Bowlers Journal International - January 2008 - (Page 42) PBA WOMEN'S SERIES BY THOMAS J. MADRECKI IS THERE AN ENCORE IN THE OFFING? Leaders of the PBA and USBC are happy with the results of Season One. FOUR YEARS AGO, PROFESSIONAL WOMEN'S BOWLING fell into the gutter and, in the years since, its return seemed like nothing more than a fanciful dream. But in the fall of 2007, with the creation of the PBA Women’s Series and the revival of the U.S. Women's Open — both endeavors backed financially by the United States Bowling Congress — lady tenpin stars once again took to the lanes and fueled hopes for the revival of a women's pro tour. Following the U.S. Open, won by Liz Johnson, 16 women competed for a $51,000 prize fund each week in the PBA “The shows were very exciting,” von Krueger agrees. “I mean, what more could you ask for? We had a tie game where they had to break the tie with a one-ball rolloff, and I thought the shows — especially the last two — were very compelling. It all worked out very well. I sound like a broken record, but yeah, it all worked out very well.” Clark also emphasized the enthusiasm shown at each event — saying most of the talk on Tour this season has been about the Series and the plight of women’s bowling — and noted that the final contest, won by Diandra Asbaty over DorinPBA LLC / BARNES AND MITCHELL (2) From the left: Shannon Pluhowsky and Mike Wolfe captured the PBA Women's Series and Denny's PBA Tour titles in the Etonic Championship, Michael Haugen Jr. and Joy Esterson prevailed in the Lake County Indiana Classic, and Walter Ray Williams Jr. and Diandra Asbaty won in the Great Lakes Classic. Women’s Series, rolling alongside their male PBA counterparts on four occasions. And, while Carolyn Dorin-Ballard had four top-four finishes and headed the Series in money won ($25,000), points and average (225.4), everybody, it seemed, was a winner. In fact, both Tom Clark, USBC vice president of marketing and communications, and Kirk von Krueger, Denny’s PBA Tour director, even used the same phrase — “win, win, win” — to characterize the series. Both officials, furthermore, say the mini-tour and the U.S. Open were tremendous steps forward in terms of putting women’s bowling in the spotlight once again. “I think it played out beyond anyone’s expectations,” Clark says. “It played out almost perfectly for how the PBA and the USBC saw it happening when we started.” Indeed, all the women’s events proved to be competitive, engaging and electrifying — for fans, competitors and the sport in general. 42 bowlers journal international JANUARY 2008 Ballard, 236-225, proved to be an ideal end. “You almost couldn’t make it up, that they would be the ones who finished it off,” Clark says. “Besides Kelly Kulick, they have probably been the most visible women in the game over the past couple of years. So getting them on television for one final shootout to close out the Women’s Series was a fitting conclusion.” But was the ending too fitting? After all, Asbaty — who finished a surprising, not to mention disappointing, 18th at the Women’s Tour Trials to miss the cut for the Women’s Series by two spots — got to bowl in the Great Lakes Classic in Wyoming, Mich., only because of some highly unusual circumstances. First, Wendy Macpherson withdrew from the final event due to a commitment to compete in a Japanese Professional Bowling Association tournament. Then, Women’s Series first-alternate Robin Romeo slammed her thumb in a car door after hearing what she thought was
For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.