The 2026 New Mexico Open Aug. 27-30 will feature some significant changes, including a European-style format, slow oil-absorbing high-performance (urethane) balls being banned, and 8 pins per game handicap for women and seniors 55 and older.

Mike Fagan, the retired PBA Tour champion who bought host center Tenpins & More in Rio Rancho, New Mexico and the tournament last year, said in announcing the changes that they were “upgrades to improve the competition and overall experience.”

Under the European-style format, the top eight qualifiers get two byes and qualifiers 9-16 get one bye in the 32-player finals, raising the stakes of qualifying.

Qualifying will be six games and squads will be at 8 a.m. and 1 p.m. Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, with entry fees ranging from $250 Thursday, $300 Friday, and $350 Saturday, with re-entries $50 less. Players can enter at the tournament website.

The leader of each Thursday and Friday squad is guaranteed a spot in the top 32.

On Sunday, qualifiers 17-32 bowl six games with the top eight advancing. Qualifiers 9-16 join those eight for six more games with the top eight advancing. Qualifiers 1-8 join those eight for six more games and the top four advance to the stepladder finals.

In past years, the format has featured six games of qualifying with the top 32 advancing to double-elimination bracket match play. The winners bracket was 2-game matches, and the losers bracket was 1-game matches. The top four advanced to the stepladder finals.

The ball rule change was “to ensure fairness for all competitors,” Fagan said, noting that it follows the rules of many USBC championship events.

There also will be $5,000 guaranteed in SMART scholarship prizes for youth competitors.

Tenpins & More will donate all tournament lineage, which will increase the prize fund for competitors.

The 22nd annual New Mexico Open will have a $10,000 guaranteed first prize, and last cash is guaranteed to be $1,000.

The 2026 New Mexico Open lane pattern is 47 feet with a 46-foot drop brush featuring 35.15 mL of Kegel Current oil — 25.1 mL forward and 10.05 mL reverse — and ratios of 1.89-1 middle-outside track, 1.04-1 middle-middle track, and 1-1 middle-inside track. The PDF of the pattern is attached to this story.

InsideBowling.com will be webcasting the tournament.

The tournament Facebook page is here.

Dallas Leong defeated Anthony Simonsen to win the 2025 New Mexico Open, as I detailed in this story.