Players on the PBA Tour will compete for a national title for the first time in nearly three weeks when the PBA Xtra Frame Gene Carter’s Pro Shop Classic starts this Saturday, August 18.

Mid-Country Bowling & Entertainment Center in Middletown, Delaware, will serve as host for the 10^th anniversary of the event, which will be broadcast live on FloBowling.

Eleven of the top 20 on the PBA Tour points list this season will be on hand competing for the PBA title and a $15,000 top prize, while some will also look beef up their resume for PBA Player of the Year honors.

Here’s what to look for at the PBA Xtra Frame Gene Carter’s Pro Shop Classic:

Rash looks for back-to-back titles

New dad Sean Rash will look to defend his title this weekend as he takes on a sold-out field of 150 bowlers.

Rash and his wife Sara welcomed their second child to the family when Olivia Lynn Rash was born on Aug. 8, weighing in at 7 pounds, 1 ounce. Now, Rash will be back on the lanes looking for back-to-back titles.

Last year, Rash earned the top seed for the stepladder finals and used a string of seven strikes to take down EJ Tackett, 257-223 for his 12^th career title.

Although he is winless so far this season, Rash has won at least one title in each of the past six seasons, a string he will look to extend this weekend.

Five of the top six in points in the field

There’s still a lot of bowling left this season on the PBA Tour but among those in the hunt for PBA Player of the Year honors, this weekend’s event could ultimately make the difference between winning the award and not.

Five of the top six bowlers on the points list are competing this weekend with Andrew Anderson leading the way at 16,837 points. Australia’s Jason Belmonte, who is currently second in points at 13,473.5, will not make the trip over for the event.

Marshall Kent is third with 11,904, Bill O’Neill sits in fourth at 11,596, Anthony Simonsen is fifth with 10,747 and Tackett is next with 10,649.

With eight events remaining on the PBA Tour schedule for this season including this weekend, any of those players could earn player of the year and it is certainly possible for just about anyone to have a big close to the season and win the award.

As for the PBA Rookie of the Year race, the only player currently in the hunt for that award who is competing this week is Kamron Doyle.

42-foot PBA Earl Anthony pattern to be used

If you watched FloBowling’s coverage of the PBA50 Cup presented by DV8 over the weekend, you will have a pretty good idea of what to expect this weekend when it comes to lane conditions.

The PBA Earl Anthony pattern was used for the PBA50 Cup and will be the pattern of choice for the Gene Carter’s Pro Shop Classic. The pattern comes in at 42 feet with a pattern ratio of 2.15 to one.

The lanes will certainly play different when broken down by the higher rev players on the PBA Tour than the PBA50 Tour, but if we look just at the scoring pace it can provide some information. During the PBA50 Cup, only 36 out of 88 bowlers averaged 200 or better, while the eventual champion, Brian Kretzer, averaged 220.45 for the week.

What the schedule looks like

The PBA Xtra Frame Gene Carter’s Pro Shop Classic is spread out over two days, beginning Saturday and concluding Sunday. Here’s the schedule of events (all times Eastern):

Saturday, Aug. 18

9 a.m. – Squad A qualifying (seven games)

4 p.m. – Squad B qualifying (seven games)

Sunday, Aug. 19

9 a.m. – Cashers qualifying (four games)

1 p.m. – Round Robin match play (12 games)

6:30 p.m. – Stepladder finals (top four)