Kalamazoo resident Charlie Tapp finished third in the PBA50 event at Jax60 on Friday night. Photo by Jeff Steers, JTV Sports.
By Jeff Steers
JTV Sports
With nearly 200 bowlers competing in a pair of Professional Bowling Association tournaments at Jax60, the winners may be restaurant and hotel owners and local merchants in Jackson County.
Jax60 owner David Small said the PBA50 and PBA60 tournaments have an economic impact between $250,000 and $500,000 for the week-long tournaments.
The bowling alley won’t make a cent, but Small said that is not the idea behind bringing the tournaments back to Jackson.
“Our goal was to bring the tournaments back to the wonderful bowling community of Jackson,” Small said Friday prior to the PBA50 final.
Mel Wolf brought the senior PBA bowlers to Jackson more than three decades ago. The tournaments stopped competing in Jackson nearly a decade ago.
Small owns four bowling centers in Indiana that hosts a number of PBA tournaments.
“The hardest thing about tournaments is making sure you are a good host,” Small said. “You are opening your house.
“This is a great way to help others in the community.”
Small said he expects the PBA to come back to Jackson “for many years to come,”
Sunday concluded the 14-game qualifying rounds with match play beginning at 4 p.m. at Jax60 in the PBA60 tournament. PBA fans will recognize the names Mark Williams and John Petraglia near the top of the qualifying list.
Match play will continue Monday at 11 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. The top five at that point will advance to the stepladder format beginning at 6 p.m.
Bowling fans are invited to attend the finals Monday night at Jax60. There is no charge for admission.