Dayton bowler celebrates 50 years at USBC Open Championships
April 07, 2025
BATON ROUGE, La. – When asked why he loves bowling, Bob Kelly of Dayton, Ohio, noted the camaraderie shared among his fellow competitors and the challenge the sport has provided over the course of his career.
His 50th appearance at the United States Bowling Congress Open Championships brought both of those together Friday at the Raising Cane’s River Center, as he enjoyed a memorable march to the lanes alongside his wife, Linda, and longtime friends, Jerry Roe and John Papp, and took on a new challenge by competing left-handed for the first time at the tournament.
The 73-year-old received a plaque, chevron and diamond lapel pin to commemorate his milestone achievement.
Kelly has enjoyed plenty of success on the lanes as a right-hander, but his right shoulder has been giving him trouble in recent years. He had a reverse shoulder replacement in December of 2024, but that wasn’t going to stop him from getting out to compete.
“My shoulder has been really bad, and I had shoulder surgery a few years back, but it just kept getting worse,” said Kelly, a member of the Greater Dayton and Ohio State USBC Halls of Fame. “Linda had hip surgery a year ago, and the doctor that did it was on the surgical team for the Baltimore Ravens. I went to see her and had a bunch of X-rays and MRIs, and she said my shoulder was shot. That was at the end of September, and we scheduled surgery for December.
“So, I decided to drill a ball and bowl left-handed. I’ve probably bowled left-handed for less than four months, but at home, it’s been going pretty well. The release is good, the timing is pretty good, but I need to get a little more ball speed. I’m going to commit to bowling left-handed, and I’m going to make it work and get better and improve.”
Even with the change, Kelly already is looking ahead to future goals at the USBC Open Championships.
“I’m always an optimist, and I have two new goals,” Kelly said. “I want to shoot a 700 in this tournament left-handed – I got a bunch of them right-handed. So, I’m going to shoot one left-handed, and I’m going to get to 100,000 pins.”
His first appearance at the Open Championships occurred at the 1974 event in Indianapolis, and his first 700 took place in memorable fashion five years later in 1979. Kelly rolled three 238 games during his team event in Tampa, Florida, to post a 714 series, which included three strikes in his final frame to achieve the triplicate with a Columbia 300 Yellow Dot.
His top overall performance came in 2007 at the National Bowling Stadium in Reno, Nevada. After starting his team event with 562, a long night at a blackjack table turned into a winning hand at the Taj Mahal of Tenpins as Kelly rolled sets of 757 in doubles and 729 in singles to finish with an all-events score of 2,048.
“My friend and I stayed up all night playing blackjack,” Kelly said. “Linda had gone back to the room at like 1 a.m., and next thing you know, I get a tap on my shoulder. It’s her, and she tells me it is 8 in the morning. We had to bowl doubles and singles at 4 p.m., so I went upstairs to get some sleep. During doubles, I had the front nine two games in a row and got tapped twice. In singles, I had the front 10 the third game. My best doubles and singles ever.”
Kelly’s overall numbers at the Open Championships certainly are impressive, too. With his 50th appearance concluded, he now has knocked down 88,144 pins and carries a lifetime average at the event of 195.8.
As much as he has accomplished in the sport – including Professional Bowlers Association 50 Rookie of the Year honors and a runner-up finish at the USBC Senior Masters in 2006, 10 years as a proprietor and the last 15 years as the owner of Golden Approach Pro Shop – he’s also the first to brag about the on-lane accomplishments of Linda and his daughter, Megan.
Linda was inducted to the USBC Hall of Fame in 2003 for superior performance. She’s a four-time titlist at the USBC Women’s Championships and rolled a perfect game at the 1987 event. She represented Team USA for two years and won the World Cup in 1988 for the red, white and blue. Linda also won a national title on the Professional Women’s Bowling Association Tour (1992 Robby Open).
Megan nearly matched her mother with a 300 at the Women’s Championships in 2012, posting a 299 game. She joined her in the winner’s circle in 2015 as part of the Diamond Team champion. Later this year, Bob and Linda are planning to join Megan on the road as she competes on the PWBA Tour.
For Linda, she has enjoyed watching Bob’s success and knows how important reaching this milestone was to him.
“He has been talking about it for years,” Linda said. “It’s been a goal of his, and I know it meant a whole lot to him. Now, he’s going to keep going until he can’t go anymore. I’m very proud of him, especially in lieu of what he’s had to go through with shifting to bowl left-handed.”
Kelly’s friendship with Roe and Papp dates beyond his start at the Open Championships. All three bowled together at Dayton’s Sinclair Community College, where they captured the 1981 National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) team championship. Kelly and Roe also paired up that year to win doubles at the NJCAA finals.
Roe was bowling as part of Kelly’s team and as his doubles partner this week, but Papp’s appearance in Baton Rouge was a surprise.
“We were in the hotel today, and Jerry texted me to come down to the lobby,” Kelly said. “I got down there, and there’s John sitting in the lobby. I didn’t know he was coming down. He drove 14 hours to watch me bowl and get my 50th tonight. We’ve all been friends for over 50 years and bowled collegiately together. It was a really nice surprise.”
As Kelly looks forward to continuing his journey with the sport and Open Championships, he will continue to embrace any obstacles ahead of him and make some new friends along the way.
“I love the camaraderie,” Kelly said. “I love the challenge. Bowling this tournament is a challenge. You know it’s going to be hard, and sometimes we’re going to bowl bad, and sometimes we’ll get in there and bowl well. I’ve met so many good people and friends over the years. It’s all been good.”
