Michigan bowler reaches 50 consecutive years at USBC Open Championships
May 15, 2025
BATON ROUGE, La. – LD Hicks of Clio, Michigan, recently added his name to the list of bowlers to celebrate 50 consecutive years of participation at the 2025 United States Bowling Congress Open Championships.
The 68-year-old was escorted to his lanes at the Raising Cane’s River Center for his milestone appearance by his wife, Chris, and was presented with a plaque, chevron and diamond lapel pin to commemorate his dedication.
Hicks started his career at the Open Championships at the age of 18 during the 1975 event in Dayton, Ohio, and has been to every tournament since his debut.
“I filled in for someone in our group for my first year and fell in love with it right away,” Hicks said. “I started bowling this tournament with my dad, and I am really glad I got to experience that with him while he was alive. Unfortunately, my dad died at a young age, so I didn’t get to experience as many years with him as I would have liked.”
Hicks embraced his moment in the spotlight for his 50th appearance, not realizing how many people respected his years of dedication to the tournament.
“It was really something to see all these people I don’t even know bowling on the same squad shaking my hand and giving a high-five for this,” Hicks said. “You don’t truly get the feeling this means something special until you experience this moment.”
He owns a 16-lane bowling center in his hometown of Clio (Clio Bowling Arcade) and enjoys getting to continue to bowl this tournament with the people he sees every day.
“We all come here as a group each year, and it’s always a good time,” Hicks said. “Continuing to make memories with friends and enjoying the company you’re with is the best part about bowling nationals, even if you don’t bowl too hot.”
One of Hicks’ favorite memories from over the course of his career at the Open Championships was shooting 1,806 for all-events at the 1996 tournament in Salt Lake City.
“I remember having to make a clutch 3-10 in the 10th frame of Game 3 of singles to get to plus on the tournament,” Hicks said. “Back then, shooting 1,800 meant a lot, and I’m proud I was able to accomplish that.”
He's also enjoyed the chance to see the United States from traveling to compete at the tournament.
“We don’t get to travel as much for this tournament as we used to and wish we could go to more places like Baton Rouge,” Hicks said. “As a business owner, I get the reasoning why we don’t travel as much anymore, but I am glad I was able to visit some places I would have never gone to if it wasn’t for this tournament.”
Now that he has reached 50 years at the tournament, Hicks plans to continue bowling for the foreseeable future.
“I will continue bowling the tournament as long as I can physically still compete,” Hicks said. “It gets harder on the psyche as you get older with your ability diminishing, but I won’t let that stop me from coming to bowl and having a good time.”
In his 50th appearance, Hicks rolled sets of 419 in team, 434 in doubles and 412 in singles for an all-events score of 1,265, raising his pinfall total at the tournament to 80,430 for a lifetime average of 178.7.
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 68-year-old was escorted to his lanes at the Raising Cane’s River Center for his milestone appearance by his wife, Chris, and was presented with a plaque, chevron and diamond lapel pin to commemorate his dedication.
Hicks started his career at the Open Championships at the age of 18 during the 1975 event in Dayton, Ohio, and has been to every tournament since his debut.
“I filled in for someone in our group for my first year and fell in love with it right away,” Hicks said. “I started bowling this tournament with my dad, and I am really glad I got to experience that with him while he was alive. Unfortunately, my dad died at a young age, so I didn’t get to experience as many years with him as I would have liked.”
Hicks embraced his moment in the spotlight for his 50th appearance, not realizing how many people respected his years of dedication to the tournament.
“It was really something to see all these people I don’t even know bowling on the same squad shaking my hand and giving a high-five for this,” Hicks said. “You don’t truly get the feeling this means something special until you experience this moment.”
He owns a 16-lane bowling center in his hometown of Clio (Clio Bowling Arcade) and enjoys getting to continue to bowl this tournament with the people he sees every day.
“We all come here as a group each year, and it’s always a good time,” Hicks said. “Continuing to make memories with friends and enjoying the company you’re with is the best part about bowling nationals, even if you don’t bowl too hot.”
One of Hicks’ favorite memories from over the course of his career at the Open Championships was shooting 1,806 for all-events at the 1996 tournament in Salt Lake City.
“I remember having to make a clutch 3-10 in the 10th frame of Game 3 of singles to get to plus on the tournament,” Hicks said. “Back then, shooting 1,800 meant a lot, and I’m proud I was able to accomplish that.”
He's also enjoyed the chance to see the United States from traveling to compete at the tournament.
“We don’t get to travel as much for this tournament as we used to and wish we could go to more places like Baton Rouge,” Hicks said. “As a business owner, I get the reasoning why we don’t travel as much anymore, but I am glad I was able to visit some places I would have never gone to if it wasn’t for this tournament.”
Now that he has reached 50 years at the tournament, Hicks plans to continue bowling for the foreseeable future.
“I will continue bowling the tournament as long as I can physically still compete,” Hicks said. “It gets harder on the psyche as you get older with your ability diminishing, but I won’t let that stop me from coming to bowl and having a good time.”
In his 50th appearance, Hicks rolled sets of 419 in team, 434 in doubles and 412 in singles for an all-events score of 1,265, raising his pinfall total at the tournament to 80,430 for a lifetime average of 178.7.
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.