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28-604: The format for the USBC Queens tournament is similar to the USBC Masters . All entrants bowl 15 games of qualifying over three days. The top 63 qualifiers plus the previous year's champion are then seeded for match play. Match play consists of three-game, total-pinfall matches in a double-elimination format. First-time losers during the match play rounds are not eliminated, but are instead placed into an elimination bracket, where they must survive all subsequent three-game matches to have

56-724: A B.A. in Communications. She has been a member of Team USA for multiple seasons. In 2011, she was part of the team that went to the WTBA World Women's Championships in Hong Kong and took home gold for the United States in the team event for the first time since 1987. During the original existence of the PWBA Tour, Carolyn was one of its top bowlers. Carolyn had 20 Tour titles over a 14-year career (1990–2003). She won her first title in

84-647: A PWBA title in 1999. Her brother-in-law (Cathy's husband), Jeff Lizzi , was a member of the PBA and won a 1992 PBA Tour title. Daughter Alyssa is a standout bowler for the Vanderbilt Commodores collegiate squad. In 2022, Carolyn and Alyssa won the PBA King of the Lanes: Royal Family Edition made-for-TV event. As the only mother-daughter combo in the competition, they eliminated Parker and Brandon Bohn in

112-450: A chance at making the championship finals. Hundreds of competitors turn out for the Masters each year (a full field of 360 entered the 2018 event) with their sights set on a prize fund that has recently been as high as $ 350,000, including a $ 50,000 top prize. The field, which now includes women, also features representatives from all 50 states and a handful of foreign countries. The Masters

140-547: A chance at making the championship finals. The last five remaining players with either one or zero match play losses are seeded for the televised finals, which is a single-game stepladder format. The USBC Queens made its debut in 1961, as a companion to the Women's International Bowling Congress (WIBC) National Tournament. It was known as the WIBC Queens from 1961–2004, until the WIBC became

168-403: A doubles tournament in 1991 with her partner, Lisa Wagner , who was one of the top bowlers on the tour in the 1980s. Dorin-Ballard's first singles title was earned at the 1994 Lady Ebonite Classic. With the support of her sister and husband, her career really took off in 1997, when she began a string of eight titles in four seasons, beginning with the 1997 Three Rivers Classic. In that period she

196-546: A part of the United States Bowling Congress (USBC) on January 1, 2005. The tournament is part of the World Bowling Tour, annually attracting a field of hundreds of the top bowlers from around the world. Ten bowlers have won at least two USBC Queens titles, with only two winning three times: Millie Ignizio (Martorella) (1967, 1970, 1971) and Wendy Macpherson (1988, 2000, 2003). Both bowlers are now in

224-435: A record for most titles (7) and the most TV finals appearances (18) in a season. ( Patty Costello earned eight professional titles in 1976, but two of the titles were in the spinoff LPBA.) In WIBC (now USBC) competition, she won three WIBC Titles (2000 All-Events Champion, 2001 Team Champion, 2004 Doubles Champion with Lynda Barnes ). She was a seven-time WIBC All American and six-time Bowlers Journal All-American. Before

252-454: A single lane, in the middle of a shopping mall in Las Vegas, Nevada . This event was particularly challenging, because all of the distractions of a mall (music, voices, people walking in the upper level) were present during the entire tournament. She made it to the semi-finals where she was defeated by Clara Guerrero . (Guerrero would go on to lose to Cara Honeychurch in the final.) Following

280-448: A starting field of 465 bowlers, and a $ 457,500 prize fund with a $ 100,000 top prize. Top seed DeeRonn Booker, who went undefeated in match play, won his lone finals match against #2 seed Patrick Dombrowski, 217–177, for his first PBA Tour title and first major. Prize Pool: Note: In May 2008, the PBA announced it was revising its all-time records to include PBA-era ABC Masters championships prior to 1998 as PBA titles (and majors), if

308-433: Is a championship ten-pin bowling event conducted by the United States Bowling Congress . The Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) began recognizing it as a title event in 1998, and it was designated one of the four majors in 2000. A PBA rule change in 2008 retroactively awarded a PBA title (and a major) to any Masters winners prior to 1998 who were PBA members at the time of the victory. The tournament began in 1951 as

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336-459: Is open to PBA members and any USBC member that meets average requirements. It is a part of the World Bowling Tour. After the Masters in January 2004, the tournament was moved to the fall, resulting in two Masters events during calendar year 2004. (The first was part of the 2003–04 PBA season, and the second was part of the 2004–05 season.) Then in 2008, the tournament was moved back to the spring, which

364-467: Is the oldest player to win the USBC Masters, capturing the 1996 event at age 53. In 2016, Anthony Simonsen , aged 19 years and 39 days, became the tournament's youngest winner, as well as the youngest to win a PBA major of any kind. The 2024 USBC Masters was held at Suncoast Bowling Center in Las Vegas , Nevada from March 24–29, with the televised stepladder final round on March 31. The tournament had

392-418: Is why there was no Masters during 2008. In 2007, Carolyn Dorin-Ballard became the first woman to bowl a perfect game in the USBC Masters. Dick Hoover, Billy Welu, Jason Belmonte, and Anthony Simonsen are the only 4 players to successfully defend a Masters title, however, Belmonte is the only player to win three times in a row. Mike Aulby is the first player to have won the USBC Masters three times, but

