RENO, Nev. - After Northgate Lanes in Galesburg, Ill., caught fire in January of 2010, manager Carl Henson of East Galesburg did everything he could to help make sure the center was up and running before state tournament bowlers started rolling in.

Unfortunately, that meant missing his annual trip to the USBC Open Championships.

With everything at the bowling center running smoothly again, Henson made his return to the championship lanes this year at the National Bowling Stadium and was rewarded for his dedication and hard work with the fourth perfect game of this year's Open Championships.

The 48-year-old right-hander closed out his ninth tournament appearance with 12 consecutive strikes to go along with games of 197 and 203 for a 700 singles series. His previous high series at the tournament was 618 in singles at the 2009 tournament in Las Vegas. William Vincent Jr. of Louisville, Ky., leads Regular Singles with 792.

"This is just awesome, but I don't think it's really going to kick in for a while," Henson said. "We all come out here to have fun, but we also know it's going to be a tough shot. I definitely was nervous since this is the national tournament, but I was pretty confident after I got the 11th one. I usually execute well when I'm in that situation, so I was just hoping for the carry."

Henson said he threw the ball well in team Wednesday but missed a few spares on the way to a 560 series. A disappointing 504 doubles set left him fishing for a new strategy heading into singles, and then everything clicked.

"It takes me a little while to get warmed up, so things didn't go as well as I'd hoped in doubles," said Henson, who finished with a career-best 1,764 all-events total. "I decided to try something new for singles, so I made a ball change and moved left, and everything fell into place. I knew what I had to do and where to play, and I really got lined up in the second game."

Henson is the second bowler from the Galesburg area to roll a perfect game at the Open Championships and now has earned a share of the bragging rights. Dan Cabrera accomplished the feat at the 1996 tournament in Salt Lake City.

"This is just an amazing accomplishment, and it's hard to put it into words right now," Henson said. "I always knew I was capable. It was just a matter of executing and getting the carry."

Click here to watch other video highlights from the 2011 Open Championships.
Presenting sponsors for the 2011 USBC Open Championships are Circus Circus, Eldorado Hotel Casino Reno and Silver Legacy Resort Casino Reno. Other sponsors include Sands Regency Casino Hotel, official brackets sponsor, Kegel, official lane maintenance provider, Humana, official registration sponsor, US Steltronic, official scoring system, and supporting sponsors Storm Bowling Products, UPS, Nationwide Insurance, Atlantis Casino Resort and Spa, Harrah's Reno Casino and Hotel and Peppermill Hotel Casino.