The PBA surprised PBA50 Tour competitor Joe Scarborough (pictured right) with a unique "900 series" award during the GEICO PBA Summer Swing presented by Lucas Oil in Milwaukee. Scarborough, who bowled the first 900 series in PBA history to start his first qualifying round in the Sun Bowl at The Villages presented by Hammer in Florida on April 21, was presented with a custom-designed, framed "900" Gemini jersey by PBA Commissioner Tom Clark (left).

Speaking of Scarborough, the first player to bowl a 900 series in PBA competition, is re-naming his electrical contracting business in Charlotte, N.C., "Mr. 900 Electric."

 

Xtra Frame coverage of PBA Senior U.S. Open is underway

Live online coverage of the Suncoast PBA Senior U.S. Open from Suncoast Bowling Center in Las Vegas is underway. Complete coverage of the PBA50 Tour's first major championship of the 2013 season continued with the second round of qualifying for A and B Squads Wednesday, the cashers' round Thursday at 7 a.m. and match play rounds Thursday at 1:30 p.m. and Friday at 7 a.m. and noon. The Senior U.S. Open coverage will conclude with coverage of the four-player stepladder finals Friday at 4 p.m. All times are Pacific.

Live coverage of the USBC Senior Masters will be provided by USBC on its BowlTV videostreaming service.

 

Leftovers from the GEICO PBA Summer Swing presented by Lucas Oil

PBA Hall of Famer Pete Weber (pictured left), who has sported meticulously-coiffed hair for years, shocked more than a few fans when he arrived for the GEICO PBA Summer Swing with a closely-shaved crew cut: "I was playing golf right before I came to Milwaukee and it was really hot," he said. "My hair was soaked and kept getting in my eyes, so I talked it over with Tracy (his wife), and decided to cut it off."

The name's the thing: during the GEICO PBA Summer Swing's Lucas Oil Wolf Open, Mike Wolfe (right) of New Albany, Ind., was the first player to bowl a 300 game during match play on the Wolf lane conditioning pattern.

The long-and-short of it: Ten players qualified for the match play finals on both the 52-foot Badger and 32-foot Wolf lane conditions.

They were, in no particular order: Bill O'Neill, Jason Sterner, Chris Barnes, Michael Haugen Jr., Anthony LaCaze, Mike Fagan, Norm Duke, Nathan Bohr, Josh Blanchard and Andres Gomez.

Mike Fagan (right) of Fort Worth, Texas; Chris Barnes (left) of Double Oak, Texas, and Andres Gomez of Colombia were the only players who bowled every qualifying and match play game – a total of 107 games – during the PBA Summer Swing.

PBA League owner Terrell Owens is rapidly becoming the PBA Tour's biggest fan. Owens, the former NFL all-star who owns the PBA League's Dallas Strikers, flew in from Los Angeles to watch the CBS Sports Network finals of the GEICO PBA Summer Swing tournaments and to support his Dallas Strikers' franchise player, Norm Duke.

Following the Wolf Open youth pro-am, proud father Ralph Hibbard noted, "For $25 Billy Hibbard, Matt Hibbard, Cotie Holbek and Matt Behling got to bowl with Jason Belmonte, Pete Weber, Norm Duke, Chris Loschetter, Dom Barrett and Brian Kretzer. How cool was that?"

 

PBA Regional Roundup: Jack Jurek notches first PBA50 Regional win

Two-time PBA Tour winner Jack Jurek (pictured left) of Lackawanna, N.Y., who just became eligible for the PBA50 Tour this season, notched his first PBA50 regional win in the Suncoast PBA50 Regional Classic which preceded the Suncoast PBA Senior U.S. Open presented by Storm Monday in Las Vegas.

Jurek, who earned $2,500, won the event with a 2,782 overall pinfall total, including match play bonus pins, putting together a 5-1 match play record and averaging 216.83 in advancing out of 22nd place to top Bo Goergen of Sanford, Mich., by 61 pins. Mike Edwards of Tulsa, Okla., finished third with a 2,718 pinfall and 4-2 record.

Robert Harvey of Boise, Idaho, posted a 8-4 match play record and a 20-game total of 4,968 pins on Wednesday, May 29, to win his first career regional title in the fourth annual Lona King Saguaro West Open at Johnson Lanes in Sun City West, Ariz.

