Belmo Returns As Three Titles On The Line At Summer Swing
Belmo Returns As Three Titles On The Line At Summer Swing
A tightly packed summer schedule comes to a close next week with the FloBowling PBA Summer Swing awards three titles live on FloBowling.
A tightly packed summer schedule comes to a close next week with the FloBowling PBA Summer Swing awards three titles live on FloBowling.
A sold-out field of 108 players will have a chance to win three titles in six days at Parkside Lanes in Aurora, Illinois, starting Monday as the players make their final push in the FloBowling PBA Summer Tour points list.
Currently, AJ Johnson leads the summer points, and there’s a lot on the line for the players who can finish amongst the top eight. With three events and double points for the finale, the list is sure to change quite a bit when the dust settles.
Here are a few key points to get you ready for the Summer Swing:
Williams, Tackett, Simonsen defending champs
At last year’s FloBowling PBA Fall Swing, which this year has been moved up to the summer, Stu Williams came away as the big winner, taking home the title in the PBA Tulsa Open in Owasso, Oklahoma.
Based on that victory, Williams is essentially the defending champion for the PBA Illinois Open, even though the events are in different cities with different names. Williams took down eventual 2018 PBA Player of the Year Andrew Anderson, 237-215, in the title match.
Williams also made it to the stepladder finals of the PBA Bear Open last year as the top seed but lost in the championship match to EJ Tackett, 212-197.
The defending champion in the PBA Wolf Open is Anthony Simonsen, who knocked off Anderson, 239-226, to hoist the trophy.
Belmonte returns to the tour
The Summer Swing will mark the return of Jason Belmonte, the odds-on favorite to win the 2019 PBA Player of the Year award.
Belmonte hasn’t bowled in the previous five events, skipping the PBA/PWBA Striking Against Breast Cancer Mixed Doubles, PBA Chesapeake Open, PBA Wilmington Open, PBA Gene Carter’s Pro Shop Classic and the PBA Bowlerstore Classic.
The last time we saw Belmonte compete in a PBA Tour event was the last weekend in June when he finished in 10th place at the PBA Lubbock Sport Shootout.
So where has Belmonte been? With a busy travel schedule in 2019, he has elected to stay home in Australia and spend time with his family.
The format and lane conditions
The format for the two animal pattern events – the PBA Wolf Open and PBA Bear Open – is identical with two rounds of qualifying, a cashers round and culminating with a stepladder finals.
The players will bowl eight games in the first round of qualifying and six games in the second round of qualifying with the top 18 advancing into the cashers round. After six final games, the five players with the highest 20-game totals will move on into the stepladder finals.
Once the Wolf Open and Bear Open conclude, the top 24 players based on combined qualifying totals from the two events will advance into match play for the Illinois Open.
Those players will bowl three eight-game match-play rounds with the top five after 52 games bowling for the title.
As for the patterns, the PBA Wolf pattern is 32 feet long with 23.43 mL of oil and a 1.23:1 ratio, while the PBA Bear pattern comes in at 41 feet with 29.17 mL of oil and a 1:76:1 ratio.
During round robin match play for the Illinois Open, the Bear pattern will be on the left lane, while the Wolf pattern will be on the right lane.
How to watch
Every round of the FloBowling PBA Summer Swing will be broadcast live exclusively on FloBowling, including the three stepladder finals.
What the schedule looks like
Here’s the schedule for this event, all times listed are Eastern:
Monday, Aug. 26
4:30 p.m. - Wolf Open Qualifying Round 1 (eight games)
Tuesday, Aug. 27
1 p.m. - Wolf Open Qualifying Round 2 (six games)
6 p.m. - Wolf Open Cashers Round (six games)
9:30 p.m. - Wolf Open Stepladder Finals (top five)
Wednesday, Aug. 28
4:30 p.m. - Bear Open Qualifying Round 1 (eight games)
Thursday, Aug. 29
1 p.m. - Bear Open Qualifying Round 2 (six games)
6 p.m. - Bear Open Cashers Round (six games)
9:30 p.m. - Bear Open Stepladder Finals (top five)
Friday, Aug. 30
Noon - Illinois Open Match Play Round 1 (eight games)
6 p.m. - Illinois Open Match Play Round 2 (eight games)
Saturday, Aug. 31
Noon - Illinois Open Match Play Round 3 (eight games)
4:30 p.m. - Illinois Open Stepladder Finals (top five)