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.
His 50th appearance at the United States Bowling Congress Open Championships brought both of those together Friday at the Raising Cane’s River Center, as he enjoyed a memorable march to the lanes alongside his wife, Linda, and longtime friends, Jerry Roe and John Papp, and took on a new challenge by competing left-handed for the first time at the tournament.
The 73-year-old received a plaque, chevron and diamond lapel pin to commemorate his milestone achievement.
Kelly has enjoyed plenty of success on the lanes as a right-hander, but his right shoulder has been giving him trouble in recent years. He had a reverse shoulder replacement in December of 2024, but that wasn’t going to stop him from getting out to compete.
“My shoulder has been really bad, and I had shoulder surgery a few years back, but it just kept getting worse,” said Kelly, a member of the Greater Dayton and Ohio State USBC Halls of Fame. “Linda had hip surgery a year ago, and the doctor that did it was on the surgical team for the Baltimore Ravens. I went to see her and had a bunch of X-rays and MRIs, and she said my shoulder was shot. That was at the end of September, and we scheduled surgery for December.
“So, I decided to drill a ball and bowl left-handed. I’ve probably bowled left-handed for less than four months, but at home, it’s been going pretty well. The release is good, the timing is pretty good, but I need to get a little more ball speed. I’m going to commit to bowling left-handed, and I’m going to make it work and get better and improve.”
Even with the change, Kelly already is looking ahead to future goals at the USBC Open Championships.
“I’m always an optimist, and I have two new goals,” Kelly said. “I want to shoot a 700 in this tournament left-handed – I got a bunch of them right-handed. So, I’m going to shoot one left-handed, and I’m going to get to 100,000 pins.”
His first appearance at the Open Championships occurred at the 1974 event in Indianapolis, and his first 700 took place in memorable fashion five years later in 1979. Kelly rolled three 238 games during his team event in Tampa, Florida, to post a 714 series, which included three strikes in his final frame to achieve the triplicate with a Columbia 300 Yellow Dot.
His top overall performance came in 2007 at the National Bowling Stadium in Reno, Nevada. After starting his team event with 562, a long night at a blackjack table turned into a winning hand at the Taj Mahal of Tenpins as Kelly rolled sets of 757 in doubles and 729 in singles to finish with an all-events score of 2,048.
“My friend and I stayed up all night playing blackjack,” Kelly said. “Linda had gone back to the room at like 1 a.m., and next thing you know, I get a tap on my shoulder. It’s her, and she tells me it is 8 in the morning. We had to bowl doubles and singles at 4 p.m., so I went upstairs to get some sleep. During doubles, I had the front nine two games in a row and got tapped twice. In singles, I had the front 10 the third game. My best doubles and singles ever.”
Kelly’s overall numbers at the Open Championships certainly are impressive, too. With his 50th appearance concluded, he now has knocked down 88,144 pins and carries a lifetime average at the event of 195.8.
As much as he has accomplished in the sport – including Professional Bowlers Association 50 Rookie of the Year honors and a runner-up finish at the USBC Senior Masters in 2006, 10 years as a proprietor and the last 15 years as the owner of Golden Approach Pro Shop – he’s also the first to brag about the on-lane accomplishments of Linda and his daughter, Megan.
Linda was inducted to the USBC Hall of Fame in 2003 for superior performance. She’s a four-time titlist at the USBC Women’s Championships and rolled a perfect game at the 1987 event. She represented Team USA for two years and won the World Cup in 1988 for the red, white and blue. Linda also won a national title on the Professional Women’s Bowling Association Tour (1992 Robby Open).
Megan nearly matched her mother with a 300 at the Women’s Championships in 2012, posting a 299 game. She joined her in the winner’s circle in 2015 as part of the Diamond Team champion. Later this year, Bob and Linda are planning to join Megan on the road as she competes on the PWBA Tour.
For Linda, she has enjoyed watching Bob’s success and knows how important reaching this milestone was to him.
“He has been talking about it for years,” Linda said. “It’s been a goal of his, and I know it meant a whole lot to him. Now, he’s going to keep going until he can’t go anymore. I’m very proud of him, especially in lieu of what he’s had to go through with shifting to bowl left-handed.”
Kelly’s friendship with Roe and Papp dates beyond his start at the Open Championships. All three bowled together at Dayton’s Sinclair Community College, where they captured the 1981 National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) team championship. Kelly and Roe also paired up that year to win doubles at the NJCAA finals.
Roe was bowling as part of Kelly’s team and as his doubles partner this week, but Papp’s appearance in Baton Rouge was a surprise.
“We were in the hotel today, and Jerry texted me to come down to the lobby,” Kelly said. “I got down there, and there’s John sitting in the lobby. I didn’t know he was coming down. He drove 14 hours to watch me bowl and get my 50th tonight. We’ve all been friends for over 50 years and bowled collegiately together. It was a really nice surprise.”
As Kelly looks forward to continuing his journey with the sport and Open Championships, he will continue to embrace any obstacles ahead of him and make some new friends along the way.
“I love the camaraderie,” Kelly said. “I love the challenge. Bowling this tournament is a challenge. You know it’s going to be hard, and sometimes we’re going to bowl bad, and sometimes we’ll get in there and bowl well. I’ve met so many good people and friends over the years. It’s all been good.”
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.