Jason Couch Leads Qualifying At PBA50 Ballard Championship
Jackson, Michigan – The PBA50 World Series of Bowling II kicked off Monday with the 2024 PBA50 Ballard Championship. A field of 163 bowlers were inside JAX 60 and Jason Couch powered his way to the top of the standings averaging 244.50 to end his eight games of qualifying at +356.
“I feel really comfortable where we are playing them to the outside with the short pattern,” he said, about the 36-foot Ballard oil pattern.
Couch’s only game under 200 came in Game 2 as he struck every time on the right lane and struggled to match that on the left lane for 198. From that point on, he was in cruise control, never missing a spare. His only opens were a couple of splits when he got soft and watched his urethane ball go through the face. In his final game, the left-hander shot 279 to jump into the lead for A-squad while also ending qualifying as the overall leader. Last year on this pattern, Couch finished in eighth place and made two out of four cuts during the inaugural PBA50 WSOB.
“This year, it just seems like a lot of things are falling into place,” he said. Couch won the first tournament of the year to go along with two second-place finishes. Behind Couch in the top five are Chris Barnes, Mario Quintero, Tony Oliva, and Bill Rowe.
The top 16 players advance to bracket match play best-of-five matches scheduled to start at 11 a.m. Eastern on Thursday with the Round of 8 best-of-five matches starting at 3 p.m. ET. The four winners and the highest seeded losing bowler in the Round of 8 will be in the stepladder finals set to start at 6 p.m. ET Thursday. The final player to advance in the PBA50 Ballard Championship was Mike Keough at +188. James Campbell and Daniel Inocencio each rolled perfect games on Monday.
Next up, the field will bowl eight games of qualifying in the PBA50 Monacelli Championship starting with B-squad at 9 a.m. ET Tuesday and A-squad set to begin at 4 p.m. ET. Bracket match play will be held on Friday. Couch finished in 20th place on the 40-foot Monacelli oil pattern last year.
“I didn’t have a great look yesterday (practice day) on it, but I am going to attack it a little different tomorrow than what I had planned. There are a couple of balls that could make a difference tomorrow, so I am just coming in with a new game plan,” Couch said. “I am going to be super focused because I didn’t bowl well on it last year and I am determined to bowl well on everything.”
Looking ahead, the PBA50 Petraglia Championship, which also includes eight games of qualifying on a 46-foot oil pattern, begins with the A-squad at 9 a.m. ET on Wednesday and the B-squad at 4 p.m. Bracket match play will take place on Saturday.
The top 18 overall bowlers after 24 games of qualifying across the Ballard, Monacelli and Petraglia Championships will advance to the World Championship. All qualifying pins carry over into match play rounds scheduled to start at 9 a.m. ET on Sunday. Overall, four PBA50 titles are available.
You can watch the entire PBA50 WSOB II on BowlTV.
PBA50 Ballard Championship Match Play Advancers:
- Jason Couch, 1,956 (+356)
- Chris Barnes 1,884 (+284)
- Mario Quintero, 1,876 (+276)
- Tony Oliva, 1,876 (+276)
- Bill Rowe, 1,872 (+272)
- Brad Angelo, 1,862 (+262)
- Michael Haggitt, 1,858 (+258)
- Brian Dennis, 1,858 (+258)
- Mika Koivuniemi, 1,841 (+241)
- Brian Schamber, 1,833 (+233)
- Jack Jurek, 1,833 (+233)
- Michael Smith, 1,827 (+227)
- Bo Goergen, 1,804 (+204)
- Brian LeClair, 1,804 (+204)
- Walter Ray Williams Jr., 1,797 (+197)
- Mike Keough, 1,788 (+188)
Full standings - PBA50 Ballard Championship
More information on the PBA50 WSOB II is available here.