented by Pawn Brokers, Paradise Bowl, Tacoma, Wash.

April 20-22 – Hawaii Storm Open, Hickam AFB, Honolulu

West

April 6-8 – Non-member Doubles Presented by Storm, South Point Bowling Center, Las Vegas

April 27-29 – Earl Anthony Memorial Classic, Earl Anthony’s Dublin Bowl, Dublin, Calif.

East

March 23-25 – Mt. Greylock Bowl Open, North Adams, Mass.

April 5 – Kingpin Lanes Open Presented by Brunswick, Rome, N.Y.

South

March 23-25 – Fayetteville Senior Open, Lafayette Lanes, Fayetteville, N.C.

May 10-12 – Canton Open Presented by Columbia 300, Cherokee Lanes, Canton, Ga.

May 24-26 – Wild Magnolia Senior Open, Presented by Track, Sport Lanes, Martinsville, Va.