Sequoia Pro Bowl to host PBA Tour, charity events for second straight year

Defending champion and PBA Player of the Year Chris Barnes will return to Columbus, Ohio and Sequoia Pro Bowl next month when the Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour rolls into town for a regular tour stop for the second straight year.

The Don Johnson Buckeye State Eliminator Championship will be held March 2-8 at Sequoia Pro Bowl, with the finals televised live on ESPN at 1 p.m. on Sunday, March 8. The week’s schedule features several charity events to benefit juvenile diabetes, including Carnibowl at 7 p.m. on Monday, March 2. Last year, the Don Johnson Memorial Team raised more than $31,000 and donated the proceeds to Nationwide Children’s Hospital.

“Last year’s Don Johnson Buckeye State Classic was a virtual sell-out each day with Columbus bowling fans and we are honored to have the PBA Tour back in Columbus,” said Tim Voss, Sequoia Pro Bowl owner. “We again look forward to watching the world’s best bowlers compete while also raising money to fight juvenile diabetes.”

The tournament will feature a field that includes a number of competitors recently named the 50 greatest players in PBA history as part of its 50th Anniversary celebration. The field will include all-time PBA Tour titles leader Walter Ray Williams Jr. (45 wins), Parker Bohn III, Norm Duke, Barnes, Pete Weber and 2009 H&R Block Tournament of Champions winner Patrick Allen. Last year, Barnes defeated Ken Simard of Simpsonville, S.C., 209-197, to win the inaugural Buckeye State Classic.

Last year’s PBA Tour event held at Sequoia Pro Bowl was the first held in Columbus since the 1990 Columbus Professional Bowling Classic. This year’s tournament marks the ninth time a PBA Tour event has taken place in Columbus in the tour’s 50-year history.

The event is named after the late Don Johnson, who was inducted into the PBA Hall of Fame in 1977, finishing his career with 26 PBA Tour titles. The former Akron resident was the PBA Player of the Year in 1971 and ’72 and was recently named the 8th greatest player in PBA Tour history.

Johnson’s son, Jimmy, who won a PBA Tour title in 1990, and his wife, Minda, coordinate the charitable activities surrounding the PBA Tour event, including Carnibowl and a large junior bowl-a-thon. Sequoia Pro Bowl will donate $5 from every Pro-Am entry to the charity.

Pro-Ams will be held Tuesday, March 3 and Wednesday, March 4 and allow average fans to experience the dream of meeting and bowling three games with six PBA stars while getting autographs and photos, plus a chance to win the $500 first prize.

The event gets underway Monday March 2 with the first round of a two-day TQR (Tour Qualifying Round) in which several local bowlers will be attempt to win one of five available spots into the field for the PBA tournament. One such player is Sequoia Pro Bowl teaching professional Bill Henson, a Senior PBA Tour player and coach of The Ohio State University men’s bowling team.

Tickets to the Don Johnson Buckeye State Eliminator Championship are available at Sequoia Pro Bowl or www.sequoiaprobowl.com. A weekly pass for Monday through Saturday is $30. Tickets to the finals on Sunday, March 6 are $30, $45 and $65 (sold out). Pro-Am entries are $89 for adults and $69 for children. Carnibowl tickets for Monday, March 2 are $25 at the door or through Minda Johnson at 614-378-7073.

The 2009 Buckeye State Eliminator Championship will incorporate a new format with the 64-player field bowling a seven-game block on Thursday, March 5 after which the field will be cut to 33 who will advance to two additional rounds on Friday, March 6. After the Round of 33 the field will be cut to 16 who will compete in Eliminator Rounds on Saturday, March 7.

DON JOHNSON BUCKEYE STATE ELIMINATOR CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE

MONDAY, MARCH 2, 2009
11 a.m. – Kickoff Press Conference with Mayor Michael B. Coleman
12-5 p.m. – Tour Qualifying Rounds (for non-exempt players)
7 p.m. – Carnibowl Kickoff Party to benefit juvenile diabetes

TUESDAY, MARCH 3, 2009
9 a.m. - 2 p.m. – Tour Qualifying Rounds (for non-exempt players)
5:30 p.m. – Bowl-a-thon Winners Pizza Party with the Pros
4:30 p.m., 7:30 p.m. – Pro-Am Squads

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 4, 2009                
10 a.m. – Practice                
1, 4 and 7 p.m. – Pro-Am Squads        

THURSDAY, MARCH 5, 2009
9 a.m. - Round of 64 (7 Games)
5 p.m. - Round of 64 (7 Games)

FRIDAY, MARCH 6, 2009                        
9 a.m. - Round of 33 Round 1 (7 Games)
5 p.m. - Round of 33 Round 2 (7 Games)
Top 16 Advance

SATURDAY, MARCH 7, 2009
12-3 P.M. - Eliminator Rounds of 16, 12 and 8
Top Four advance to ESPN Finals

SUNDAY, MARCH 8, 2009
1 p.m. – Finals, televised live on ESPN

About the PBA
The Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) features the best bowlers in the world competing in National, Regional and Senior Tour events and will award over $4.3 million in prize money during the 2008-09 Lumber Liquidators PBA National Tour. The organization has more than 4,000 members spanning 13 countries, and nearly one million viewers tune-in to watch the Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour every Sunday on ESPN throughout the season. PBA sponsors include Bayer, Brunswick, CLR, Denny's, Etonic, Flomax, GEICO, Go RVing, H&R Block, Lumber Liquidators, Motel 6, Pepsi-Cola and the USBC, among others. For more information on the PBA, log on to www.pba.com.

About Sequoia Pro Bowl
Sequoia Pro Bowl is the home of the most competitive bowling in Columbus featuring the PBA Tour - Don Johnson Buckeye State Eliminator, The Ohio State University Bowling Team and a large number of adult and youth bowling leagues. Located in the middle of the Forest Park subdivision, Sequoia is also a favorite destination for Corporate Team Building events, Charity Fundraisers, and School/Church outings. Sequoia has been family owned and operated for 45 years. Under new ownership for the past 5 years Sequoia has seen major capital improvement in its building and equipment. The latest projects include the installation of State of the Art new "Brunswick Pro Lane" bowling lanes and the completion of the beautiful new "7-10 Club Sports Bar and Grill".

CONTACTS:
Mike Jakubowksi                
PBA TOUR                        
800-903-0930                        
Mike.jakubowski@pba.com                

Tim Voss                        
Sequoia Pro Bowl                
614-885-7043                        
tvoss@sequoiaprobowl.com

Brent LaLonde
LaLonde Communications / GCSC
614-562-0940
brent1919@gmail.com
blalonde@columbussports.org

Minda Johnson
Don Johnson Memorial Team
614-378-7073
joyminda@yahoo.com

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