With the resolution of the doping case of German amateur bowler Laura Beuthner, would it be possible for the PBA Tour to become engulfed in such a scandal? To answer that question, you need to examine whether or not players are even tested.

According to PBA Commissioner Tom Clark, the PBA “reserves the right to conduct random checks.” He also said any testing and/or fines are kept confidential and understandably declined to provide further information.

A bowler FloBowling spoke to said they are unaware of any drug testing by the PBA, but they could not say with certainty that it hasn’t occurred.

Some PBA bowlers are more susceptible to random drug testing than others, however, especially those who compete on national teams, in World Bowling events or other international competitions.

Team USA’s 2018 roster includes PBA members Andrew Anderson, Chris Barnes, Jakob Butturff, AJ Johnson, Tommy Jones, Marshall Kent, EJ Tackett, Darren Tang, Kyle Troup and Chris Via.

All of these players, in addition to the other members of Team USA, are subject to random drug tests as part of being members of the national team. Tests can occur at any time, are unannounced and do happen.

This testing also occurs at international events such as the World Bowling Men’s and Women’s Championships, the World Games, the Pan-American Games and the Asian Games. It’s at the World Games where Beuthner tested positive for a banned substance and was stripped of her gold medal in women’s singles.

So, yes, ultimately it is possible a doping scandal could hit the PBA Tour. However, it seems extremely unlikely to occur.

The sports that have been most susceptible to doping scandals are baseball and track and field in the past. Bowling does not have a history of these types of cases and there’s no indication that this is a major problem in our sport.

For now, it appears the Beuthner case was simply an isolated incident and all indications are it was an unintentional or accidental case and nothing further should be read into it.