World Bowling Tour

The World Bowling Tour, a major professional tour, unites bowlers from selected major professional and amateur organizations through a series of events organized by World Bowling.[1]

World Bowling Tour
AbbreviationWBT
MottoEasy game to play. Tough sport to master.
Formation2011
HeadquartersArlington, Texas
Parent organization
World Bowling
Affiliations World Tenpin Bowling Association (WTBA)
WebsiteWorld Bowling Tour

The World Bowling Tour's marquee event, the WTBA World Championships, attracts bowlers from over 50 countries. World Bowling Tour events include all the PBA Tour major tournaments. As a stepladder tournament, the season-ending World Bowling Tour Finals features the top three men, and top three women in the World Bowling Tour points standings.[2]

Tour Qualifications

To participate in the World Bowling Tour, bowlers must be a member of one of the federations of the World Tenpin Bowling Association. The federations of the WTBA include:

The winner of a WBT tournament can also earn credit for a PBA Tour title, as long as the bowler registered for the tournament beforehand as a professional.[3] International bowlers, bowlers who do not reside in the United States, can also join the PBA under its PBA International program. If a PBA International member wins a WBT tournament, he must upgrade to full membership of the PBA.[4]

WBT Tournaments

The entry fee for a WBT tournament is $5,000 USD. Winners of World Bowling Tour events also qualify for the PBA Tournament of Champions.[5]

2019 Schedule [6]

Tournaments listed in bold are considered majors by the World Bowling Tour.

DateEventLocationTier
March 2-8, 2019H.H. Emir Cup Doha, QatarTier 2
March 11-21, 2019PBA World Series of Bowling Detroit, MITier 1
March 26 - April 4, 2019USBC Masters Las Vegas, NVTier 1
May 15-21, 2019USBC Queens Wichita, KSTier 1 - Women Only
June 16-23, 2019US Women's Open Las Vegas, NVTier 1 - Women Only
July 25-28, 2019Storm PBA/PWBA Striking Against Breast Cancer Houston, TXTier 2
August 16-18, 2019New Mexico Open Rio Rancho, NMTier 3
August 22-30, 2019World Women's Championships Las Vegas, NVTier 2 - Women Only
August 24-31, 2019FloBowling PBA Summer Swing Aurora, ILTier 2
August 24 - September 8, 2019Lucky Larsen Masters Helsingborg, SwedenTier 2
September (TBD), 2019Thailand Open Bangkok, ThailandTier 2
October 23-30, 2019U.S Open Mooresville, NCTier 1
October 31 - November 6, 2019Kuwait Open Kuwait City, KuwaitTier 2

Major tournaments

In order for a tournament to qualify as a major, it must offer a minimum prize fund of $200,000 USD.[7] The tournaments that are recognized as majors by the World Bowling Tour include:

World Bowling scoring

The World Bowling scoring system, described as "current frame scoring,"[8] is used during the stepladder finals of the World Bowling Tour Finals. Current frame scoring counts 30 pins for each strike (regardless of previous shot), 10 pins for each spare (bonus pins that are added match the first roll of the next frame), and basic pin count for open frames. The tenth frame follows the same format as the first nine frames. That means no bonus, or fill shots, are given. The maximum score is still 300, achieved with ten rather than twelve, consecutive strikes.[9][10] World Bowling scoring is intended to be easier to understand than traditional scoring for fans or bowlers that are new to the sport.[9] The television networks also advertised current frame scoring to increase struggling television ratings.[8][10]

Match play scoring

Match play scoring is a 12-frame system that made its first national appearance in bowling at the 2014 World Bowling Tour finals. This system scores by counting frames won rather than counting total pinfall.[11] It resembles match play scoring in golf where players go even, plus one, or minus one as the match progresses. A frame is won if a bowler has a higher pinfall on the first roll of the frame than their opponent. The bowler that wins the most frames will win the match.[11]

Previous World Bowling Tour Champions
YearMale WinnerMale Runner-UpFemale WinnerFemale Runner-Up
2012 Chris Barnes [12] Mika Koivuniemi Missy Parkin [13] Liz Johnson
2014 Mika Koivuniemi [14] Sean Rash Kelly Kulick [15] Liz Johnson
2015 Dom Barrett [16] Mike Fagan Danielle McEwan [17] Kelly Kulick
2017 Jason Belmonte [18] Marshall Kent Diana Zavjalova [19] Danielle McEwan
2018 E.J. Tackett [20] Anthony Simonsen Liz Johnson [21] Danielle McEwan

References
  1. World Bowling Tour (WBT)
  2. World Bowling Tour Sees Continued Growth
  3. PBA, World Tenpin Bowling Association Unveil International Tour
  4. Become a PBA Member
  5. PBA, World Tenpin Bowling Association Unveil International Tour
  6. WORLD BOWLING TOUR SCHEDULE
  7. World Bowling Tour Sees Continued Growth
  8. Mackay, Duncan (February 20, 2016). "New scoring system introduced for World Bowling Tour finals to try to help bowling join the Olympic games". InsideTheGames.biz. Archived from the original on September 13, 2016.
  9. "Weber to go to World Scoring". Weber Cup. July 29, 2016. Archived from the original on September 13, 2016.
  10. Mackay, Duncan (February 21, 2016). "World Bowling Tour final winner backs new scoring system if it helps Olympic campaign". InsideTheGames.biz. Archived from the original on September 13, 2016.
  11. "New Scoring System for Competitive Bowling to be Unveiled During World Bowling Tour Finals at WSOB VI". World Bowling. October 2014. Archived from the original on November 7, 2014.
  12. 2012 Final Men
  13. 2012 Final Women
  14. 2014 Final Men
  15. 2014 Final Women
  16. 2015 Final Men
  17. 2015 Final Women
  18. 2017 Final Men
  19. 2017 Final Women
  20. 2018 Men Final
  21. 2018 Women Final
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