The PBA50 Tour will wrap up the 2018 season in major fashion when the PBA50 Cup presented by DV8 takes place this weekend in Wyoming, Michigan.

Although we already know who the PBA50 Player of the Year will be, there are plenty of other things to watch for this weekend at Spectrum Lanes when the fourth major of the season is contested live on FloBowling.

And since it’s a major, all of the biggest stars will be out including Parker Bohn III, Walter Ray Williams Jr., Norm Duke, Pete Weber, Brian Voss and many more.

Here’s what to look for at the PBA50 Cup:

Majors always bring out the best

Majors always seem to bring out the best in players. There’s more prestige and money on the line and who doesn’t want a major title on their resume?

To help you get ready for the season’s final major, let’s recap the first three majors of the season.

At the PBA50 National Championship presented by Spanish Springs Lanes and Radical, Lennie Boresch Jr. defeated Duke in a close title match, 198-192. Boresch threw two clutch strikes in the final frame to win his first PBA50 major and fourth career senior title.

The United States Bowling Congress Senior Masters was the biggest major of the year with 242 entrants and who could forget the finish in that event. Needing a strike and eight-spare in the final frame to win, Duke got the strike but then left the 3-4-6-7-9-10 split to lose the title in dramatic fashion to Chris Warren, 246-241.

After 36 grueling games of qualifying and match play at the Suncoast PBA Senior U.S. Open presented by Storm, Mika Koivuniemi lived up to his nickname of Major Mika by winning the title 259-237 over Brian Kretzer.

If the first three majors are any indication of what’s to come, you won’t want to miss the stepladder finals of the PBA50 Cup on Sunday at 7 p.m. Eastern.

32 games to determine stepladder finalists this weekend

For the bowlers who like long-format events, this weekend will be a real treat.

In standard PBA50 events, pins are dropped after every cut, creating a sprint-like feel to the events and not rewarding the players who perform well over the long haul. This weekend is totally different, however.

The players will bowl 16 games of qualifying (eight on fresh, eight on burn) and all of those pins will carry over to match play. The top one-third of players (maximum of 40) will advance to two rounds of match play.

In match play, all bowlers will bowl 16 games (eight on fresh, eight on burn) before the top five players are determined for the stepladder finals.

PBA 50 Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year update

It’s official – Michael Haugen Jr. is the PBA50 Player of the Year. Haugen eliminated any drama heading into the season’s final major by finishing second at the PBA50 Dave Small’s Championship Lanes Classic.

The high finish by Haugen added with an injured Norm Duke missing the cut sealed the deal. Haugen now has 28,500 points, while Duke is second with 20,014. Even if Duke were to win this weekend and Haugen missed the cut, Duke could only make up 7,500 points.

As for PBA50 Rookie of the Year, Rolando Sebelen made match play at the Dave Small event but got knocked out early. He sits in 27^th place on the points list with 5,431, while Greg Thomas missed the cut to match play and is 33^rd with 4,252. Chris Gibbons is 42^nd with 3,219 points, but he isn’t competing in the PBA50 Cup.

PBA50 tournament director John Weber told FloBowling it is no guarantee the PBA50 Rookie of the Year award will be handed out this year. He said he will evaluate the credentials of the eligible players after the season ends, consult with staff and decide.

You have to think if either Sebelen or Thomas win the season’s final major that would be significant enough to push one of them over the edge to be given the award.

Update: FloBowling has confirmed that John Marsala, who won the Dave Small’s Championship Lanes Classic earlier this week, is indeed eligible for PBA50 Rookie of the Year award. Marsala’s win moved him high up the points list, currently sitting in 22nd place with 6,116 points. As of now, he would be considered the frontrunner should the award be presented depending upon what happens at the PBA50 Cup.

Could the lanes play tougher this weekend?

After an extremely high scoring PBA50 Dave Small’s Championship Lanes Classic event that just wrapped up, we could see the opposite end of the spectrum this weekend when the bowlers face the 42-foot PBA Earl Anthony pattern.

According to the PBA, last week’s PBA Scorpion pattern was modified just prior to the event for topography reasons, resulting in an extremely high-scoring event. This week, the PBA says they won’t modify the pattern, and if the past is any indication, scores could be low.

The bowlers got a taste of the Earl Anthony pattern, which has a 2.15 to 1 ratio, at a recent regional event. The PBA50 PROGRESSIVE/Gerdeman Ins. Agency/Al Smith Chrysler/Dodge/Jeep Central/Midwest Classic was very low scoring with only a handful of players averaging over 200.

The event was won by super senior Harry Sullins, who averaged 208.6. Ryan Shafer actually had the highest average in the event with 219.06 (almost 10 pins a game better than anyone else) but lost in the stepladder to Sullins.

Of course, that event took place at a different bowling center with perhaps a different lane machine (and oil), so the pattern may play differently this weekend at Spectrum Lanes. We will quickly find out during the opening round of qualifying.

What the schedule looks like

The PBA50 Cup is spread out over three days, beginning Friday and concluding Sunday. Here’s the schedule of events (all times Eastern):

Friday, Aug. 10

10 a.m. – First round of qualifying for Squad A (eight games)

3 p.m. – First round of qualifying for Squad B (eight games)

Saturday, Aug. 11

10 a.m. – Second round of qualifying for Squad B (eight games)

3 p.m. – Second round of qualifying for Squad A (eight games)

Sunday, Aug. 12

9 a.m. – Match play Round 1 (eight games)

2 p.m. – Match play Round 2 (eight games)

7 p.m. – Stepladder finals (top five)