The 15th edition of the New Mexico Open, which will be held from August 17-19 at Tenpins & More in Rio Rancho, N.M., is the 8th stop of the World Bowling Tour 2018 and the lone tier 3 event this season.
WBT tier 3 events award bowlers with two times the number of WBT Rankings points (tier 2 four times and tier 1 six times).
It’s the culmination of a quest by local tournament director Steve Mackie that began almost a decade ago seeking first to be admitted to the European Bowling Tour then more recently the World Bowling Tour after they decided on a tier system of entry for events with prize money between $50,000 and $100,000.
“We are just thrilled to be able to bring the prestigious World Bowling Tour to our 24-lane Center, as the feature event in three months of our 35th birthday celebrations”, said Mackie.
As well, this year’s winner will receive an event record $12,000 from an estimated purse of more than $ 64,000, also a tournament record.
If the 15th NMO would reach the 240 maximum field size, the pay-out would be closer to $70,000, with a prize ratio of 1:3.5 in the single entry qualifying round event.
The NMO will be covered live for 30 hours via BowlStreamTV and bowling fans around the world can tune in as well as leave questions and comments.
The field includes defending champion Vernon Peterson as well as previous winners Jakob Butturff, Craig Nidiffer, Nathan Bohr, Lonnie Waliczek, Devin Bidwell, Andrew Cain, Chris Klerk, John Young, David Haynes and Shawn Lee.
Others notables include PBA Hall of Famer Chris Barnes, Dino Castillo, Kristopher Prather, Michael and Darren Tang, Josh Blanchard, Mike Fagan, Bryanna Caldwell, Francois Lavoie, Stu Williams, Robert Lawrence, Dave Wodka and Mike DeVaney,
In last year’s championship round, Anthony Simonsen first eliminated 2015 champion, Jakob Butturff, 467-363, then former Team USA member Steve Smith, 478-402, before losing to top seeded Vernon Peterson in the championship match, 408-374.
The 15th New Mexico Open features an eight-game qualifying round in squads on August 17 & 18 after which the field will be cut to the top 32 for a double-elimination match play bracket bowling two-game total pinfall matches on August 19, prior to the championship round matches scheduled for that Sunday afternoon.
The top four at that point will bowl two-game total pin-fall matches, with fourth playing third, the winner playing second seed, before challenging the leader (who would have to lose twice) for the trophy and the first prize check.
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