Fairport Merchants

2026-27 season · Thursday nights · AMF Fairview Lanes

Through week 10 · bowled Nov 5, 2026

2026-27 Fairport Merchants League Rules

All USBC rules not specifically listed here are in effect.
Date and time
  • The league bowls on Thursday nights, three games per week, for a 29-week season.
  • Practice begins at approximately 6:30 PM. Competition begins at approximately 6:40 PM.
  • The season begins Thursday, September 3, 2026 and ends April 8, 2027.
  • Weeks 1 through 28 are regular league bowling. Week 29 is a separate tournament with its own prizes, and also the championship round between the two half-season winners.
  • There is no bowling on November 26, 2026, December 24, 2026, and December 31, 2026.
League fees
  • Bowling fees are $25.00 per person, per league session, or $725 for the season: $14.75 lineage and $10.25 prize fund/fees per week. All bowlers also cover the $25 USBC sanction fee, which brings the total cost of bowling for the season to $750.
  • Each regular bowler must cover the $25 USBC sanction fee by week 3 (September 17, 2026). Bowlers sanctioned in another USBC league do not pay this fee but must indicate the league they are sanctioned through on their USBC sanction card.
  • New regular bowlers starting mid-season and substitute bowlers must fill out a sanction card on their first night in the league. A bowler not sanctioned for the 2026-27 season must pay $25 the first night he bowls. This is the team captain's responsibility.
  • A team that lets an unpaid or unsanctioned bowler participate without meeting the sanction requirements on that bowler's first week will be fined $25 to cover the sanction fee, taken from year-end prize money.
  • Individual bowlers may not fall more than two weeks behind on league fees, and teams may not fall more than $100 behind. Bowlers or teams over these limits may forfeit all individual and team points for each week they remain over.
  • Once a bowler has paid a league fee for a team, he is a permanent bowler for that team and may not bowl for another team in the league that season.
Handicap
  • This is a handicap league. Individual handicap is 90% of the difference between the bowler's average and 230.
Entering and establishing averages
  • Returning bowlers use their final Fairport Merchants average from last season, if they bowled more than 21 games, for their first 9 games. After 9 games, their current average is used for the rest of the season.
  • Regular or substitute bowlers without a Fairport Merchants average from last season use their highest sanctioned Rochester, NY USBC average of 21 games or more from last season.
  • Bowlers with no Rochester, NY USBC average from last season or the current season establish their average after their first 3 games.
Season breakdown
  • The 28 weeks of competition are split into two halves. The first half runs weeks 1 through 14 and the second half runs weeks 15 through 28. Each half champion is the team with the most points won during that half.
  • A tie for first place after week 14 or week 28 is settled by a one-game roll-off immediately following that week.
  • Team points reset to zero on week 15. Averages, match points, and high game and series awards carry through the entire season.
  • Each team is scheduled to compete against each other team one time in the season. There are 7 position rounds: 3 in the first half (weeks 10, 13 and 14) and 4 in the second half (weeks 19, 24, 27 and 28). Each position round begins on a different starting pair of lanes.
  • On week 29, the two half champions bowl for the league championship. The roll-off follows the regular league scoring format, and the league champion is the team that wins 20.5 or more points that night. A 20-20 tie is settled by a one-game roll-off immediately after.
  • All other teams bowl in the year-end tournament on week 29.
  • If the same team wins both halves, that team is the league champion and wins the week 29 championship prize. The team with the second-most points for the season is the runner-up and wins the second-place prize, and all teams bowl in the week 29 tournament.
Scoring system
  • The league uses a 40-point system.
  • Bowlers in the same lineup position bowl head-to-head. The bowler with the higher handicap score wins 1 point per game, and the bowler with the higher handicap series wins 1 additional point.
  • Teams also compete head-to-head. The team with the higher handicap score wins 6 points per game, and the team with the higher handicap series wins 6 points.
Prizes
  • Teams win prize money based on their final place in the standings.
  • Prizes are also paid for individual and team high game and high series (scratch and handicap), high average, and high match points.
  • To qualify for individual prizes, a bowler must bowl two-thirds of the regular season's games (56 games).
  • The week 29 tournament has its own prize fund. Teams bowling for the league championship do not take part in it.
  • A 50/50 raffle is run weekly. Any proceeds beyond what the prize fund needs are given away through raffles and jackpots on the last week of bowling. Only bowlers who bought tickets during the season are eligible for those prizes.
Legal lineups and substitutes
  • This is a men's league.
  • A team must have at least one regular bowler present on the scheduled league night to have a legal lineup, unless a league officer has given permission in advance. A bowler who pre-bowled does not count as present for this rule. A team without a legal lineup is not eligible to win points that night.
  • The league uses floating substitutes. A substitute may bowl for any team in the league, as long as that bowler has not paid a weekly fee while bowling for a team in the league.
  • No new substitutes are allowed on weeks 13, 14, 27, 28 and 29. To bowl those weeks, a substitute must have already bowled 3 games in the league during the current season.
  • The league follows the USBC rule on lineup changes (Rule 100e). The team on the odd-numbered lane must post and finalize its lineup by the start of practice (6:30 PM). The team on the even lane then has until the start of competition (6:40 PM) to finalize theirs.
  • A late bowler may enter any game as long as the 4th frame has not been completed by both teams. A bowler who arrives after the 4th frame has been completed may not compete for that game.
Pre-bowls and post-bowls
  • Individual pre-bowls are allowed if they are completed before the scheduled league night, and must be scheduled with AMF Fairview Lanes in advance. Bowlers are limited to 3 pre-bowls for the entire season, tracked by the league secretary. A pre-bowl in excess of 3 is discarded, and the blind score is used for that week in its place.
  • The league secretary must be told of every pre-bowl before it takes place. Failure to do so can result in the pre-bowl being discarded and a blind score used in its place.
  • No pre-bowls are allowed on weeks 13, 14, 27, 28 and 29 unless approved by a league officer or in compliance with USBC rule 117b.
  • Per USBC rule 117e, once a pre-bowl has been completed for a session, the bowler's eligibility for that session is exhausted and those scores must be used.
  • Post-bowls are not allowed unless in compliance with USBC rule 117b.
  • A team that wishes to pre-bowl together for any eligible week must get permission from a league officer before completing the pre-bowl, unless rule 117b applies. A full team that pre-bowls without permission, or whose bowlers pre-bowl separately and do not field a legal lineup on league night, forfeits all points for that session.
  • If no member of a team is present when bowling starts (the first ball rolled in league competition that night) and no league officer was notified, that team forfeits all points for that session.
  • Per USBC rule 117b, the league must grant a pre-bowl or postponement for participation in a USBC national, state or local tournament, for sufficient cause, or for an emergency.
Blind scores and vacancies
  • A blind score is the bowler's average minus 10 pins.
  • A bowler facing a blind score must bowl within 10 pins of his average to win the game point, and within 30 pins of his 3-game average to win the series point. Missing average by 11 pins or more, or the series by 31 pins or more, gives the point to the other team. There are no ties against a blind.
  • The vacancy score is a scratch score of 210 with 0 pins handicap. A vacancy score is different from a blind score and occurs when a team does not have 4 bowlers on its roster.
  • If both teams have the same number of blinds or vacancies, those lineup spots must be placed against each other, and the individual point goes to the team that wins that game or series. If blinds are not placed against each other during bowling, the blinds move to the bottom of the lineup and the bowlers present are matched in the resulting order.
  • Against a vacant team, bowlers must bowl within 10 pins of their average each game and within 30 pins for the series to win individual points. The team must bowl within 40 pins of its team average to win a team game, and within 120 pins of its team average to win team series points.