Some of the best professional bowlers in the world will head to the smallest venue of the season this weekend when they battle for a national title at the PBA Kenn-Feld Group Classic.

With just 16 lanes, Pla-Mor Lanes in Coldwater, Ohio, will host a sold-out field of 96 bowlers when qualifying starts Saturday and is broadcast live on FloBowling.

Among those in the field will be four of the top five players on the PBA Tour points list, including Andrew Anderson, Anthony Simonsen, Marshall Kent and EJ Tackett.

Here’s what to look for at the PBA Kenn-Feld Group Classic:

Don Johnson is the pattern but will it matter?

The players will face the PBA Don Johnson pattern this weekend, which is 40 feet in length with a 2.55 to 1 pattern ratio. But the pattern they are bowling on this week may not matter that much.

Pla-Mor Lanes is known for being low-scoring, and with topography and pin carry challenges, the pros will surely be tested.

Last year, the tournament was contested on the PBA Tournament of Champions pattern and the scores were extremely low. Two-hander Chris Via averaged 212.94 and was the highest in the field by more than six pins per game. Only 10 of the 96 players in the field managed to get to plus or better.

If we look just at the PBA Don Johnson pattern, it was pretty low scoring at the PBA Xtra Frame Greater Jonesboro Open earlier this year. Anderson won that event averaging 218.27 and only 27 out of 105 players averaged 200 or better.

Page back to defend his title

One player who has extremely fond memories of last year’s event in Coldwater, Ohio, is left-hander Rhino Page.

The fiery lefty took down Via, 190-173, in a low-scoring championship match to claim his first singles title in almost eight years. The win gave Page the momentum and confidence to go on just a few weeks later to win his first major title at the U.S. Open.

After the win, Page admitted the scoring conditions at Pla-Mor Lanes are difficult.

“I think (Pla-Mor Lanes) is one place that shows it’s not always about the (lane conditioning) pattern, but the playing surface as well,” Page said in a PBA news release “It’s not like there were a lot of strikes to be had, so I relied on my spare game, and that was the key.”

Page will be among the 96 players in the field as he looks to successfully defend his title.

Doyle makes big move in PBA Rookie of the Year race

Rookie Kamron Doyle told FloBowling he was entering the last stretch of PBA events with a renewed confidence after performing well at a pair of European Bowling Tour stops recently. That confidence showed as he had a strong event last weekend.

Doyle made his first PBA stepladder finals at the PBA Xtra Frame Gene Carter’s Pro Shop Classic, losing to Matt Sanders and finishing third in the event. The performance added a little sparkle to Doyle’s PBA Rookie of the Year resume, something he will look to add onto this weekend.

Doyle was the only player in FloBowling’s breakdown of the rookie of the year race who competed last weekend but that won’t be the case this weekend.

Joining Doyle on the lanes will be Nick Pate, who is currently 59^th on the PBA Tour points list with 2,202 points. Doyle’s third-place finish bumped him up to 37^th on the points list with 4,123.5 points.

What the schedule looks like

The PBA Xtra Frame Kenn-Feld Group Classic is spread out over two days, beginning Saturday and concluding Sunday. Here’s the schedule of events (all times Eastern):

Saturday, Aug. 25

8 a.m. – Squad A qualifying (eight games)

1:30 p.m. – Squad B qualifying (eight games)

7 p.m. – Squad C qualifying (eight games)

Sunday, Aug. 26

10 a.m. – Cashers qualifying (four games)

12:30 p.m. – Round of 16 (three games)

2 p.m. – Round of 8 (two games)

3:30 p.m. – Stepladder finals (top four)