Michigan bowler makes 50th consecutive appearance at Open Championships
April 26, 2025
BATON ROUGE, La. – Competing at the United States Bowling Congress Open Championships for 50 years is a big deal.
It’s even tougher to make it to 50 consecutive appearances at the tournament, but Thomas Morgan of Wyoming, Michigan, accomplished that feat this week at the Raising Cane’s River Center, where he was presented with a plaque, chevron and diamond lapel pin for his achievement.
“It feels like an accomplishment,” said Morgan, when talking about how it felt to complete 50 years of bowling at the event.
Morgan was lucky enough to walk to the lanes during his ceremonial march out with his teammate – Mike Marks of Byron Center, Michigan – who also was celebrating his 50th year of participation as well.
Morgan started bowling the tournament in 1975 in Dayton, Ohio. With his 50th tournament now complete, he has knocked down a total of 83,936 pins for an average of 186.5.
“It just kind of happened, and it worked out for us,” said Morgan, noting that reaching 50 years wasn’t his goal, but how the tournament fit into a vacation for him.
Over his 50 years, Morgan has been to multiple cities and has many fond memories with his family and bowling friends. One of the cities that sticks out to him the most was the year he bowled in Huntsville, Alabama (1997).
“Huntsville was my favorite and probably the most memorable, even though I got sick while I was there,” Morgan said.
Even though Huntsville was his favorite city, Morgan had his best year of bowling at the tournament the following year, when the Open Championships was being held in Reno, Nevada, in 1998. He had an all-events score of 1,983, which featured steady sets of 676 in doubles, 662 in singles and 645 in team at the National Bowling Stadium.
Working toward this accomplishment may have only happened for Morgan, but it takes a lot of work, dedication and support to complete 50 consecutive appearances. But, this is not the end for Morgan.
He said, “Good Lord willing, I’d like to make it next year and go back to Reno. But now that I’m here, we are going to take it year by year and just hope that I will still be able to bowl.”
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.
It’s even tougher to make it to 50 consecutive appearances at the tournament, but Thomas Morgan of Wyoming, Michigan, accomplished that feat this week at the Raising Cane’s River Center, where he was presented with a plaque, chevron and diamond lapel pin for his achievement.
“It feels like an accomplishment,” said Morgan, when talking about how it felt to complete 50 years of bowling at the event.
Morgan was lucky enough to walk to the lanes during his ceremonial march out with his teammate – Mike Marks of Byron Center, Michigan – who also was celebrating his 50th year of participation as well.
Morgan started bowling the tournament in 1975 in Dayton, Ohio. With his 50th tournament now complete, he has knocked down a total of 83,936 pins for an average of 186.5.
“It just kind of happened, and it worked out for us,” said Morgan, noting that reaching 50 years wasn’t his goal, but how the tournament fit into a vacation for him.
Over his 50 years, Morgan has been to multiple cities and has many fond memories with his family and bowling friends. One of the cities that sticks out to him the most was the year he bowled in Huntsville, Alabama (1997).
“Huntsville was my favorite and probably the most memorable, even though I got sick while I was there,” Morgan said.
Even though Huntsville was his favorite city, Morgan had his best year of bowling at the tournament the following year, when the Open Championships was being held in Reno, Nevada, in 1998. He had an all-events score of 1,983, which featured steady sets of 676 in doubles, 662 in singles and 645 in team at the National Bowling Stadium.
Working toward this accomplishment may have only happened for Morgan, but it takes a lot of work, dedication and support to complete 50 consecutive appearances. But, this is not the end for Morgan.
He said, “Good Lord willing, I’d like to make it next year and go back to Reno. But now that I’m here, we are going to take it year by year and just hope that I will still be able to bowl.”
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.