New leaders in Standard, Classified Divisions at 2023 Open Championships
June 22, 2023
Pictured above (from left): Ryan Liddell and Damon Horst
RENO, Nev. – The names at the top of the standings had remained the same for nearly two weeks through the middle of June at the 2023 United States Bowling Congress Open Championships before new leaders emerged in two events over a 12-hour stretch Tuesday at the National Bowling Stadium.
Damon Horst of Oswego, Illinois, and Ryan Liddell of Palos Hills, Illinois, were the first to race to the lead Tuesday, posting a 1,261 total in Standard Doubles to roll to the top spot by 45 pins.
David Farmer of Hamlet, North Carolina, and James Fairley of Rockingham, North Carolina, had held the lead in Standard Doubles for more than two months after combining for 1,216 on April 12.
Bobby Johnson of Villa Rica, Georgia, was the next to strike at the Taj Mahal of Tenpins, finding his look in singles on the way to games of 225, 225 and 207 to take the lead in the Classified Division with 657.
Brenden Davis of Acworth, Georgia, had set the pace in Classified Singles on June 6 with a 640 series.
Horst led the way in the doubles effort, posting games of 234, 220 and 214 for a 668 series. Liddell added 213, 200 and 180 for 593.
Horst, a 52-year-old right-hander, continued strong in singles to finish with 641 and also make his way to third place in Standard All-Events with 1,862. He had 553 in team Monday.
Matthew Grunzke of Albert Lea, Minnesota, leads Standard All-Events with 1,926.
For Horst, several stops at the Bowlers Journal Championships helped him put together his plan, and it showed that the work he’s been putting in at home is paying off, too.
The Bowlers Journal Championships features the same oil pattern as doubles and singles at the USBC Open Championships.
“I bowled three sets at the Bowlers Journal and knew urethane was in play,” said Horst, who made his 18th tournament appearance. “I’ve been working with that for about a month trying to figure out some stuff with (urethane), so it worked out pretty well. I knew I had to stay right for as long as I could, and once I moved in, I found something in singles, too.”
Liddell, a 41-year-old right-hander, also started with urethane and felt like they did a great job of keeping up with the moves during their run to the top.
“We worked with urethane, and then I made the right adjustment at the right time and was able to switch to something a little more aggressive,” said Liddell, who made his 11th Open Championships appearance. “We read the lanes correctly and made the right adjustments.”
The pair has bowled together for the past couple editions of the Open Championships, and their group at the event offers a lot of support, too.
There isn’t any added pressure to competing on one of bowling’s biggest stages, but the communication stays open as they try to navigate the challenging oil patterns at the tournament.
“We see what we see, and we tell each other what we’re seeing,” Horst said. “There’s really no ego with it, and we don’t expect much out of each other. We just expect that everyone goes out and makes the best shots they can.”
They now have the chance to see if their score will be enough to share in victory at the tournament, and it would mean something a little different for each of them.
“It would mean a lot, because it wasn’t expected,” said Liddell, who added sets of 635 in team and 523 in singles for 1,751. “I haven’t bowled the greatest at this tournament, so to do it once would be pretty awesome. We did our best, and that’s all we can do.”
“It would mean a ton to me and my family,” Horst said. “They’ll be coming out here next year, and having the kids experience that and see that and appreciate what the tournament is all about would be great.
“I don’t know if it has really sunk in yet. Maybe when I get home, I’ll be worried about it. But, for right now, I’m just happy with where I am.”
Standard Doubles features bowlers with combined entering averages of 311-350. Standard All-Events includes bowlers with entering averages of 156-175.
Bobby Johnson
For Johnson, things started to click at the end of doubles. After starting with games of 155 and 146, he fired 245 to start his momentum toward his run in singles, finishing with a 546 series.
“My last game of doubles is when I figured something out,” said Johnson, who made his fourth Open Championships appearance. “I shot 245 and was able to continue for the next couple of games.”
The 42-year-old left-hander was able to put together four consecutive strikes in Game 1 and a stretch of six strikes in seven frames in Game 2 to get in position to take the lead in Game 3.
He stayed clean through his first seven frames and rolled back-to-back strikes in the eighth and ninth frames. Needing a mark in the 10th for a chance at the lead, he rolled his third consecutive strike and followed with eight pins on his next shot to move to the top of the leaderboard.
Although Johnson wasn’t sure what the leading total was at the 2023 event, he caught a glimpse of the winning score in his division from the 2022 tournament in Las Vegas from the banners hanging from the rafters at the National Bowling Stadium, displaying last year’s champions.
“I didn’t know (I took the lead), but I just happened to look up at the banner and saw 665,” Johnson said. “I knew I was close to last year’s winning score.”
Johnson added a 432 series during his team event Monday to finish with 1,635 for his nine games this week, which also places him in the top 20 for Classified All-Events.
Doug Willmann of Olivette, Missouri, leads with 1,753.
After fighting an elbow injury for the past couple years, Johnson was excited to see things starting to come together on the lanes, and now, he gets to wait and see if his name will be on one of the on-site banners at the 2024 event at the South Point Bowling Plaza in Las Vegas.
“I’m feeling great,” Johnson said. “I bowled great and finally figured something out here. It would be awesome seeing my name up on those banners next year when I come to Vegas, so I just hope it continues to hold up.”
The Classified Division features bowlers with entering averages of 155 and below.
The 2023 Open Championships kicked off March 4 and will conclude July 24. The 143-day tournament will feature more than 9,700 five-player teams and nearly 50,000 bowlers making their way to compete in The Biggest Little City in the World.
