50 years at USBC Open Championships for Michigan bowler
April 26, 2025
BATON ROUGE, La. – In 1974, Mike Marks of Byron Center, Michigan, made his debut at the United States Bowling Congress Open Championships during the tournament’s trip to Indianapolis.
This week in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, he celebrated his 50th year of participation and was presented with a plaque, chevron and diamond lapel pin at the Raising Cane’s River Center.
“It wasn’t a goal to bowl 50 years,” said Marks, who joined his teammate – Thomas Morgan of Wyoming, Michigan – for 50 years at the tournament on Monday. “It was a goal to just get a tournament in, and a little bit of a vacation.”
Over the years, Marks has made many memories and has bowled well at the tournament.
Some of his accomplishments include bowling a 300 in doubles during the 1996 event in Salt Lake City, which helped him to a 793 series and impressive stretch of delivering 23 strikes in a row. He added a 299 game in team during the 2013 USBC Open Championships in Reno, Nevada.
The 69-year-old right-hander has a top all-events score of 2,067 from the 1993 event in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and a 1,963 total during the 1980 event in Louisville, Kentucky, helped him record a finish in the top 30. He also posted a runner-up finish at the Bowlers Journal Championships in 1996.
In addition to bowling really well in 1980, Marks also started his 40-year love story with wife. It also happened to be his favorite city because of the great memories that he made.
“My favorite city was Louisville,” Marks said. “I bowled pretty well. After we were done bowling, I got interviewed, and my wife – she wasn’t my wife yet – at that time wasn’t talking to me. I called her from Louisville, and she said, ‘Why are you calling?’ and I said, ‘I have no one else to call, and I just wanted to let you know that I bowled well.’ Her response to that was, ‘Well, when you get back to Grand Rapids, let’s go for some pizza,’ and 42 years later, here we are.”
Marks finished out his 50th year of bowling with scores of 581 in team, 554 in doubles and 583 in singles for an all-events score of 1,718.
For his career at the Open Championships, he has toppled 88,580 pins for an impressive average of 196.8.
In the years to come, Marks plans on taking it year by year, but he does not feel like he is quite done yet.
“I am thankful the USBC has had the Open Championships all these years,” Marks said. “Thank you to the employees and volunteers that do a great job.”
The Open Championships is celebrating its third trip to Baton Rouge in 2025 and scheduled to feature more than 58,000 bowlers and 11,600 five-player teams competing across 150 consecutive days at the River Center.
Visit us on Facebook at the official USBC Open Championships page.
This week in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, he celebrated his 50th year of participation and was presented with a plaque, chevron and diamond lapel pin at the Raising Cane’s River Center.
“It wasn’t a goal to bowl 50 years,” said Marks, who joined his teammate – Thomas Morgan of Wyoming, Michigan – for 50 years at the tournament on Monday. “It was a goal to just get a tournament in, and a little bit of a vacation.”
Over the years, Marks has made many memories and has bowled well at the tournament.
Some of his accomplishments include bowling a 300 in doubles during the 1996 event in Salt Lake City, which helped him to a 793 series and impressive stretch of delivering 23 strikes in a row. He added a 299 game in team during the 2013 USBC Open Championships in Reno, Nevada.
The 69-year-old right-hander has a top all-events score of 2,067 from the 1993 event in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and a 1,963 total during the 1980 event in Louisville, Kentucky, helped him record a finish in the top 30. He also posted a runner-up finish at the Bowlers Journal Championships in 1996.
In addition to bowling really well in 1980, Marks also started his 40-year love story with wife. It also happened to be his favorite city because of the great memories that he made.
“My favorite city was Louisville,” Marks said. “I bowled pretty well. After we were done bowling, I got interviewed, and my wife – she wasn’t my wife yet – at that time wasn’t talking to me. I called her from Louisville, and she said, ‘Why are you calling?’ and I said, ‘I have no one else to call, and I just wanted to let you know that I bowled well.’ Her response to that was, ‘Well, when you get back to Grand Rapids, let’s go for some pizza,’ and 42 years later, here we are.”
Marks finished out his 50th year of bowling with scores of 581 in team, 554 in doubles and 583 in singles for an all-events score of 1,718.
For his career at the Open Championships, he has toppled 88,580 pins for an impressive average of 196.8.
In the years to come, Marks plans on taking it year by year, but he does not feel like he is quite done yet.
“I am thankful the USBC has had the Open Championships all these years,” Marks said. “Thank you to the employees and volunteers that do a great job.”
The Open Championships is celebrating its third trip to Baton Rouge in 2025 and scheduled to feature more than 58,000 bowlers and 11,600 five-player teams competing across 150 consecutive days at the River Center.
Visit us on Facebook at the official USBC Open Championships page.