U.S. Women's Open (bowling)

The United States Women's Open, a.k.a. U.S. Women's Open or Women's U.S. Open, is an annual tournament for women, dedicated to ten-pin bowling in the United States. From its inception in 1949 until its cancellation in 2004, after the Professional Women's Bowling Association (PWBA) folded, the event was held every year except for 1953, 1997 and 2002. From 1949 through 1970, the tournament was known as the Bowling Proprietors' Association of America (BPAA) Women's All-Star. From 1971 on, it became known as the U.S. Women's Open. Marion Ladewig won this tournament eight times when it was the BPAA Women's All-Star. Liz Johnson has the most modern era (since 1971) U.S. Women's Open victories with six.[1]

The U.S. Women's Open returned in 2007, being conducted by the United States Bowling Congress (USBC) from that year through 2010.[2] The BPAA announced in June, 2010, that it would resume conducting the tournament, beginning in 2011. The TV finals for the 2011 event took place at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas.[3]

The 2012 tournament held its final round outdoors in Reno, Nevada on a specially-prepared pair of lanes. As the telecast began, winds up to 24 mph (38 km/h) began to deposit dust onto the lane surface, making the lanes virtually unplayable with standard reactive equipment and angles. Players began switching to plastic bowling balls as the dust continued to accumulate. Kelly Kulick survived a 170–160 final match against Missy Parkin to take the title.[4]

The tournament was not held in 2014, due to lack of viable sponsorship. Instead, the BPAA Women's All-Star returned for a year along with the Senior Women's US Open. The U.S. Women's Open returned for 2015, as the USBC and BPAA announced that Bowlmor AMF, the largest operator of bowling centers in the world, had signed on as the title sponsor.[5] The 2015 U.S. Women's Open took place August 31 through September 6 in North Brunswick, New Jersey, as part of the re-launched PWBA Tour.[6]