Illinois bowler connects for 300 at 2025 USBC Open Championships
April 14, 2025
BATON ROUGE, La. – A ball change late in doubles allowed Chris Walcher of Springfield, Illinois, to see the shape he wanted into the pocket as he started his singles set at the 2025 United States Bowling Congress Open Championships.
The 46-year-old right-hander started striking, too, and he was able to put together 12 strikes in Game 1 for the sixth 300 of the 2025 event Saturday at the Raising Cane’s River Center.
Walcher closed the set with games of 221 and 183 for a 704 series in Regular Singles. Jeffrey Grego of Fort Wayne, Indiana, leads with 786.
Watch the video below to learn more about his perfect performance in Baton Rouge, and why it was special to celebrate the moment with family.
Walcher added sets of 504 in team and 481 in doubles to close his ninth appearance at the USBC Open Championships with an all-events total of 1,689.
In 2022, Walcher helped Dale Diamond Team 2 of Chatham, Illinois, record a third-place finish in Standard Team with a 3,079 total, and he also posted top 30s in Standard Singles (tied for 14th place with 705) and Standard All-Events (27th with 1,883) during his trip to Las Vegas.
Walcher’s teammate and friend – Dale Diamond – also competed this week in Baton Rouge, and he’s in prime position to join the 100,000-Pin Club at the 2026 Open Championships in Reno, Nevada.
Diamond – now with 61 appearances in the books – is 147 pins away from collecting the crystal pin awarded for the milestone. He now has knocked over 99,853 pins for his career at the event.
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.
The 46-year-old right-hander started striking, too, and he was able to put together 12 strikes in Game 1 for the sixth 300 of the 2025 event Saturday at the Raising Cane’s River Center.
Walcher closed the set with games of 221 and 183 for a 704 series in Regular Singles. Jeffrey Grego of Fort Wayne, Indiana, leads with 786.
Watch the video below to learn more about his perfect performance in Baton Rouge, and why it was special to celebrate the moment with family.
Walcher added sets of 504 in team and 481 in doubles to close his ninth appearance at the USBC Open Championships with an all-events total of 1,689.
In 2022, Walcher helped Dale Diamond Team 2 of Chatham, Illinois, record a third-place finish in Standard Team with a 3,079 total, and he also posted top 30s in Standard Singles (tied for 14th place with 705) and Standard All-Events (27th with 1,883) during his trip to Las Vegas.
Walcher’s teammate and friend – Dale Diamond – also competed this week in Baton Rouge, and he’s in prime position to join the 100,000-Pin Club at the 2026 Open Championships in Reno, Nevada.
Diamond – now with 61 appearances in the books – is 147 pins away from collecting the crystal pin awarded for the milestone. He now has knocked over 99,853 pins for his career at the event.
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.