The 13th annual Subway Bowling Challenge takes place today at Country Lanes North, featuring 126 competitors from around the region.
"Most are from the Duluth area," Scott Carlson, Country Lanes North director, said. "It is one of the most elite tournaments in the region."
The 2007 Subway Challenge is an individual event, boasting the highest number of participants in tournament history.
"There are a lot of newcomers," Carlson said.
The first-place winner receives $1,300.
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"The purse keeps getting bigger and bigger every year," Carlson said.
The tournament is based on a single-elimination, best 2-out-of-3 game format.
"I like the setup a lot, it always gives you a chance if you have a bad game," said Pat Erickson, a Superior native and defending men's champion.
The 35-year bowling veteran has competed in the event eight times, winning two of the challenges and taking second in another.
He bowls for several leagues, including the Good Sports, Landmark Commercial and Thursday Night Veterans leagues.
Erickson has had one 300 game this year, bringing his career total of 21. He also won the Central Bowlers Alliance title in 1996 in Minneapolis and recently won a scratch tournament in Thunder Bay.
The Subway Challenge is expected to draw big crowds, Carlson said.
"When you incorporate the men, women and youth divisions, you get a lot of people. It is wall-to-wall in here," he said.
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The women's division has 30 participants and the first-place finisher will receive $425. The youth division champions will receive a paid entry into the National Junior Olympic Gold Tournament. Sixteen boys and eight girls will compete for the prize.
