The United States Women's Open, a.k.a. U.S. Women's Open or Women's U.S. Open, is an annual tournament for women, dedicated to ten-pin bowling in the United States. From its inception in 1949 until its cancellation in 2004, after the Professional Women's Bowling Association (PWBA) folded, the event was held every year except for 1953, 1997 and 2002. From 1949 through 1970, the tournament was known as the Bowling Proprietors' Association of America (BPAA) Women's All-Star. From 1971 on, it became known as the U.S. Women's Open. Marion Ladewig won this tournament eight times when it was the BPAA Women's All-Star. Liz Johnson has the most modern era (since 1971) U.S. Women's Open victories with six. [1]
The U.S. Women's Open returned in 2007, being conducted by the United States Bowling Congress (USBC) from that year through 2010. [2] The BPAA announced in June, 2010, that it would resume conducting the tournament, beginning in 2011. The TV finals for the 2011 event took place at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas. [3]
The 2012 tournament held its final round outdoors in Reno, Nevada on a specially-prepared pair of lanes. As the telecast began, winds up to 24 mph (38 km/h) began to deposit dust onto the lane surface, making the lanes virtually unplayable with standard reactive equipment and angles. Players began switching to plastic bowling balls as the dust continued to accumulate. Kelly Kulick survived a 170–160 final match against Missy Parkin to take the title. [4]
The tournament was not held in 2014, due to lack of viable sponsorship. Instead, the BPAA Women's All-Star returned for a year along with the Senior Women's US Open. The U.S. Women's Open returned for 2015, as the USBC and BPAA announced that Bowlmor AMF, the largest operator of bowling centers in the world, had signed on as the title sponsor. [5] The 2015 U.S. Women's Open took place August 31 through September 6 in North Brunswick, New Jersey, as part of the re-launched PWBA Tour. [6]
The 2024 U.S. Women's Open was held June 12–18 at Royal Pin Woodland Lanes in Indianapolis, with the live finals broadcast on CBS Sports Network. The tournament had 108 entries and a total prize fund of $282,000, with a $60,000 top prize. [7] Top seed Sin Li Jane of Malaysia defeated second seeded Diana Zavjalova of Latvia in an all-international final match to win her fourth career PWBA title and first major championship. [8] Zavjaova had earlier set the 24-game qualifying record for a U.S. Women's Open with 5,536 pins (230.67 average), before falling to the #2 seed in match play. [9]
A five-person stepladder format was used for the final round.
Match #1 | Match #2 | Match #3 | Championship Match | |||||||||||||||
1 | Sin Li Jane | 226 | ||||||||||||||||
2 | Diana Zavjalova | 191 | 2 | Diana Zavjalova | 214 | |||||||||||||
3 | Stefanie Johnson | 195 | 5 | Breanna Clemmer | 189 | |||||||||||||
4 | Verity Crawley | 188 | 5 | Breanna Clemmer | 228 | |||||||||||||
5 | Breanna Clemmer | 258 | ||||||||||||||||
Final Standings
1. Sin Li Jane (Malaysia), $60,000
2. Diana Zavjalova (Riga, Latvia), $30,000
3. Breanna Clemmer (Clover, South Carolina), $22,000
4. Stefanie Johnson (McKinney, Texas), $17,000
5. Verity Crawley (England), $13,000
U.S. Women's Open [10]
BPAA Women's All-Star
A bowler is someone participating in the sport of bowling, either as an amateur or professional. In American ten-pin bowling, a bowler is most commonly a member of a team of three to six people. Most bowling leagues limit the number of team members to five, with alternates available as needed.
Lynda Barnes is one of the world's leading female tenpin bowlers. She is a former member of the PWBA. Bowling as an amateur, Lynda won the 1998 USBC Queens championship, then known as the WIBC Queens. In 1999, Lynda married Chris Barnes, a leading bowler on the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) tour. The couple's twin sons, Troy and Ryan, were born in May 2002. Lynda is a former member of Team USA.
Kelly Kulick is an American professional bowler, bowling coach and sportscaster. She has won ten professional women's bowling titles, one PBA Tour title and a professional mixed doubles title. Kulick is the first woman ever to win a regular Professional Bowlers Association tour title and the only woman to win a major PBA Tour tournament. She is a 16-time member of Team USA. Kulick is currently a pro staff member for Storm Bowling, Vise grips and High 5 gear. In 2019, Kulick was inducted into the USBC Hall of Fame, Superior Performance category.
The Professional Women's Bowling Association (PWBA) organizes and oversees a series of annual tournaments for the top competitive women ten-pin bowlers. The series is often referred to as the "women's tour" of bowling.
The U.S. Open is one of the five major tournaments in the Professional Bowlers Association. Despite its status as a PBA Tour major, the tournament is open to qualifying amateurs as well as PBA members. The U.S. Open is considered one of the most difficult tournaments to bowl in today, due to its long format and demanding oil pattern, which differs from most oil patterns the PBA employs.
