Bowlers young and old came out to pick up some tips, tricks and secrets of the game from the 68 professional bowlers that came out to take part in Tri City Lane’s three-day weekend event.

Tommy Jones, a member of the PBA tour for the past 13 seasons, took part in Tri City Lanes’ annual Pro Am tournament last weekend in Easley.

EASLEY — Tri City Lanes opened its doors this weekend for the annual Pro Am tournament, giving locals a chance to pick up some of the tips, tricks and pointers to improve their game as they bowled with the professionals.

“This is a big deal for us here at Tri City,” said Shane Baker, general manager and professional bowler. “There is just a ton of organizational details that have to go into making sure everything runs smoothly.”

This year 68 professional bowlers descended upon the Upstate, 19 of whom are former PBA winners.

“The big name we’ve got here tonight is of course Tommy Jones,” said Baker.

According to the PBA, Jones is considered by many to be one of the more competitive pros on the PBA tour today. Residing in Simpsonville, Jones joined the tour in 2001 where he was named Rookie of the Year. Thirteen seasons later, Jones has racked up over $1.4 million in PBA prize money and is known as a “power stroker” in bowling circles, due to his smooth slide-step and release.

Despite the local favorite pulling out a perfect 300 game, Jones finished fourth in the tournament with the big winnings going to EJ Tackett out of Huntington, Ind. Tackett joined the PBA tour in 2012, has earned over $128,000 in prize money and owns four PBA regional titles.