Tammy Boomershine Leads After Opening Squad at 2009 U.S. Women's Open
August 04, 2009
LAS VEGAS - Bowling fans may not recognize the name Tammy Boomershine, but they might after the 2009 U.S. Women's Open, a United States Bowling Congress Event, being held at Sunset Station Hotel and Casino in Henderson, Nev., this week.
Boomershine, formerly Turner during her days as a standout in the Professional Women's Bowling Association, took the early lead at the U.S. Women's Open with a 1,948 total for eight games Tuesday morning and set the pace for the 171-player field.
After a decent start that included games of 248, 226, 196 and 195, Boomershine made a ball change and shifted into overdrive. She finished with 269, 237, 300 and 277 and proved that along with the desire to be competitive, she still has the skills to compete against the best women bowlers in the world.
"I really enjoyed myself today," Boomershine said. "Now that I don't bowl so much, it takes me a little bit longer to get started, but the whole day was a lot of fun. I battled the transition a little around the third and fourth games, but I got into the right ball and got lined up and had a great reaction."
Malaysian star Shalin Zulkifli, who made the televised portion of the event in 2008, is second with 1,830, USBC Hall of Famer Carolyn Dorin-Ballard is third with 1,796, 2003 U.S. Women's Open winner Kelly Kulick is fourth with 1,773 and recent USBC Open Championships Regular Doubles champion Brenda Edwards rounds out the top five with 1,765.
This year, the U.S. Women's Open will feature an exciting new format with the top 12 players advancing to the five-part ESPN series. The overall prize fund for this year's event is $150,000 with $25,000 going to the winner.
All U.S. Women's Open participants will bowl three eight-game qualifying blocks over three days (Tuesday-Thursday) before the field is cut to the top 25 percent, who will bowl an additional 16 games on Friday. The top 12 players then advance to the televised, single-game, match-play portion with the top four players receiving a first-round bye directly into the quarterfinals.
The U.S. Women's Open is open to any USBC female member and features a prize fund of $150,000.
Any competitor who rolls a 300 game on one of the first four TV shows will receive a $25,000 bonus, while a perfect game in the semifinals or championship match (the fifth show), will earn $100,000.
Kim Terrell-Kearney is the defending champion at the U.S. Women's Open and will be looking to claim the coveted title for the third time. She also won the event in 2001.
There also is a second opportunity for the women this week with the Professional Bowlers Association Women's Tour Trials, a simultaneous event that gives the bowlers a chance to qualify for 2009-10 PBA Women's Series.
A total of 42 women, including Boomershine, Zulkifli and Kulick, have chosen to participate, and the top 12 bowlers from the Tour Trials will join the six champions from last season as exempt players for the 2009-10 PBA Women's Series.
The upcoming Women's Series will feature five standard events, the open-field PBA Women's World Championship, the Don and Paula Carter Mixed Doubles Championship and the season-ending PBA Women's Series Showdown. Each standard event will have a 20-player field, up from the 16-player field used this season. The final two players in the field will come from the weekly Tour Qualifying Rounds, similar to the PBA Tour.
Women in the PBA Women's Series will be competing for nearly $500,000 in prize money with $10,000 going to the winner of each event.
Boomershine, formerly Turner during her days as a standout in the Professional Women's Bowling Association, took the early lead at the U.S. Women's Open with a 1,948 total for eight games Tuesday morning and set the pace for the 171-player field.
After a decent start that included games of 248, 226, 196 and 195, Boomershine made a ball change and shifted into overdrive. She finished with 269, 237, 300 and 277 and proved that along with the desire to be competitive, she still has the skills to compete against the best women bowlers in the world.
"I really enjoyed myself today," Boomershine said. "Now that I don't bowl so much, it takes me a little bit longer to get started, but the whole day was a lot of fun. I battled the transition a little around the third and fourth games, but I got into the right ball and got lined up and had a great reaction."
Malaysian star Shalin Zulkifli, who made the televised portion of the event in 2008, is second with 1,830, USBC Hall of Famer Carolyn Dorin-Ballard is third with 1,796, 2003 U.S. Women's Open winner Kelly Kulick is fourth with 1,773 and recent USBC Open Championships Regular Doubles champion Brenda Edwards rounds out the top five with 1,765.
This year, the U.S. Women's Open will feature an exciting new format with the top 12 players advancing to the five-part ESPN series. The overall prize fund for this year's event is $150,000 with $25,000 going to the winner.
All U.S. Women's Open participants will bowl three eight-game qualifying blocks over three days (Tuesday-Thursday) before the field is cut to the top 25 percent, who will bowl an additional 16 games on Friday. The top 12 players then advance to the televised, single-game, match-play portion with the top four players receiving a first-round bye directly into the quarterfinals.
The U.S. Women's Open is open to any USBC female member and features a prize fund of $150,000.
Any competitor who rolls a 300 game on one of the first four TV shows will receive a $25,000 bonus, while a perfect game in the semifinals or championship match (the fifth show), will earn $100,000.
Kim Terrell-Kearney is the defending champion at the U.S. Women's Open and will be looking to claim the coveted title for the third time. She also won the event in 2001.
There also is a second opportunity for the women this week with the Professional Bowlers Association Women's Tour Trials, a simultaneous event that gives the bowlers a chance to qualify for 2009-10 PBA Women's Series.
A total of 42 women, including Boomershine, Zulkifli and Kulick, have chosen to participate, and the top 12 bowlers from the Tour Trials will join the six champions from last season as exempt players for the 2009-10 PBA Women's Series.
The upcoming Women's Series will feature five standard events, the open-field PBA Women's World Championship, the Don and Paula Carter Mixed Doubles Championship and the season-ending PBA Women's Series Showdown. Each standard event will have a 20-player field, up from the 16-player field used this season. The final two players in the field will come from the weekly Tour Qualifying Rounds, similar to the PBA Tour.
Women in the PBA Women's Series will be competing for nearly $500,000 in prize money with $10,000 going to the winner of each event.