The 2019-2020 season will kickoff at North Hill Bowl in Minot with the inaugural NDBowlTV Masters being held October 26-27, 2019.
The NDBowlTV Masters format will mimic parts of the USBC Masters while also including a twist.
For starters, the oil pattern used will be no secret. Each NDBowlTV Masters will use the oil pattern that the USBC Masters was conducted on the previous season. The 2019 USBC Masters will be held March 26th-April 1, 2019 in Las Vegas. The pattern they use will also be the pattern used at the NDBowlTV Masters in October.
Saturday will feature an 8 game qualifying block with the top 16 advancing to the bracket on Sunday. The tournament will pay out 1 in 4, so if more than 16 get paid, additional spots will be paid out on Saturday evening along with any brackets and side pots. The bracket will also be revealed at the this time. Fewer entries will require adjustments to tournament format and payout.
Sunday will feature a single elimination bracket. Each match will be determined by qualifying position. (1 vs 16, 2 vs 15, and so on) Each match will be a 3 game total pin match.
Round 1 will eliminate 8 bowlers. Those 8 bowlers will bowl 3 more games (concurrent with round 2, on open lanes assigned by tournament staff) and their 6 game total will determine the 9th through 16th finishing positions. This will ensure that all qualifiers will bowl 6 games on Sunday.
Round 2 will be held on the burn. This round will eliminate 4 bowlers leaving the final 4. The 4 undefeated bowlers remaining will be ranked based on their 6 game total. The highest 6 game total will earn the #1 seed in the stepladder finals and so on. Here is the twist, of the 4 bowlers losing in round 2, the bowler with the highest 6 game total will earn the #5 seed in the finals. The remaining bowlers will be ranked based on their 6 game total to determine the 6th through 8th finishing positions.
The stepladder finals will be conducted on fresh oil with the winner receiving a paid entry into the USBC Masters along with prize money from the tournament.
All bowling on Sunday will be featured on NDBowlTV.
The NDBowlTV Masters will replace the NDBowling.com Kickoff Classic on the Player of the Year points schedule.
More complete details such as entry fee, USBC Masters entry prize eligibility, tie-breaking procedures, and start times will be announced at a later date.
