1961 Empire State PBA Open

The Third Annual Empire State PBA Open was the first event of the 1961 PBA Season. It was the third time this event kicked off the PBA National Tour

Tournament Recap

The PBA tour's first event of 1961, the $17,000 Third Annual Empire State PBA Open, was held at Schade's Academy, in Albany, New York. The first day of PBA competition was March 03, 1961. The competition ran until March 03, 1961. 28 bowlers cashed in this competition. Carmen Salvino, of Chicago, IL, won his first career PBA title, and took home the first prize of $3,000. Rounding out the top 5 were Ray Bluth, Elias Albert, Don Carter and Earl Johnson.

Top 10

Position

Name

Hometown

Prize

1

Carmen Salvino

Chicago, IL

$3,000

2

Ray Bluth

St. Louis, MO

$2,000

3

Elias Albert

Albany, NY

$1,500

4

Don Carter

St. Louis

$1,000

5

Earl Johnson

Minneapolis, MN

$800

6

Ed Lubanski

Detroit, MI

$700

7

Skip Vigars

Albany, NY

$650

8

Dale Seavoy

Detroit, MI

$600

9

Al Thompson

Cleveland, OH

$550

10

Bill Lillard

Dallas, TX

$500

References

http://pba.com/Tournaments/FullStandings/144