The inaugural Rockford Area Scratch Trio Tournament is set for Sunday, May 6 at 10 a.m. at Cherry Bowl in Rockford, Illinois.

The 3-person teams must include one senior (age 50 or older).

The cost is $60 per bowler, with $53 to the prize fund and $7 for lineage. So far, the tournament has raised $400 in sponsorship, tournament organizer Bobby Schmidt said.

The cashing ratio will be 1 in 5 with a 30-team maximum field. With those 30 teams, first will be at least $2,100, second $1,200, third and fourth $480 each, and fifth and sixth $360 each. There also will be a $150 bonus for the top qualifying team.

There also will be regular and senior brackets and a singles side pot.

The format is four games of qualifying with a double stepladder featuring the 5-3-1 seeds on one side and 6-4-2 on the other, leading to a title match.

The tournament will be contested on a house shot.

To register, contact Schmidt at [email protected] or 815-332-9595.

I will be competing on a team with Schmidt and Mike Dole.

I appreciate having a tournament at that time since many are over by then and we bowl the USBC Open Championships 11 days later, although I wish it were on at least a Challenge-level shot.