MORGANTOWN — Some of the best professional bowlers in PBA history are in Morgantown this week as Suburban Lanes is hosting a PBA50 National Tournament.
“This is the first time a national professional tournament has been in Morgantown,” Suburban Lanes general manager Justin Malik explained. “We’ve had regional tournaments which still have pros, but this is the national level.”
The PBA50 Tour is for professionals age 50 and over, meaning it features some of the most accomplished bowlers in history, including PBA hall-of-famers Walter Ray Williams Jr., Pete Weber and Jason Couch.
“That’s what kind of makes it unique, you would never get these guys here for anything else,” Malik said.
Prior to the 96-person tournament starting on Tuesday, Suburban held a Pro-Am Monday evening to give local bowlers the chance to play with some of the professionals.
“This is an amazing experience,” Malik said. “I don’t know of many other sports where you can go participate in something with a hall of famer. I’ve been to some things where you shake hands and get autographs and that’s really all you get out of those sort of things. This here, you’re actually physically bowling with a hall-of-fame bowler.”
Malik was able to bring the tournament, which will conclude with the final round of 32 bowlers on Thursday, to Morgantown almost purely on luck.
“I made a phone call about getting a tournament here and I was told not this year because all of the spots were booked and there’s a waiting list,” he explained. “It was dumb luck because we really shouldn’t have had a spot in the rotation. They had two stops in Michigan and one of the stops dropped. So they went from Michigan, now they’re here and then they’re going to go to Virginia, so it worked out well geographically.”
Malik said now that Suburban is in the rotation, they will be able to keep the spot and continue to host a national tournament each season.
Going from hosting regional tournaments to a national one did not come without a lot of stress, however.
“It’s a good stress,” Malik said. “We’ve hosted regional tournaments and I kind of have the flow of that, I know how it works and I’m comfortable with that. This, I was kind of getting hit with a lot of curveballs, things I didn’t anticipate just because I didn’t know.
“We have a sponsor, Pleasant Day Schools. This wouldn’t be possible without them doing it. They made it possible for us to do this.”
In addition to the hall of farmers in the tournament, there are also a handful of West Virginians among the 96-person field, including Charlie Tony of Oak Hill and Morgantown’s own Mike Lantz.
“It’s awesome that they’re hosting this event, they’ve done just a phenomenal job,” Tony, 63, said. “I’m just so happy they brought this tournament to West Virginia, being a West Virginian.”
Tony, who still resides in Oak Hill, is no stranger to the PBA50 Tour, having played on it for 13 years. He’s also familiar with playing against some of the game’s best. His only regional championship came in a doubles tournament against Williams Jr., whose 47 wins on the PBA Tour and 16 on the PBA50 Tour are both the most in history.
“I think that’s what everybody who comes out and bowls in one of these tournaments wants to do, they want to get one of those banners,” Tony said. “(Williams is) the best bowler ever and maybe the best that there ever will be. To win that tournament, especially to get a win against the greatest of all time, that was the highlight of my career.”
Lantz, who graduated from Richwood High School but has spent most of his life in Morgantown, is in his first year on the PBA50 Tour having just turned 51. He has only competed in one other regional tournament but said it’s exciting to see some of the greatest pros ever on his home lanes.
“I’m proud I’m the only one from Morgantown here,” Lantz said. “I’m the house bowler, these are my home lanes.”
It’s hard to set expectations to win such an event, but Lantz said it’s just a thrill to get to play against some of the professionals who are here this week.
“These are some of the best ever, but they’re on my turf now,” Lantz joked.
