The World Bowling Tour, a major professional tour, unites bowlers from selected major professional and amateur organizations through a series of events organized by

World Bowling International Bowling Federation (IBF), known as the Fédération Internationale des Quilleurs (FIQ) from 1952 to April 2014) and as World Bowling (WB) from April 2014 to November 2020, is the world governing body of nine-pin and ten-pin bowling ...

. The World Bowling Tour's marquee event, the WTBA World Championships, attracts bowlers from over 50 countries. World Bowling Tour events include all the

PBA Tour The PBA Tour is the major professional tour for ten-pin bowling, operated by the Professional Bowlers Association. Headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, over 3,000 members worldwide make up the PBA. While most of the PBA members are Regional profess ...

major tournaments. As a stepladder tournament, the season-ending World Bowling Tour Finals features the top three men, and top three women in the World Bowling Tour points standings.World Bowling Tour Sees Continued Growth
/ref>

Tour Qualifications

To participate in the World Bowling Tour, bowlers must be a member of one of the federations of the World Tenpin Bowling Association. The federations of the WTBA include: *

Professional Bowlers Association The Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) is the major sanctioning body for the sport of professional ten-pin bowling in the United States. Headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, the PBA membership consists of over 3,000 members worldwide. Member ...

, which include the PBA Tour, PBA50, and PBA international; *

Professional Women's Bowling Association The Professional Women's Bowling Association (PWBA) organizes and oversees a series of annual tournaments for the top competitive women ten-pin bowlers. The series is often referred to as the "women's tour" of bowling. The PWBA was formed in 1960 ...

. * Thai Tenpin Bowling Association; * Korea Professional Bowlers Association; *

Japan Professional Bowling Association The (JPBA) is the major sanctioning body for the sport of professional ten-pin bowling in Japan. The organization was founded by , and was established on January 27, 1967. The JPBA sanctions tournaments and other functions related to professiona ...

; The winner of a WBT tournament can also earn credit for a PBA Tour title, as long as the bowler registered for the tournament beforehand as a professional.PBA, World Tenpin Bowling Association Unveil International Tour
/ref> International bowlers, bowlers who do not reside in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, can also join the PBA under its PBA International program. If a PBA International member wins a WBT tournament, he must upgrade to full membership of the PBA.

WBT Tournaments

The entry fee for a WBT tournament is $5,000 USD. Winners of World Bowling Tour events also qualify for the

PBA Tournament of Champions The PBA Tournament of Champions is one of the five major PBA (Professional Bowlers Association) Ten-pin bowling, bowling events. It is an invitational event and the only PBA Tour major that does not have any open field. All participants must meet qu ...

2019 Schedule WORLD BOWLING TOUR SCHEDULE
/ref>

''Tournaments listed in bold are considered majors by the World Bowling Tour.''

Major tournaments

In order for a tournament to qualify as a major, it must offer a minimum prize fund of $200,000 USD. The tournaments that are recognized as majors by the World Bowling Tour include: * International Bowling Championship supported by DHC (JBC) *

USBC Masters The USBC Masters is a championship ten-pin bowling event conducted by the United States Bowling Congress. The Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) began recognizing it as a title event in 1998, and it was designated one of the four majors in 200 ...

(USBC) * United States Open (USBC) *

PBA World Championship The PBA World Championship is one of five major PBA (Professional Bowlers Association) bowling events. It is one of three PBA Tour major events that are open only to PBA members. (The U.S. Open and USBC Masters allow qualifying amateurs to enter.) ...

(PBA Tour) *

(PBA Tour) * United States Women's Open (USBC) * WTBA World Championships (WTBA)

World Bowling scoring

The

scoring system, described as "current frame scoring," is used during the stepladder finals of the World Bowling Tour Finals. Current frame scoring counts 30 pins for each strike (regardless of previous shot), 10 pins for each spare (bonus pins that are added match the first roll of the next frame), and basic pin count for open frames. The tenth frame follows the same format as the first nine frames. That means no bonus, or fill shots, are given. The maximum score is still 300, achieved with ten rather than twelve, consecutive strikes. World Bowling scoring is intended to be easier to understand than traditional scoring for fans or bowlers that are new to the sport. The television networks also advertised current frame scoring to increase struggling television ratings.

Match play scoring

Match play scoring is a 12-frame system that made its first national appearance in bowling at the 2014 World Bowling Tour finals. This system scores by counting frames won rather than counting total pinfall. It resembles match play scoring in golf where players go even, plus one, or minus one as the match progresses. A frame is won if a bowler has a higher pinfall on the first roll of the frame than their opponent. The bowler that wins the most frames will win the match.

Previous World Bowling Tour Champions

References

{{Ten pin bowling Bowling organizations