The PBA ELITE Regional Tour comes to EJ Tackett's home lanes this weekend. The Central Regional 1 event is being held at EZ Bowl in Bluffton, Indiana, the centre owned by EJ and Zac Tackett, and it will be bowled on string pins.
Tackett, who was named PBA Player of the Year for the fourth straight season in September, hosts the event and is also in the field.
A strong field in Bluffton
Joining him are fellow PBA Tour players Graham Fach, Patrick Dombrowski, Marshall Kent, Kyle Troup and Sean Rash, along with Austin Grammar, one of the nominees for PBA Rookie of the Year.
The senior division includes Mika Koivuniemi and Larry Verble, the 2023 Central Region Senior Player of the Year.
Entry is $500 and the field is capped at 120 bowlers. The projected prize fund pays $10,000 to the winner of the standard division and $5,000 to the senior winner, with $1,000 for the last cashing spot in both divisions.
Format
- Saturday, October 3: qualifying in three squads at 8:00, 13:30 and 19:00 ET, seven games each
- Sunday, October 4: the top third bowl a four-game advancers round at 11:00 ET, followed by round-robin match play for the top eight at 13:30 ET
There is no stepladder final. The winner in each division is the bowler with the highest pinfall total.
A path to the PBA Tour
The top five finishers without PBA Tour priority status earn a place in the Regional Players Invitational in December, where three priority status spots for the 2027 PBA Tour are awarded.
The tour also stops at Black Oak Lanes in Tuolumne, California, this weekend for West Regional 2.
