Jonathan Van Hees cashes in Etonic Marathon Open

After taking the “West Coast Swing” off, Jonathan Van Hees of Newport, RI rejoined the PBA Tour trail this week for the Etonic Marathon Open in Indianapolis, and had a good result, cashing in 38th place. The Etonic Marathon Open, part of this season’s “Extreme Swing,” comprised of 54 games over 6 of the PBA Tour oil patterns (Cheetah, Viper, Scorpion, Chameleon, Earl Anthony, Shark), with the top third of the entries (53) qualifying (and cashing) after 18 games. Van Hees had a final score of +573 (210.61 average), with his best performance coming on the Scorpion pattern (1999 in 9 games).

The top five seeds for tomorrow’s show are Wes Malott, Pete Weber, Ronnie Russell, Bill O’Neill, and Chris Barnes. As part of the tournament’s format, the top seed has the choice of oil pattern to be used on the telecast, and Wes Malott has chosen the Scorpion pattern.

PBA announces World Series of Bowling: The PBA has announced that the 2009-10 PBA Tour season will begin with a new World Series of Bowling, to be contested from Aug. 1 to Sept. 7 in Detroit. The series kicks off with the Motor City Open at longtime PBA Tour host Taylor Lanes. The rest of the series, including six more exempt PBA Tour events, the return of the PBA Women’s Series, and a revamped PBA Senior Tour World Championship, will take place at Thunderbowl Lanes in nearby Allen Park, a 90-lane center with a unique arena setup for the taping of ESPN telecasts and coverage on the subscription PBA.com Xtra Frame online service. The series will culminate in the open-field PBA World Championship, the first major tournament of the season, with the four finalists returning on Dec. 13 for the only live ESPN broadcast of the series. This is the first time the PBA Tour will spend an extended period of time in one city.