On Friday, Ron Mohr (right) of Eagle River, Alaska, had a 5-5 match play record and a 4,358 pinfall total for 18 games to win his 11th career regional title in the PBA50 Miller High Life West Open at Starlite Lanes in Flagstaff, the second half of a pre-Memorial Day weekend PBA West Region tournament program.

The tournaments were a prelude to the PBA Senior U.S. Open which got underway Monday at Suncoast Bowling Center (and the USBC Senior Masters, which is set for June 9-14 at South Point Bowling Center) – both in Las Vegas.

Harvey, who earned $1,500, defeated Mohr by 90 pins for the Sun City West title. In Flagstaff, Mohr earned $1,500 by topping Mike Dias of Lafayette, Colo., by 55 pins.

Over Memorial Day weekend in Hoffman Estates, Ill., amateur Ken Wyatt of Sterling Heights, Mich., defeated Steve Bergan of Belleville, Ill., 197-185, to win Saturday's PBA50 Allstate Midwest/Central Open at Poplar Creek Bowl.

In the second tournament of the doubleheader weekend, Jim Graefe of Cedarburg, Wis., defeated Ernie Segura of Taylor, Mich., 247-202, on Sunday for his second PBA Regional title and a $1,500 first prize.

In the "reduced entry fee" Saturday event, Wyatt defeated Brad Snell of Mount Prospect, Ill., 208-175, while Bergan edged Lennie Boresch of Kenosha, Wis., 247-240, in the semifinal round to set up the championship match. Wyatt earned $1,500, but does not get credit for a PBA title because he is not a member.

An extensive schedule of PBA Regional competition is on the June calendar.

Over the June 7-9 weekend, the PBA West will conduct the Billy Meyers Sr. West Open presented by The Professional Approach at Bowlium Lanes in Montclair, Calif., while the PBA East hosts the Port Jeff Bowl Eastern Open in Port Jefferson Station, N.Y.

Over the June 14-16 weekend, the PBA East Region will conduct the Bethmann-Russell Eastern Open presented by DV8 at Flamingo Bowl in Liverpool, N.Y.; the Central Region will conduct the J.D. Producing Inc. Central Open presented by Hammer at Triway Lanes in Wooster, Ohio, and the West/Northwest Regions will combine for a big standard/PBA50 dual weekend at 20th Century Lanes in Boise, Idaho.

The June 21-23 schedule includes a pair of "reduced entry fee" one-day American Family Insurance Midwest Open events at Oak Forest Bowl in Oak Forest, Ill.; the PBA South Region will conduct the Reality Check Classic Series South Open and PBA50 Reality Check Classic Series Ichiban Cleaning South Open, both presented by DV8, at Brunswick Harbour Lanes in Melbourne, Fla..

The PBA East will host the Homefield Bowl Eastern Open presented by Hammer in Yonkers, N.Y.; and the PBA West/Northwest Regions will combine for Secoma Lanes PBA50 and standard tournaments in Federal Way, Wash.

Closing the month over the June 28-30 weekend, the PBA East will host the PBA50 Glassboro Eastern Open presented by Columbia 300 at Glassboro Bowl and Recreation Center in New Jersey; the PBA South will conduct the PBA50 High Point Bank South Open at Northside Bowling Center in Winston-Salem, N.C.; the PBA Central and South Regions will co-op the PBA University of Phoenix Central/South Open at Hooper Bowling Center in Fort Campbell, Ky.; the PBA Southwest Region will host a non-champions Astro Super Bowl Southwest Challenge in San Antonio, Texas; and the PBA Midwest will conduct a reduced entry fee Allstate Midwest Open at Landmark Lanes in Peoria, Ill.

For complete Regional tournament schedules and entry information, click here.

 

Quick notes

During the GEICO PBA Summer Swing, PBA Hall of Famer Parker Bohn III, lane maintenance supervisor Mark Sabatine and the Xtra Frame crew visited historic Holler House in Milwaukee – the oldest certified "bowling center" in the world.

The YouTube video quickly went viral, appearing on ESPN's "Sports Nation," deadspin.com, yahoo.com and some other high-profile websites.