If you build it, they will come. Bill Moore had his dream house built with two synthetic Brunswick bowling lanes inside and sure enough some of the biggest names in bowling have visited this unique venue just a few miles from Centreville, Virginia.

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And on Tuesday, the top five bowlers that make it to the stepladder finals at the PBA50 Bud Moore Classic will then make the short drive over to Bill Moore’s house for the stepladder finals broadcast exclusively on FloBowling.

“It’s funny because I jokingly said during a PBA tournament in 2019, we should have a stepladder finals in my basement, and people laughed,” Moore said. “Last year, I talked to (PBA Tournament Director) John Weber. It went through the whole ranks. They thought that would be a great idea to have the tournament in Centreville and the TV finals in my basement. That would be something they have never done before.”

The tournament will start with seven games of qualifying at 8 a.m. Eastern on Sunday at Bowlero Centreville, followed by seven more games on Monday before the field is cut to the top 32. There will be eight games of match play starting at 8 a.m. Tuesday followed by the top five advancing to the stepladder finals starting at 7 p.m. from Bud Moore Lanes, which is about five minutes away. All rounds will be broadcast live exclusively on FloBowling.

Moore, who is a certified financial planner, used to tell anyone who listened that someday he was going to build a bowling center in his basement. Friends didn’t believe him and even home builders thought he was crazy. Finally, he found someone that would build he and his wife’s dream home complete with the two bowling lanes, a 12-car garage and five suites.

“It’s pretty funny because when you build a hole for a new house the first thing you have to do is put the cement down,” the 61-year-old said. “It looked like I was building a swimming pool in my basement, because I had to have 18-inches for the ball return.”

The bowling center was completed first in December 2017 then the rest of the house was finalized the next month. Moore wanted the center to be a tribute to his dad, Lewis ‘Bud’ Moore, who used to bowl in leagues four nights a week. He is also a member of the Niagara Falls Bowling Association Hall of Fame and the namesake for this week’s PBA50 event.

Inside a display case are some of Bud’s bowling awards and stories written about him during his bowling heydays. Moore’s favorite piece is the actual scoresheet from Bud’s first 300 game rolled on April 29, 1977.

“It’s right in the middle of this showcase about his career and it’s in the best place,” Moore said of his father’s memorabilia. “Along with his two diamond 300 rings.”

As you look around this unique space, Moore hopes people feel a sense of nostalgia. He has a Brunswick telescore, the cellophane scoresheets that required the use of a yellow pencil, a Lustre King ball machine and Brunswick machines.

Once Moore’s bowling basement was completed, Steve Caffrey with Brunswick asked him if he would be having a grand opening party to celebrate. Caffrey told Moore he could get one of Brunswick’s professional bowlers to be at the event and the first name mentioned was the legendary Johnny Petraglia.

“I was like, ‘Wow, Johnny Petraglia would come to my house?’” Moore recalled. “Indeed, he did come to my house. I keep telling Johnny our lives have changed totally to the positive because now we have bowling events here. I can call up 20 pro bowlers on speed dial and they talk to me like I am their friend, which is amazing.”

Some of the other famous names that have bowled at Bud Moore Lanes are Parker Bohn III and Walter Ray Williams Jr. Petraglia, Bohn and Amleto Monacelli are going to be Moore’s house guests during the week of the tournament. And Moore will be bowling as well. His goal is to not finish in last place.

Unfortunately, Bud, who is 87 years old, won’t be at the tournament in-person but Moore knows his dad is amazed at what they were able to accomplish with this first-time event. Bud will be watching. As for Bill Moore, he will be right in the middle of the stepladder finals action keeping score with his yellow pencil, just like when he used to keep score for his dad.

“It will just be a blast to have those guys around here,” Moore said. “Sometimes you just have to pinch yourself and say, ‘yeah, this is really happening.’”

At the end of the day, Moore sees this as a chance to show his appreciation to the PBA50 bowlers, and he hopes anyone who visits his dream bowling center will walk away smiling. The winner of the PBA50 Bud Moore Classic certainly will.