This is a recap of the 1978 season for the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) Tour. It was the tour's 20th season, and consisted of 35 events. Mark Roth set a PBA record by winning eight titles on the season, doubling his career total to 16. He also shattered Earl Anthony's single-season earnings record, taking home $134,500 in prize money.[1]

PBA Bowling Tour: 1978 Season
LeagueProfessional Bowlers Association
SportTen-pin bowling
DurationJanuary 4 – December 2, 1978
PBA Tour
Season MVPMark Roth
PBA Tour seasons

Earl Anthony captured the second Firestone Tournament of Champions title of his career, in the process becoming the first PBA Player to reach 30 titles.[2] Nelson Burton, Jr. won the BPAA U.S. Open, while Warren Nelson was the surprise winner at the MGM PBA National Championship.

Tournament schedule

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Event Bowling center City Dates Winner
Miller Lite Classic Gable House Bowl Torrance, California Jan 4–7 Mark Roth (9)
Ford Open Mel's Southshore Bowl Alameda, California Jan 10–15 Marshall Holman (6)
Showboat Invitational Showboat Hotel Lanes Las Vegas, Nevada Jan 15–21 Bill Coleman (1)
Quaker State Open Forum Bowl Grand Prairie, Texas Jan 24–28 Mark Roth (10)
King Louie Open King Louie West Lanes Overland Park, Kansas Jan 31 – Feb 4 Mark Roth (11)
Dutch Masters Open Buckeye Lanes North Olmsted, Ohio Feb 7–11 Dick Ritger (19)
Midas Golden Challenge Expressway Lanes Gretna, Louisiana Feb 14–18 Pete Couture (1)
AMF Magicscore Open Kissimmee Lanes Kissimmee, Florida Feb 21–25 Earl Anthony (29)
Burger King Open Don Carter's Kendall Lanes Miami, Florida Mar 1–4 Randy Lightfoot (1)
BPAA U.S. Open Brunswick Friendly Lanes Greensboro, North Carolina Mar 5–11 Nelson Burton, Jr. (13)
Rolaids Open Dick Weber Lanes Florissant, Missouri Mar 14–18 Dave Davis (17)
Miller High Life Open Red Carpet Celebrity Lanes Milwaukee, Wisconsin Mar 21–25 Fred Jaskie (1)
Long Island Open Garden City Bowl Garden City, New York Mar 28 – Apr 1 Johnny Petraglia (11)
Greater Hartford Open Bradley Bowl Windsor Locks, Connecticut Apr 4–8 Mark Roth (12)
Fair Lanes Open Fair Lanes Towson, Maryland Apr 11–15 Butch Soper (1)
Firestone Tournament of Champions Riviera Lanes Akron, Ohio Apr 17–22 Earl Anthony (30)
Columbia PBA Doubles Classic Leilani Lanes Seattle, Washington May 31 – Jun 4 Mike Berlin (5),
Jimmy Certain (1)
City of Roses Open Timber Lanes Portland, Oregon Jun 8–9 Mark Roth (13)
MGM PBA National Championship MGM Grand Lanes Reno, Nevada Jun 11–18 Warren Nelson (1)
San Jose Open Saratoga Lanes San Jose, California Jun 21–25 Mark Roth (14)
Fresno Open Cedar Lanes Fresno, California Jun 30 – Jul 3 Dave Davis (18)
Salt Lake Open Bonwood Bowl Salt Lake City, Utah Jul 7–10 Wayne Chester (1)
Tucson Open Golden Pin Lanes Tucson, Arizona Jul 14–17 Jeff Mattingly (1)
Amarillo Open Amarillo Bowl Amarillo, Texas Jul 21–24 Steve Westberg (3)
Houston Open Stadium Bowl Houston, Texas Jul 27–31 Steve Neff (4)
Sarasota Open Galaxy Lanes Sarasota, Florida Aug 3–8 Steve Martin (1)
New England Open Lang's Bowlarama Cranston, Rhode Island Aug 11–14 Mark Roth (15)
Buffalo Open Thruway Lanes Cheektowaga, New York Aug 18–21 Larry Laub (10)
Waukegan Open Bertrand Lanes Waukegan, Illinois Aug 24–27 Fred Conner (1)
Quad Cities Open Plaza Bowl North Davenport, Iowa Sep 1–4 Steve Jones (2)
Brunswick Regional Champions Classic Brunswick Olympic Bowl Rochester, New York Oct 27–30 Mark Roth (16)
Kessler Open Ken Nottke's Bowl Battle Creek, Michigan Nov 3–6 Guppy Troup (1)
Northern Ohio Open Westgate Lanes Fairview Park, Ohio Nov 10–13 Marshall Holman (7)
Syracuse Open Strike 'n Spare Lanes Mattydale, New York Nov 17–20 Bill Spigner (2)
Brunswick World Open Brunswick Northern Bowl Glendale Heights, Illinois Nov 25 – Dec 2 Wayne Webb (1)

References

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  1. ^ "Annual PBA Money Leaders". HickokSports.com. Archived from the original on 2013-01-03. Retrieved 2012-08-27.
  2. ^ "1978 Firestone Tournament of Champions". PBA.
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