The PBA announced today the 2006 PBA Senior Tour schedule, which features nine events, including two Majors.

The season begins with the 2006 Senior Manassas Open, April 22-25 at Bowl America Manassas in Virginia before the Tour heads to Shawnee Lanes in Chillicothe, Ohio, for the 2006 Senior Chillicothe Open, April 29-May 2.

After a five-week hiatus, the Tour resumes with five straight weeks of competition, beginning with the 2006 Senior Tucson Open, June 10-14, at Golden Pin Lanes in Tucson, Ariz. The first Major event of the season follows with the 2006 Senior U.S. Open Presented by Suncoast at Suncoast Bowling Center in Las Vegas, Nev., June 18-23.

The 2006 Senior Epicenter Classic at The Epicenter Bowling Complex in Klamath Falls, Ore., follows June 25-28, after which the Tour moves to Brentwood, Calif., and Harvest Park Bowl for the 2006 Senior Northern California Classic, July 2-5.

The 2006 United States Bowling Congress (USBC) Senior Masters takes place July 9-15 at the National Bowling Stadium in Reno, Nev., followed by a three-week break. The Tour concludes with the 2006 Senior Lake County Open at Olympia Lanes in Hammond, Ind., Aug. 7-10, followed by the 2006 Senior Decatur Open at Spare Time Lanes in Decatur, Ill., Aug. 12-15.

"We are starting to build continuity with regards to the PBA Senior Tour schedule, as five of the centers will be repeat hosts for at least the third straight season. Overall, seven of the nine centers the Tour will visit were on our schedule last season," said Director of PBA Regional and Senior Tours Bobby Dinkins. "As always, we'll look to add more events to the schedule before the season begins in April."

As in previous years, the highest finishing PBA member in both the 2006 Senior U.S. Open and the 2006 USBC Senior Masters will receive a berth into the 2006-07 Denny's PBA Tour Dexter Tournament of Champions.

The standard PBA Senior Tour event format begins with an official practice and pro-am day. The next two days feature the entire field bowling two eight-game qualifying blocks. The top 32 qualifiers after 16 games will advance to match play.

Match play begins with qualifiers 17-32 bowling each other in best-of-five-games matches. Those winners will advance to bowl qualifiers 9-16 in another best-of-five-games match, after which the remaining winners face qualifiers 1-8.

The final eight will bowl another five-game match to whittle the field down to four. The final four will bowl best-of-three games semifinal matches with the two remaining bowlers facing each other in a best-of-three-games title match. The winner will receive the $8,000 top prize.

PBA Senior Tour events are open to PBA members and non-members age 50 or older. The PBA will begin accepting entries for all events except the 2005 USBC Senior Masters on Feb. 1, 2006. Bowlers wishing to enter the Masters should contact the USBC at (800) 514-2695 ext. 3415 or visit www.bowl.com. Non-members wishing to bowl in a PBA Senior Tour event should contact the bowling center to enter.