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 Tenpin bowling is a type of bowling in which a bowler bowling form, rolls a bowling ball down a wood or synthetic lane toward ten pins positioned Tetractys, evenly in four rows in an equilateral triangle. The goal is to knock down all ten Bowlin ...

in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. From its inception in 1949 until its cancellation in 2004, after the

Professional Women's Bowling Association The Professional Women's Bowling Association (PWBA) organizes and oversees a series of annual tournaments for the top competitive women ten-pin bowlers. The series is often referred to as the "women's tour" of bowling. The PWBA was formed in 1960 ...

(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. The U.S. Women's Open returned in 2007, being conducted by the

United States Bowling Congress The United States Bowling Congress (USBC) is a sports membership organization dedicated to ten-pin bowling in the United States of America, United States. It was formed in 2005 by a merger of the American Bowling Congress—the original codifier ...

(USBC) from that year through 2010. 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 AT&T Stadium is a retractable roof stadium in Arlington, Texas, United States. It serves as the home of the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League (NFL), and was completed on May 27, 2009. It is also the home of the Cotton Bowl Classic ...

Arlington, Texas Arlington is a city in Tarrant County, Texas, Tarrant County, Texas, United States. It is part of the Mid-Cities region of the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington metropolitan statistical area, and is a principal c ...

. The 2012 tournament held its final round outdoors in

Reno, Nevada Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada–California border. It is the county seat and most populous city of Washoe County, Nevada, Washoe County. Sitting in the High Eastern Sierra foothills, ...

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 Kelly Kulick (born March 16, 1977) is an American professional bowler, bowling coach and sportscaster. She has won ten professional women's bowling titles (six of them majors), one PBA Tour title (a major) and a professional mixed doubles tit ...

survived a 170–160 final match against Missy Parkin to take the title. 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 Lucky Strike Entertainment Corporation (formerly known as Bowlmor AMF and Bowlero Corporation) is an American bowling center operator. It is the largest ten-pin bowling center operator in the world with over 325 centers, almost all of which are ...

, the largest operator of bowling centers in the world, had signed on as the title sponsor. The 2015 U.S. Women's Open took place August 31 through September 6 in

North Brunswick, New Jersey North Brunswick is a Township (New Jersey), township in Middlesex County, New Jersey, Middlesex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is centrally located in the Raritan River, Raritan Valley region within the New York metropolitan area. A ...

, as part of the re-launched PWBA Tour.

Tournament history

2025 Event

The 2025 U.S. Women's Open was held June 10–17 at Sun Valley Lanes in

Lincoln, Nebraska Lincoln is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Nebraska. The city covers and had a population of 291,082 as of the 2020 census. It is the state's List of cities in Nebraska, second-most populous city a ...

, with the live finals broadcast on

CBS Sports Network CBS Sports Network (a.k.a. CBSSN) is an American digital cable and satellite television network owned by the CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global. When it launched in 2002 as the National College Sports Network (later College Sports ...

. The tournament had 108 entries and a total prize fund of $280,750, with a $60,000 top prize. Fifth-seeded New Hui Fen of

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

climbed the ladder, eventually defeating top seed Jordan Snodgrass, 290–188, in the championship match. It was the fifth PWBA Tour title for New and her second major. She also set a stepladder finals record (since the Tour's 2015 relaunch) with a four-game pinfall of 1,026 pins. A five-person stepladder format was used for the final round. Final Standings 1. New Hui Fen (

), $60,000
2. Jordan Snodgrass (

Adrian, Michigan Adrian is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of Lenawee County, Michigan, Lenawee County. The population was 20,645 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Adrian lies in Michigan's 5th congressional district. The c ...

), $30,000
3. Lauren Russo (

O'Fallon, Missouri O'Fallon ( ) is a city in St. Charles County, Missouri, United States. It is part of the St. Louis metropolitan statistical area, located along Interstates 64 and 70 between Lake St. Louis and St. Peters. As of the 2020 census, O'Fallon ha ...

