The Premier Tenpin Bowling Club has now entered a new era in its long and illustrious history. Alan Weall, Roger Wilson, Dave Maberly and Steve Peachey have hung up their PTBC boots and called it a day after 25 years.
I would like to personally extend my thanks on behalf of all the bowlers to Alan and the rest of the committee for a job well done. This years tour is actually the 30th Anniversary and I'm informed that if it were not for Alan and his team, the scratch bowling in England would not be what it is today!
Enough of the past... onto the FUTURE!
I would like to introduce the newly elected committee:-
President - Steve Thornton
Vice President - Rob Thurlby
Secretary - Andy James
Treasurer - Alex Hamilton
Andy and I will be the new face of the PTBC, managing, running and scoring the events with Rob and Steve overseeing our work!
Our Aim...
To help modernise and revitalise Scratch bowling in England.
We have had our first committee meeting/brain storming session and the following ideas and points have come from it. Alot of the points have not been finalised, but we shall update everyone as soon as they are.
It was decided to run 6 events over the year, culminating in a Master (7th event) to be held in January of the following year. Our schedule and formats for next year are as follows:
Event 1 - Newbury, Feb 5th/6th
This shall be our first Team England Ranking Event and as a tribute to years gone by, we shall run this event 'le classic' PTBC style. 6 games qualifying, 4 games cut, Top 10 Men, 6 Ladies Round Robin Final
Event 2 - Croydon, May 7th/8th
This event will also be Team England Ranking and will be run as one divison, Men and Ladies combined, Ladies receiving 7-pin bonus throughout. 8 games qualifying, cut to top 32. The finals shall be Matchplay, Best of 5, 8 winners will progress to play seeds 4 & 5. The winner will then face 3rd seed, Winner will play 2nd seed. The winner of that match will then play the 1st seed for the title.
Event 3 - Dunstable, June (TBC)
This will be our first NON-Ranking event of our calendar. The date and format of this event has not been finalised at this time, we shall advise everyone as soon as they are!
Event 4 - Ilkeston, September 18th
Our second NON-Ranking event some might recognise as the Bruce Ford Memorial.
Qualifying will be in one division (ladies receiving 5-pins bonus), over 6 games in two blocks of three, each on a different pattern: i.e. Pattern 1 - A squad 3 games, B Squad 3 games. Dress Pattern 2, B Squad 3 games, A Squad 3 games. Top 32 will play 6 games, scores carrying forward.
Scores to zero, Top 8 Round Robin.
Event 5 - Tolworth, October 22nd/23rd
Our third Team England Ranking event of the season will be 8 games qualifying, all bowlers in one division (ladies receiving 5-pins bonus throughout). The top 48 shall cut for a further 4 games, followed by a Top 10 Round Robin, scores carrying all the way through.
Event 6 - Airport, December 3rd/4th
The finale to our tour and the Team England Rankings will be 6 games qualifying at trios pace, one squad (except overflow if required). All bowlers shall be in one division, ladies 5 pins bonus.
Cut to top 48 bowlers who will play another 6 games. The top 8 will then cut to a Best of Three Matchplay Final, 1 v 8, 2 v 7, etc, The 4 winners will play Best of three. The two Grand Finalists will then play Best of three to decide the champion.
Event 7 - Masters, January 2006 (TBC)
The date and venue of our Masters Final is not confirmed at this time, but it will consist of 16 bowlers. Seven Event Winners will automatically qualify, along with an additional 9 bowlers taken from the newly introduced PTBC Tour Points Standings. Points will be awarded for each event. The fine details of the point allocations are at present not finalised. £2 from each entry to each event will go towards the Masters, generating roughly £1,000 towards lineage and prize fund.
We will be re-introducing the yearly Membership from our Croydon event onwards. Yearly membership £20 and will run from event of sign-up, and expire prior to the same event the following year. Daily Membership will be £10 and will only be valid for one event.
The money from membership shall go towards the running costs and the Masters Final.
Mr James shall be re-vamping www.ptbc.co.uk due for the grand un-veiling in January.
He is currently working on an online registration form, hopefully with the ability to take secure on-line payments for events as well.
The website will have all the usual scores, with Rob Thurlby doing an event report for the site and Go Tenpin.
As part of our modernisation, we feel that it is extremely important to bring the clubs accounts out of the shadows. Therefore, for each event run, a clear poster will be on display showing where every penny from each event has gone.
We shall be getting an independant person (trying to twist Phil Scammell's arm) to certify that our accounts are a true and accurate record.
The new committee is, at present in negotiations with various parties to try and find sponsors for each event to help increase prize funds and allow there to be a good sized Masters prize fund.
If anyone has any questions about the NEW PTBC Tour or if there is anyone reading this interested in promoting their business and helping to better the Tour with a sponsorship offer, please email me on alex@powerplayproshop.com or call me on 07720 292 474.