Kulick leads PWBA BowlTV Open into match play after high-scoring day of qualifying
May 31, 2025
PARMA HEIGHTS, Ohio – In a day that saw seven perfect games thrown throughout Friday, Kelly Kulick of Union, New Jersey, found herself as the top qualifier heading into match play tomorrow morning at the Professional Women’s Bowling Association BowlTV Open at Yorktown Lanes in Parma Heights, Ohio.
Kulick's lowest game of the day was 215 in Game 2 and averaged over 241 for 12 games on the 47-foot oil condition, ending with a grand total of 2,903, the seventh-highest 12-game qualifying block since the relaunch of the tour in 2015.
Joining Kulick in match play will be: Colombia’s Rocio Restrepo (2,871); Singapore’s Cherie Tan (2,867); Jordan Snodgrass of Adrian, Michigan (2,858); Singapore’s New Hui Fen (2,811); Singapore’s Arianne Tay (2,809); Singapore’s Daphne Tan (2,803); Madison Janack of Wichita, Kansas (2,784); Shannon Pluhowsky of Dayton, Ohio (2,757); Malaysia’s Sin Li Jane (2,743); Brittany Smith of Van Meter, Iowa (2,740); and Breanna Clemmer of Clover, South Carolina (2,731).
Kulick had a late night on Thursday after making the cut at the PWBA Cleveland Open and into the stepladder finals, finishing in fifth, but showed no signs of fatigue throughout today as she led the field.
“I feel like I’m on cloud nine,” said Kulick. “I came in with a clear mind this morning and I knew this pattern was going to play to my strengths, but I didn’t expect this pattern to be as high-scoring as it was.
“I kept my cool, stayed as clean as I possibly could throughout my frames and kept executing.”
Kulick’s execution was nearly flawless for the day, ending in second after the first round of qualifying before ending as the qualifying leader. But the seven-time titlist knows match play will bring the best out of everyone and has to keep pushing.
“The cream rises to the top and it’s all going to come down executing, shot making and being mindful of what’s happening around me. There’s a clear path to what needs to happen tomorrow: whoever strikes the most will make it to the show.”
The strikes were plentiful today as six different competitors threw perfect games during qualifying: Cherie Tan, Smith, Hope Gramly of Aubrey, Texas, Dana File of Camby, Indiana, Lindsay Boomershine of Brigham City, Utah, and Diandra Asbaty of Chicago. The seven 300s make it the second-most thrown in an event since the relaunch, behind the 10 that were achieved at the 2017 U.S. Women’s Open, and there is still match play to bowl.
Smith went back-to-back 300s to start Games 4 and 5 before a 225 in Game 6 to end the first block with a three-game total of 825. It was a drastic difference from how Games 1 through 3 went, where Smith did not eclipse 200 prior to her two perfect games.
“I was about 60 under for the first three games before making the switch over to the low end,” said Smith. “I had a lot of over/under and I talked to the ball rep and I made the switch from playing outside to more inside and ball changed in the fill ball (of Game 3).
I struck and knew that’s what I needed to do and hoped that the next pair played similar and the line was going to be there, which obviously it was.”
The Iowan bowler was not in the cut after the first round, even with the two 300s, but a great start to Round 2 of qualifying (760 through three games) propelled her into Saturday’s round-robin match play rounds, which starts at 9 a.m. Eastern for the first round of six games. Another six games of match play will begin at 2 p.m., after which the top five will advance to the stepladder finals at 6:30 p.m. Eastern to see who takes home the PWBA BowlTV Open title.
The Summer Series will end with the PWBA Rock ‘n’ Roll Open, where after two rounds of qualifying on Sunday at 10 a.m. Eastern and 5 p.m. Eastern, the top 16 advance to the single-elimination match-play bracket on Monday beginning at 9 a.m. Eastern. Matches will be best-of-five until the final four remain, where the semifinals and finals will be one-game matches.
For more information on the PWBA Summer Series, visit https://pwba.com/national-tour/pwba-summer-series-cleveland.
Kulick's lowest game of the day was 215 in Game 2 and averaged over 241 for 12 games on the 47-foot oil condition, ending with a grand total of 2,903, the seventh-highest 12-game qualifying block since the relaunch of the tour in 2015.
Joining Kulick in match play will be: Colombia’s Rocio Restrepo (2,871); Singapore’s Cherie Tan (2,867); Jordan Snodgrass of Adrian, Michigan (2,858); Singapore’s New Hui Fen (2,811); Singapore’s Arianne Tay (2,809); Singapore’s Daphne Tan (2,803); Madison Janack of Wichita, Kansas (2,784); Shannon Pluhowsky of Dayton, Ohio (2,757); Malaysia’s Sin Li Jane (2,743); Brittany Smith of Van Meter, Iowa (2,740); and Breanna Clemmer of Clover, South Carolina (2,731).
Kulick had a late night on Thursday after making the cut at the PWBA Cleveland Open and into the stepladder finals, finishing in fifth, but showed no signs of fatigue throughout today as she led the field.
“I feel like I’m on cloud nine,” said Kulick. “I came in with a clear mind this morning and I knew this pattern was going to play to my strengths, but I didn’t expect this pattern to be as high-scoring as it was.
“I kept my cool, stayed as clean as I possibly could throughout my frames and kept executing.”
Kulick’s execution was nearly flawless for the day, ending in second after the first round of qualifying before ending as the qualifying leader. But the seven-time titlist knows match play will bring the best out of everyone and has to keep pushing.
“The cream rises to the top and it’s all going to come down executing, shot making and being mindful of what’s happening around me. There’s a clear path to what needs to happen tomorrow: whoever strikes the most will make it to the show.”
The strikes were plentiful today as six different competitors threw perfect games during qualifying: Cherie Tan, Smith, Hope Gramly of Aubrey, Texas, Dana File of Camby, Indiana, Lindsay Boomershine of Brigham City, Utah, and Diandra Asbaty of Chicago. The seven 300s make it the second-most thrown in an event since the relaunch, behind the 10 that were achieved at the 2017 U.S. Women’s Open, and there is still match play to bowl.
Smith went back-to-back 300s to start Games 4 and 5 before a 225 in Game 6 to end the first block with a three-game total of 825. It was a drastic difference from how Games 1 through 3 went, where Smith did not eclipse 200 prior to her two perfect games.
“I was about 60 under for the first three games before making the switch over to the low end,” said Smith. “I had a lot of over/under and I talked to the ball rep and I made the switch from playing outside to more inside and ball changed in the fill ball (of Game 3).
I struck and knew that’s what I needed to do and hoped that the next pair played similar and the line was going to be there, which obviously it was.”
The Iowan bowler was not in the cut after the first round, even with the two 300s, but a great start to Round 2 of qualifying (760 through three games) propelled her into Saturday’s round-robin match play rounds, which starts at 9 a.m. Eastern for the first round of six games. Another six games of match play will begin at 2 p.m., after which the top five will advance to the stepladder finals at 6:30 p.m. Eastern to see who takes home the PWBA BowlTV Open title.
The Summer Series will end with the PWBA Rock ‘n’ Roll Open, where after two rounds of qualifying on Sunday at 10 a.m. Eastern and 5 p.m. Eastern, the top 16 advance to the single-elimination match-play bracket on Monday beginning at 9 a.m. Eastern. Matches will be best-of-five until the final four remain, where the semifinals and finals will be one-game matches.
For more information on the PWBA Summer Series, visit https://pwba.com/national-tour/pwba-summer-series-cleveland.