2011–12 PBA Tour season explained

PBA Bowling Tour: 2011–12 Season
League:Professional Bowlers Association
Sport:Ten-pin bowling
Duration:November 4, 2011 – April 15, 2012
Season:PBA Tour
Mvp:Sean Rash
Seasonslist:Professional Bowlers Association Seasons
Seasonslistnames:PBA Tour
Prevseason Link:PBA Bowling Tour: 2010–11 season
Prevseason Year:2010–11
Nextseason Link:PBA Bowling Tour: 2012-13 season
Nextseason Year:2012–13

This is a recap of the 2011–12 season for the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) Tour. It is the tour's 53rd season, and the third straight season in which all of the first half events were condensed into the PBA World Series of Bowling (WSOB). The season consisted of 15 title events. This is also the final season in which the PBA is using an "exempt" player list. The "exempt" status for touring players will not be carried into the 2012–13 season.

Following the retirement of PBA Commissioner & CEO Fred Schreyer in October 2011, the PBA named Geoff Reiss as PBA CEO and promoted Deputy Commissioner Tom Clark to the role of PBA Commissioner.[1]

Tournament schedule and recaps

For the third season in a row, the PBA condensed the first half of the season into the PBA World Series of Bowling (WSOB). Preliminary rounds of the televised tournaments were November 5–16, with television tapings on November 17–20. All of the events were held at the South Point Casino's bowling center in Las Vegas, Nevada.[2]

There were five "open" events at the World Series, meaning they were open to all PBA and World Tenpin Bowling Association (WTBA) members around the world. (To earn a PBA title at an event, however, the winner must be a full-fledged PBA member by the time of the WSOB.) The open events included four stand-alone title tournaments (Viper Open, Chameleon Open, Scorpion Open and Shark Open), plus the PBA World Championship. Each stand-alone "animal pattern" event featured 8 games of qualifying in the morning of each day, with the top 16 returning that evening for a best-of-five elimination match play round to determine the top four for the TV finals. The bowlers with the top 53 pinfall totals from the 32 qualifying round games in the four stand-alone events were entered into the "cashers' round" for the PBA World Championship. These 53 players then rolled 8 more games to determine the final 16 bowlers for the televised match play round of the World Championship.[3]

There were three "exempt" events added to the 2011 WSOB. The Carmen Salvino Classic started with a field of up to 49 Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour exempt players, plus at least 15 Tour Qualifying Round (TQR) participants. Two other events, the Pepsi PBA Elite Players Championship and PBA Exempt Players Baker Doubles Championship were for PBA exempt bowlers only. The combined totals from 12 games of Carmen Salvino Classic and 18 games of Elite Players Championship qualifying determined the 16-player match play semifinals participants for both the Elite singles and Exempt doubles events.

An additional TV taping took place at the WSOB: the WTBA World Bowling Tour Finals, presented by the PBA. Qualifying for this final round was based on multiple WTBA international events, and did not take place at the WSOB. The finals format was a three-man and three-woman stepladder.

In all, 14 TV programs were taped at the 2011 World Series of Bowling: four stand-alone "animal pattern" finals, Carmen Salvino Classic finals, Pepsi PBA Elite Players Championship finals, PBA Exempt Players Baker Doubles Championship finals, WTBA World Bowling Tour men's final, WTBA World Bowling Tour women's final, and five days of broadcasts for the PBA World Championship finals. The TV finals were contested on specially-built lanes placed inside the South Point Casino's Exhibition Center.

The second half of the PBA Tour season included the three remaining majors (USBC Masters, Lumber Liquidators U.S. Open and PBA Tournament of Champions), plus four more title events.[4]

World Series of Bowling (first-half) highlights

Second-half highlights

Tournament summary

Below is a summary of the 2011–12 season. Total career PBA Tour titles for winners are shown in parentheses. All prize money is in US dollars ($), except where indicated.

