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The 20-stop PBA Tour opens Sunday with a new format and an elite 64-man field that has sent a lot of former players scurrying for day jobs.
The Masters at Milwaukee opens the season with the finals telecast on ESPN on Oct. 31, from 1-2:30 p.m. The season ends with the Tournament of Champions on April 6-10 at Uncasville, Conn.
The new PBA media guide lists bios for the exempt 64 players, including Walter Ray Williams, Pete Weber, Jason Couch and Rick Steelsmith. It also lists some lesser-known players who gained exemptions, including Tore Torgersen, Richard Wolfe, Bill Rowe and Mike Machuga. Missing are such familiar names as 10-time winner Steve Hoskins of New Port Richey, six-time winner Ricky Ward and 11-time winner Dave Ozio.
The first 50 players earned exemptions through tournament wins and championship points from last season. The other 14 gained the list through tour trials, weekly qualifiers and commissioner's exemptions. Commissioner Fred Schreyer announced exemptions to Bill Spigner for the Chicago Open, Jim Pencak for the Uniroyal Tire Classic and Dick Weber for the BowlersParadise.com Open.
The closest the tour comes to Florida is the Odor-Eaters Open Feb. 2-6 at Norcross, Ga.
COLLEGES JOIN IN: Four schools added women's teams to their athletic programs beginning with the 2004-05 season.
The addition of Vanderbilt, Louisiana Tech, Arkansas State and Minnesota State-Mankato pushes the total of NCAA sanctioned programs to 46.
The second NCAA women's national collegiate championship will be held at Orlando's Wekiva Lanes on April 14-16 and again will be a cross-divisional championship. Nebraska won the inaugural championship, held in Houston last April.
College Bowling USA conducts the intercollegiate and collegiate singles championships and oversees All-America recognition, academic All-America recognition, rookie of the year and collegiate bowler of the year honors in conjunction with the National Collegiate Bowling Coaches Association.
TEAM USA CHANGE: Those seeking spots on Team USA at the 2006 USA National Amateur Championships will have a much simpler method of entering.
USA Bowling approved a plan by which entrants can go to the national finals by paying a $250 fee. There no longer will be any requirements to participate in local and/or state qualifiers to receive special entry to the finals.
"This simplifies the process tremendously," said administrative director Kevin Dornberger. "We are moving in this direction to save time and paperwork for our volunteers and staff.
"Local and state associations still are encouraged to conduct qualifiers if they desire," Dornberger said. "There are no restrictions and plenty of flexibility. They may use whatever formats they like."
While the plan calls for entrants to pay expenses to the finals, they no longer will have expenses at the state and local levels. The new plan also calls for only current Team USA members to receive paid entries to the national finals.
SENIOR NATIONALS: The ABC/WIBC Senior Championships will return to the National Bowling Stadium in Reno, Nev., May 3-4.
The Senior Championships consist of four age divisions: Class A (70 and older), Class B (65-69), Class C (60-64) and Class D (55-59). Bowlers who win all-events titles in their state's senior tournament are eligible to compete.
The tournament offers an estimated prize fund of $37,000. This year, 369 participated in Reno for $36,900.