), $22,000
4. Crystal Elliott (

Palm Bay, Florida Palm Bay is a city in Brevard County, Florida, United States. The city's population was 119,760 at the 2020 United States census, up from 103,190 at the 2010 census, making it the most populous city in the county and the largest by land mass. T ...

), $17,000
5. Maryssa Carey (

Hobart, Indiana Hobart ( , ) is a city in Lake County, Indiana, United States. The population was 29,752 at the 2020 census, up from 29,059 in 2010. It has been historically primarily residential, though recent annexation has added a notable retail corridor to ...

), $13,000

Past winners

U.S. Women's OpenTop Finishers By Year – U.S. Women's Open (Bowling)

/ref> * 2025 – New Hui Fen * 2024 – Sin Li Jane * 2023 – Bryanna Coté * 2022 – Erin McCarthy * 2021 – Josie Barnes * 2020 – ''Not held'' (

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

) * 2019 – Danielle McEwan * 2018 – Liz Kuhlkin * 2017 – Liz Johnson * 2016 – Liz Johnson * 2015 – Liz Johnson * 2013 – Liz Johnson * 2012 –

* 2011 – Leanne Hulsenberg * 2010 –

* 2009 – Tammy Boomershine * 2008 – Kim Terrell-Kearney * 2007 – Liz Johnson * 2003 –

* 2001 – Kim Terrell * 2000 – Tennelle Grijalva (Milligan) * 1999 – Kim Adler * 1998 – Aleta Sill * 1996 – Liz Johnson * 1995 – Cheryl Daniels * 1994 – Aleta Sill * 1993 – Dede Davidson * 1992 – Tish Johnson * 1991 – Anne Marie Duggan * 1990 – Dana Miller-Mackie * 1989 – Robin Romeo * 1988 –

Lisa Wagner Lisa Wagner (born May 19, 1961) is a retired professional ten-pin bowler who competed on the Professional Women's Bowling Association (PWBA) Tour from 1980 through 2001. She is the all-time leader in officially recognized PWBA titles with 32. Amo ...

* 1987 – Carol Norman * 1986 – Wendy Macpherson * 1985 – Pat Mercatanti * 1984 – Karen Ellingsworth * 1983 – Dana Miller * 1982 – Shinobu Saitoh * 1981 – Donna Adamek * 1980 – Patty Costello * 1979 – Diana Silva * 1978 – Donna Adamek * 1977 – Betty Morris * 1976 – Patty Costello * 1975 – Paula Carter (Sperber) * 1974 – Patty Costello * 1973 – Mildred Martorella * 1972 – Lorrie Koch * 1971 –

Paula Sperber Donald James Carter (July 29, 1926 – January 5, 2012) was a right-handed American professional bowler. Born in St. Louis, Missouri, he learned the game while working a childhood job as a pinsetter, and went on to become one of the legends of ...

BPAA Women's All-Star * 2014 -

Shannon Pluhowsky Shannon Pluhowsky (born August 8, 1982) is an American left-handed ten-pin bowler who competes in the Professional Women's Bowling Association (PWBA) and internationally. Pluhowsky is a 22-time member of Team USA (2001–2021, 2024), and a form ...

* 1970 – Mary Baker * 1969 – Dotty Fothergill * 1968 – Dotty Fothergill * 1967 – Gloria Simon * 1966 – Joy Abel * 1965 – Ann Slattery * 1964 – LaVerne Carter * 1963 – Marion Ladewig * 1962 – Shirley Garms * 1961 – Phyllis Notaro * 1960 – Sylvia Wene * 1959 – Marion Ladewig * 1958 – Merle Matthews * 1957 (Dec. 1956) – Marion Ladewig * 1956 (Dec. 1955) – Anita Cantaline * 1955 – Sylvia Wene * 1954 – Marion Ladewig * 1952 – Marion Ladewig * 1951 – Marion Ladewig * 1950 – Marion Ladewig * 1949 – Marion Ladewig

References

External links

Official web sitePrevious winners (1949 to 2003)
{{Ten pin bowling Ten-pin bowling competitions in the United States