BayerlBrunswick Touring Players Championship

AKRON, Ohio, March 31, 1999 -- One of the most popular tournaments on the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) tour will return to Akron in May, sponsored by Bayer Corporation and Brunswick. The Bayer/Brunswick Touring Players Championship will bring the world's top bowlers to the PBA's hometown from May 9 to 15 to compete for $200,000 in prize money.

Since its debut in 1995, the Bayer/Brunswick Touring Players Championship has been one of the most popular tournaments on the PBA tour for both fans and pros. The TPC set the standard for the PBA's popular arena finals format in 1995 and 1996, utilizing music, lighting and special effects. Then Bayer and Brunswick brought the arena seating format into the bowling center, and - for the first time - the PBA encouraged fans to shout and cheer throughout the tournament. This exciting atmosphere will be duplicated in Akron this spring.

"Bayer is pleased to bring the Touring Players Championship back to Akron in 1999," said Dan McMahon, Director, Elastomers Business Group for Bayer Corporation's Polyurethanes Division, which co-sponsors the tournament with Brunswick. "The city rolled out the red carpet for this tournament last year, making the sponsors and the bowlers feel welcome."

"Brunswick and its Pro Staff bowlers look forward to arriving in Akron," said Bryan Collins, President of Brunswick's Consumer Products Division. "The Bayer/Brunswick Touring Players Championship has consistently been a showcase for some of the most competitive and exciting bowling on the PBA Tour. That's what we want to deliver to Akron's bowling fans and a national television audience."

In addition to being the home of the Bayer/Brunswick Touring Players Championship, Akron is also home for another Bayer Corporation business. The sales and marketing headquarters for Bayer's rubber business, which employs nearly 100 people, is located in downtown Akron.

Bayer and Brunswick Team Up

While bowling ball styles and colors have changed over the years, for more than a decade Brunswick bowling balls have relied on the consistent, high-quality performance of polyurethanes from the Pittsburgh-based Polyurethanes Division of Bayer Corporation.

Bayer and Brunswick joined forces to make polyurethane bowling balls more than 10 years ago, and today, continue to work together to develop different polyurethanes and balls for different lane conditions.

Top professionals, as well as high-average amateurs, can take advantage of Brunswick's latest line of bowling balls, from the popular Zone series to the premium Quantum series. All are proactive or reactive resin bowling balls that use unique materials from Bayer that offer the bowler greater control and more options to accommodate a range of lane conditions.

"Core design and coverstock materials give different balls different performance characteristics," said McMahon, whose team works closely with Brunswick to develop new polyurethanes for bowling ball coverstocks. "Bowlers can select one ball for oily lanes and another for dry, one ball for strikes and another for spares."

Working with Brunswick, Bayer scientists studied bowling and bowlers, increasing their knowledge of the type of material that would give bowlers the performance they needed. In the early 1990s, Bayer developed proprietary coverstock materials that offer more hook potential than traditional bowling balls. The first commercial example of this new technology was the Brunswick Rhino Pro. Introduced in 1992, the Rhino Pro became the industry's best-selling bowling ball during its first year on the market.

"Bowlers choose their ball based on the conditions they face - and it's much easier to change your ball than the way you throw it," said Collins. "Thanks to the versatility of Bayer polyurethanes, Brunswick can offer bowlers a ball for nearly all of the changing lane conditions they'll find."

Bayer also helped Brunswick develop the most advanced equipment in the world to test new bowling ball coverstock materials. Throbot is a one-of-a-kind robotic bowling ball testing device. Brunswick developed the idea for the machine, defined its needed capabilities and asked Bayer's scientists and technicians to design and build it. Throbot makes it possible for Brunswick to duplicate and consistently repeat the release of any type of bowler. Throbot has already been programmed to emulate the bowling styles of Brunswick's Pro Staff members, including Walter Ray Williams, Jr., Parker Bohn III and Mike Aulby.

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