Visit us on Facebook at the official USBC Open Championships page.
RENO, Nev. – The names at the top of the standings had remained the same for nearly two weeks through the middle of June at the 2023 United States Bowling Congress Open Championships before new leaders emerged in two events over a 12-hour stretch Tuesday at the National Bowling Stadium.
Damon Horst of Oswego, Illinois, and Ryan Liddell of Palos Hills, Illinois, were the first to race to the lead Tuesday, posting a 1,261 total in Standard Doubles to roll to the top spot by 45 pins.
David Farmer of Hamlet, North Carolina, and James Fairley of Rockingham, North Carolina, had held the lead in Standard Doubles for more than two months after combining for 1,216 on April 12.
Bobby Johnson of Villa Rica, Georgia, was the next to strike at the Taj Mahal of Tenpins, finding his look in singles on the way to games of 225, 225 and 207 to take the lead in the Classified Division with 657.
Brenden Davis of Acworth, Georgia, had set the pace in Classified Singles on June 6 with a 640 series.
Horst led the way in the doubles effort, posting games of 234, 220 and 214 for a 668 series. Liddell added 213, 200 and 180 for 593.
Horst, a 52-year-old right-hander, continued strong in singles to finish with 641 and also make his way to third place in Standard All-Events with 1,862. He had 553 in team Monday.
Matthew Grunzke of Albert Lea, Minnesota, leads Standard All-Events with 1,926.
For Horst, several stops at the Bowlers Journal Championships helped him put together his plan, and it showed that the work he’s been putting in at home is paying off, too.
The Bowlers Journal Championships features the same oil pattern as doubles and singles at the USBC Open Championships.
“I bowled three sets at the Bowlers Journal and knew urethane was in play,” said Horst, who made his 18th tournament appearance. “I’ve been working with that for about a month trying to figure out some stuff with (urethane), so it worked out pretty well. I knew I had to stay right for as long as I could, and once I moved in, I found something in singles, too.”
Liddell, a 41-year-old right-hander, also started with urethane and felt like they did a great job of keeping up with the moves during their run to the top.
“We worked with urethane, and then I made the right adjustment at the right time and was able to switch to something a little more aggressive,” said Liddell, who made his 11th Open Championships appearance. “We read the lanes correctly and made the right adjustments.”
The pair has bowled together for the past couple editions of the Open Championships, and their group at the event offers a lot of support, too.
There isn’t any added pressure to competing on one of bowling’s biggest stages, but the communication stays open as they try to navigate the challenging oil patterns at the tournament.
“We see what we see, and we tell each other what we’re seeing,” Horst said. “There’s really no ego with it, and we don’t expect much out of each other. We just expect that everyone goes out and makes the best shots they can.”
They now have the chance to see if their score will be enough to share in victory at the tournament, and it would mean something a little different for each of them.
“It would mean a lot, because it wasn’t expected,” said Liddell, who added sets of 635 in team and 523 in singles for 1,751. “I haven’t bowled the greatest at this tournament, so to do it once would be pretty awesome. We did our best, and that’s all we can do.”
“It would mean a ton to me and my family,” Horst said. “They’ll be coming out here next year, and having the kids experience that and see that and appreciate what the tournament is all about would be great.
“I don’t know if it has really sunk in yet. Maybe when I get home, I’ll be worried about it. But, for right now, I’m just happy with where I am.”
Standard Doubles features bowlers with combined entering averages of 311-350. Standard All-Events includes bowlers with entering averages of 156-175.
Bobby Johnson
For Johnson, things started to click at the end of doubles. After starting with games of 155 and 146, he fired 245 to start his momentum toward his run in singles, finishing with a 546 series.
“My last game of doubles is when I figured something out,” said Johnson, who made his fourth Open Championships appearance. “I shot 245 and was able to continue for the next couple of games.”
The 42-year-old left-hander was able to put together four consecutive strikes in Game 1 and a stretch of six strikes in seven frames in Game 2 to get in position to take the lead in Game 3.
He stayed clean through his first seven frames and rolled back-to-back strikes in the eighth and ninth frames. Needing a mark in the 10th for a chance at the lead, he rolled his third consecutive strike and followed with eight pins on his next shot to move to the top of the leaderboard.
Although Johnson wasn’t sure what the leading total was at the 2023 event, he caught a glimpse of the winning score in his division from the 2022 tournament in Las Vegas from the banners hanging from the rafters at the National Bowling Stadium, displaying last year’s champions.
“I didn’t know (I took the lead), but I just happened to look up at the banner and saw 665,” Johnson said. “I knew I was close to last year’s winning score.”
Johnson added a 432 series during his team event Monday to finish with 1,635 for his nine games this week, which also places him in the top 20 for Classified All-Events.
Doug Willmann of Olivette, Missouri, leads with 1,753.
After fighting an elbow injury for the past couple years, Johnson was excited to see things starting to come together on the lanes, and now, he gets to wait and see if his name will be on one of the on-site banners at the 2024 event at the South Point Bowling Plaza in Las Vegas.
“I’m feeling great,” Johnson said. “I bowled great and finally figured something out here. It would be awesome seeing my name up on those banners next year when I come to Vegas, so I just hope it continues to hold up.”
The Classified Division features bowlers with entering averages of 155 and below.
The 2023 Open Championships kicked off March 4 and will conclude July 24. The 143-day tournament will feature more than 9,700 five-player teams and nearly 50,000 bowlers making their way to compete in The Biggest Little City in the World.
Visit us on Facebook at the official USBC Open Championships page.