Event Airdate City Preliminary rounds Final round Oil pattern Winner Notes
PBA BowlersDeals.com All-In ShowdownNov 4*Las Vegas, NVNov 4Live*Tommy JonesOptional $5,000 buy-in WSOB event.
Not a PBA title event. $45,000 top prize.
GEICO World Bowling Tour Men's FinalDec 4Las Vegas, NVMultiple datesNov 18Mika Koivuniemi (Finland)WBT qualifiers only. Not a PBA title event.
GEICO World Bowling Tour Women's FinalDec 4Las Vegas, NVMultiple datesNov 18Carolyn Dorin-Ballard (USA)WBT qualifiers only. Not a PBA title event.
PBA World ChampionshipDec 11, 18 and
Jan 1, 8, 15
Las Vegas, NVNov 5–9Nov 17–18Top seed
chooses pattern
Osku Palermaa (2)Open event. $50,000 top prize.
WSOB Bayer Viper OpenJan 22Las Vegas, NVNov 5Nov 18ViperStuart Williams (1)Open event. $15,000 top prize.
Cheetah OpenJan 22*Fountain Valley, CAJan 20–21Live*CheetahEugene McCune (3)Open event.
$10,000 top prize.
Alka-Seltzer Plus Liquid Gels USBC MastersJan 29Henderson, NVJan 23–28LiveCustomMike Fagan (3)Open to PBA and qualifying USBC members.
$50,000 top prize.
Chris Paul PBA-Celebrity InvitationalFeb 5Los Angeles, CAn/aJan 12Pete Weber, Blake Griffin
and Jerry Ferrara
Invitational charity event.
WSOB Chameleon OpenFeb 12Las Vegas, NVNov 6Nov 19ChameleonJason Belmonte (2)Open event. $15,000 top prize.
WSOB Scorpion OpenFeb 19Las Vegas, NVNov 7Nov 19ScorpionDom Barrett (1)Open event. $15,000 top prize.
Ricart Ford OpenFeb 19*Columbus, OHFeb 17–18Live*Scott Newell (1)Open event. $10,000 top prize.
69th U.S. OpenFeb 26North Brunswick, NJFeb 20–25LiveU.S. Open
(custom)
Pete Weber (36)Open event. $60,000 top prize and automatic berth in the
"Round of 36" at the PBA Tournament of Champions.
WSOB GEICO Shark OpenMar 4Las Vegas, NVNov 8Nov 19SharkJason Belmonte (3)Open event. $15,000 top prize.
Detroit OpenMar 11*Allen Park, MIMar 9–10Live*Norm Duke (35)Open event. $10,000 top prize.
Brunswick Euro ChallengeN/ASainte-Maxime, FranceMar 17–24Mar 25Mike Fagan (4)Open event. 15,000 top prize.
Lumber Liquidators Mark Roth-Marshall Holman
PBA Exempt Players Doubles Championship
Mar 25Las Vegas, NVNov 14–16Nov 20Norm Duke (36) and
Wes Malott (7)
Exempt event. $15,000 top prize.
Carmen Salvino ClassicApr 1Las Vegas, NVNov 14Nov 20EarlAndres Gomez (1)Exempt event with TQR. $15,000 top prize.
PBA Dick Weber PlayoffsApr 1*Indianapolis, INMar 30–31Live*Dick WeberNorm Duke (37)PBA Tour and PBA Regional members only. $20,000 top prize.
Pepsi PBA Elite Players ChampionshipApr 8Las Vegas, NVNov 14–16Nov 20Jason Belmonte (4)Exempt event. $35,000 top prize and automatic berth in the
"Round of 36" at the PBA Tournament of Champions.
PBA Tournament of ChampionsApr 15Las Vegas, NVApr 8–14LiveToC (custom)Sean Rash (5)Past PBA Tour, PBA Regional and PBA Senior Tour
champions only. $80,000 top prize.

An asterisk (*) indicates a tournament that was broadcast start-to-finish (including finals) on the PBA Xtra Frame webcast service. All other broadcasts were on ESPN television.

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: New Bowling Commissioner Wants Event in Milwaukee . D’Amato . Gary . Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. October 27, 2011 . August 21, 2023.
  2. Web site: Vint . Bill . Revised PBA World Series of Bowling Broadens International Appeal; Finals Set for South Point Arena . PBA . July 8, 2011 .
  3. Web site: 2011 PBA World Series of Bowling . PBA . 2011-08-31 . https://web.archive.org/web/20110924104214/http://www.pba.com/Tournaments/WorldSeries . 2011-09-24 . dead .
  4. Web site: 2011–12 Schedule . PBA.
  5. Web site: Vint . Bill . PBA Spare Shots PLUS WSOB Notebook: Rash Off to Unprecedented Start; International Players Shine . PBA . November 10, 2011 .
  6. Web site: Vint . Bill . Finland's Osku Palermaa Becomes First International Player to Win PBA World Championship, First Two-Hander to Win PBA Major Title . PBA . January 15, 2012 .
  7. Web site: Vint . Bill . Stuart Williams Wins Bayer Viper Open, Becomes First English Player to Win a PBA Tour Title . PBA . January 22, 2012 .
  8. Web site: Schneider . Jerry . England's Dom Barrett Wins First PBA Tour Title in Scorpion Open . PBA . February 19, 2012 .
  9. Web site: Vint . Bill . Australia's Belmonte Wins Third 2011–12 Title in Pepsi PBA Elite Players Championship . PBA . April 8, 2012 .
  10. Web site: Vint . Bill . Mike Fagan Tops Chris Barnes to Win First Major Title in Alka Seltzer Plus Liquid Gels USBC Masters . PBA . January 29, 2012 .
  11. Web site: Vint . Bill . Pete Weber Wins Record Fifth U.S. Open to Surpass Father Dick Weber and Don Carter . PBA . February 26, 2012 .
  12. Web site: Vint . Bill . PBA Spare Shots: Media Buzz Continues for Weber's U.S. Open Celebration, Barnes' 300, Doyle's Feat . PBA . March 8, 2012 .
  13. Web site: ToC Tournament Results . PBA.
  14. Web site: Vint . Bill . Sean Rash Wins Closest PBA Player of the Year Contest in Years; Belmonte Second, Fagan Third . PBA . May 28, 2012 .