By BILL SNIER
FAIRLAWN — Nine tournaments, nine first-time winners, three rookie champions.
It has been an unprecedented 2026 season for the Professional Bowlers Association Tour heading into Sunday’s finals of its third major — the PBA Tournament of Champions at AMF Riviera Lanes.
And the Tour “veterans” have taken notice that the times they are a-changin’.
“It has been unbelievable, but we’ve kind of been waiting for it,” said 30-year-old Chesterfield, Mich., right-hander Andrew Anderson, a six-time Tour winner. “With the two-handed phenomenon and the development of the college athletes … I’ve had the privilege to coach many of them five.
“I started with a few of them five years ago and, now, they beat me quite often.”
A slang term used by many of these younger players in referring to the veterans is “Unc,” It’s defined as a term “used online to humorously describe someone older, out-of-touch, or exhibiting ‘uncle-like’ behaviors.”
“I’m just 30 years old and the kids I work with have taken to calling me Unc,” said Anderson, the No. 3 seed for Sunday’s 4 p.m. TOC championship round. “Am I really at Unc status already? I just have to take the route that I’m the veteran, but have the experience. I have to lean on that.
“I’ve still got plenty of years left.”
Brandon Bonta, a 23-year-old Wichita State University rookie right-hander, crashed onto the scene during the PBA Players Championship, the Tour’s debut 2026 event.
He not only ran the stepladder for the win (topping fellow rookie Spencer Robarge along the way), but beat PBA Player of the Year EJ Tackett to win the $100,000 top check by throwing a 300 in the title match — only the second time that has been done in PBA history and only the fifth time a 300 has been rolled during a television debut.
“After the Players, my thinking changed and I was able to fully embrace that I can be the best player out here,” said Bonta, who is the No 4 seed for Sunday’s TOC finals. “It gave me the confidence to perform in the biggest tournaments we have.
“It created the confidence in myself that I’m supposed to be here. That’s the key to having success out here.”
Former Indiana Institute of Technology player Alex Horton, a 22-year-old Douglassville, Pa., two-handed righty, watched everything develop with Bonta and the rest of the rookies during that first week. It convinced the one-time PBA regional champion to give it a go this season.
“What Bonta did propelled me to come out here and bowl. I wanted to try to etch my name with these rookies,” said Horton, the No. 2 seed for Sunday’s TOC finals in his first TV appearance. “It was inspiring … and it feels like it give the other rookies the opportunity. It’s like, ‘Hey, we’ve won out here and we can compete out here.’ ”
Robarge and Austin Grammar also joined Bonta in winning rookie titles, setting a PBA record for wins in one season. Horton has the opportunity to add to that mark.
One veteran who has seen this wave coming is 14-time PBA major winner Jason Belmonte.
The 42-year-old Australian, who became the poster boy for the two-handed delivery on his way to 32 career titles and seven-time Player of the Year status, doesn’t like the fact that a lot of chatter on internet sites takes the new rookie wave lightly.
“I try to watch the guys as much as I can. One of the things I have noticed is reading things on line,” said Belmonte, the No. 5 seed for Sunday’s TOC in hopes of claiming his fifth win in the event.
“Yes, the scoring pace has been really high this year and the lanes have maybe been a little softer. But watch these kids bowl. Watch their swing paths, the launch angles, their ball changes, their speed and hand release changes … these kids can bowl and they’re very good at what they do.
“It’s a joy that there is a group of kids coming through that are not just here for fun and to hang out. They’re here to win, and they’re good enough to do that. As much as I don’t like watching them strike as much as they do, it’s good to know the Tour is in safe hands.”
While the kids have been on a run, including first-time winner Zach Wilkins, a 29-year-old Canadian two-handed righty who is the No. 1 seed for Sunday’s TOC, Belmonte has been without a victory since his last TOC win in 2023.
Being philosophical, Belmonte also knows he’s closer to the end at this point of his career.
“The kid back then had this kind over positive outlook for the future,” said Belmonte when asked how he compares to the man who won his first TOC in 2014. “I’m trying to enjoy the moments now, knowing they’re not going to last forever.
“I didn’t think like that 10 years ago. I was tuning it out, throwing the ball down the lane, loving it and pushing to win. I don’t know when it’s going to end, but it’s closer than it where it was 10 years ago.”
What would he have told that younger version of himself back then?
“You know eventually it’s going to end,” Belmonte said. “Make more of your spares.”
Belmonte had some fun clowning with Bonta during the post-shift interviews Friday night, especially when the rookie made the comment, “to be the best, you have to beat the best.”
“I was expecting some new-age lingo,” Belmonte said to him, laughing. “I grew up with that one.”
So Bonta changed his tune.
“Just beat Unc,” Bonta said of meeting Belmonte in Sunday’s opening match.
There’s that term again … and the veterans will be hearing and seeing a lot of it in the future.