Carolyn Dorin-Ballard is one of the top female ten-pin bowlers in the world. She is a member of the Professional Women's Bowling Association and has bowled in PBA Tournaments as well. She was an exempt competitor in the 2008–09 and 2009-10 PBA Women's Series seasons, which were sponsored by the United States Bowling Congress (USBC). Between the PWBA and the PBA Women's Series, she has won 22 professional titles. Carolyn was a 2008 inductee into the USBC Hall of Fame, and a 2020 inductee into the PWBA Hall of Fame.
Elizabeth Ann Johnson is an American professional bowler. She first became known as an 11-time winner on the Professional Women's Bowling Association (PWBA) Tour, which included the first of her six U.S. Women's Open titles in 1996, before that organization suspended operations in 2003.
The PBA Women's Series was a mini-tour for female professional bowlers. It was started in 2007 as a way to bring women's bowling back to television after the Professional Women's Bowling Association (PWBA) disbanded in 2003. Sponsored by the United States Bowling Congress (USBC) and its website bowl.com, it ran concurrently with several stops on the Professional Bowlers Association's men's tour.
Patty Costello was an American professional ten-pin bowler and former member of the Professional Women's Bowling Association (PWBA). She was one of the best female bowlers of the 1970s and 1980s. Costello is a member of the USBC and PWBA Halls of Fame.
The Bowling Writers Association of America (BWAA) annually selects a Male Bowler of the Year and a Female Bowler of the Year.
The USBC Queens is an annual ten-pin bowling event for amateur and professional female bowlers, sanctioned by the United States Bowling Congress. The event is one of four women's professional majors since the PWBA tour returned in 2015 and the female equivalent of the USBC Masters, now one of the four majors on the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) Tour.
Shannon O'Keefe is an American professional bowler and bowling coach now living in Jacksonville, Alabama. She has competed in the United States and internationally, and is currently the head coach at Jacksonville State University. She is an 18-time member of Team USA (2005–2022) and an eight-time World Champion. She also won the 54th QubicaAMF World Cup in 2018 in Las Vegas. Shannon also won the 2019 Doubles gold medal at the Pan American Games in Peru.
The Professional Women's Bowling Association (PWBA) Tour returned from a 12-year hiatus in 2015, thanks to a three-year funding commitment from the USBC and BPAA. The 2015 tour had ten stops, running from May 13 to September 13. Major tour stops included the following:
The 2017 Professional Women's Bowling Association (PWBA) Tour retained a similar schedule to the 2016 season, with nine standard tournaments and four majors. The season ran April 27 to September 6. CBS Sports Network aired the final round of all standard PWBA Tour events this season on a tape-delay basis. The final round for the major tournaments aired live or on same-day delay. TV tapings of the non-major stepladder finals were conducted in conjunction with first three major tournaments on May 23, June 25 and August 6.
The PWBA Players Championship is one of the four major tournaments on the Professional Women's Bowling Association (PWBA) Tour. Unlike the U.S. Women’s Open and USBC Queens, which allow qualifying amateurs to participate, the PWBA Players Championship is open to PWBA members only.
Shannon Pluhowsky is an American left-handed ten-pin bowler who competes in the Professional Women's Bowling Association (PWBA) and internationally. Pluhowsky is a 22-time member of Team USA, and a former four-time member of Junior Team USA (2000–2003). Pluhowsky has eight professional championships, including major wins at the 2006 USBC Queens in Reno, Nevada, the 2014 BPAA Women's All-Star in Rockford, Illinois, and the 2021 PWBA Tour Championship in Reno, Nevada.
The 2021 Professional Women's Bowling Association (PWBA) Tour season had a total of 20 title events scheduled, the most since the 2001 PWBA season. Overall, the season had 16 standard singles title events, three major tournaments, and the Striking Against Breast Cancer Mixed Doubles tournament. All singles events were broadcast on BowlTV, the USBC’s YouTube channel, except for the season-ending PWBA Tour Championship, which was broadcast on CBS Sports Network.
The PWBA Hall of Fame is a Hall of Fame established by the Professional Women's Bowling Association to honor individuals "who have dedicated their time and passion to the sport of bowling both on and off the lanes." The inaugural class was in 1995, with ten members being inducted.
Aleta Sill is a retired American professional ten-pin bowler and current bowling coach from Dearborn Heights, Michigan. She competed nationally on the Professional Women's Bowling Association (PWBA) Tour from 1980 through 2001. In her career, the left-handed Sill won 31 titles, including six major championships. She was the first female bowler to eclipse $1 million in career earnings. Aleta is a 1996 inductee into both the PWBA Hall of Fame and the USBC Hall of Fame.
While some locations have changed, the 2024 Professional Women's Bowling Association (PWBA) Tour season matches the 2023 season with 12 title events scheduled in eight cities. These include eight standard singles title events, three major title events, and one mixed doubles event. Final rounds of the season's three majors will all broadcast nationally on CBS Sports Network. All other events will be broadcast on BowlTV, the USBC’s YouTube channel.