420-755: The ABC Masters , conducted by the American Bowling Congress (ABC). The ABC merged with the WIBC and YABA to become the USBC in 2005, after which the tournament was renamed USBC Masters. The Masters began as an invitational event showcasing national and local bowling stars and has grown to become one of bowling's most prestigious events. While the event has evolved over the years, its trademark qualifying and double-elimination match play format has remained largely unchanged. All bowlers compete in 15 games of qualifying, with

448-677: The United States Bowling Congress (USBC). Between the PWBA and the PBA Women's Series, she has won 22 professional titles. Carolyn was a 2008 inductee into the USBC Hall of Fame, and a 2020 inductee into the PWBA Hall of Fame. Dorin-Ballard is a member of the Roto Grip Professional Staff, and also endorses Turbo 2-N-1 Grips, USBC and Ballard's Bowling Solutions. On March 1, 2011, she was named

476-509: The PWBA disbanded, she had moved up to sixth on the all-time Tour earnings list (over $ 910,000). She won two PBA Women's Series titles (2007 Great Lakes Classic and 2008 Cheetah Championship). She also won the PBA Women's Series Showdown, a non-title event held in April, 2009. In 2006, she joined top female bowlers from around the world in the USBC Women's Challenge tournament. The event took place on

504-569: The USBC Hall of Fame. The 2024 USBC Queens tournament was held May 15–21 at Ashwaubenon Bowling Center in Green Bay, Wisconsin . The tournament had 184 total entries and a $ 318,000 prize fund, with a $ 60,000 top prize. A five-player stepladder format was used for the live televised finals on May 21. Jillian Martin won her second PWBA event and first major from the #3 seed position. She defeated two former USBC Queens champions, Lindsay Boomershine and Kelly Kulick , before defeating top seed Hope Gramly in

532-577: The USBC's Director of Coaching. Her father was a POW during World War II . Born and raised in Linden, New Jersey , she graduated from Linden High School in 1985. Dorin-Ballard is married to PBA Hall of Famer Del Ballard Jr. , whom she met in college. The couple has a daughter, Alyssa, and the family now resides in North Richland Hills, Texas . She is also the sister of former professional bowler and TV bowling analyst Cathy Dorin-Lizzi , who won

560-562: The champion was a PBA member at the time. Carolyn Dorin-Ballard Carolyn Dorin-Ballard (born 1964, Linden, New Jersey ) is one of the top female ten-pin bowlers in the world. She is a member of the Professional Women's Bowling Association (1990–2003 and 2015–present) and has bowled in PBA Tournaments as well. She was an exempt competitor in the 2008–09 and 2009-10 PBA Women's Series seasons, which were sponsored by

588-498: The disbandment of the PWBA in 2003, Dorin-Ballard started to bowl against men in PBA competition. In 2007, she became the first woman to bowl a perfect game in a PBA event, doing so in match play at the USBC Masters . As a member of the PBA Southwest Region, she once rolled back-to-back 300 games in a PBA Regional Tour event. The only major missing from Dorin-Ballard's resume is the U.S. Women's Open , although she has made

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616-574: The distinction of rolling the most consecutive strikes in the history of televised bowling (male or female). (The previous mark of 18 consecutive strikes had been set by the PBA's Ryan Shafer two years earlier.) Currently a Roto Grip staffer, Carolyn is representing the brand with her recent bowling with Team USA and was on the roster for the PanAmerican games. In 2014, Dorin-Ballard won the BPAA's Dick Weber Bowling Ambassador Award, an honor given annually to

644-493: The final match, 267-220. At age 19, Martin is the youngest-ever champion in this event. Participating as an amateur, she was not credited with a PWBA title. Final Standings: 1. Jillian Martin ( Stow, Ohio ) – $ 60,000 2. Hope Gramly ( Aubrey, Texas ) – $ 30,000 3. Kelly Kulick ( Union Township, New Jersey ) – $ 22,500 4. Lindsay Boomershine ( Brigham City, Utah ) – $ 17,500 5. Felicia Wong ( Didsbury, Alberta , Canada ) – $ 12,500 USBC Masters The USBC Masters

672-614: The semi-finals before defeating Chris and Ryan Barnes in the finals. In bowling circles, Carolyn is often referred to by just the initials, "CDB." Carolyn attended West Texas State University on a partial bowling scholarship. While there, she led the University to back to back national titles and was a three-time All-American. She was the MVP of the Intercollegiate Bowling Championships in 1989. She graduated in 1989 with

700-528: The semi-finals five times (2003, 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010) with runner-up finishes in the 2003 and 2009 events. Carolyn is known as one of the best female bowlers of all time, and at the Kegel training center also has the title of being the most accurate player in history of the testing center, hitting the exact target over 30 times in a row at exactly the same speed. During the PBA Women's Series Showdown in 2009, CDB rolled 20 consecutive strikes over two games to earn

728-474: The top 63 qualifiers joining the previous year's champion in the double elimination match play bracket. (If the previous champion makes the top 63 or is unable to participate, the 64th-place qualifier is added.) All head-to-head matches consist of three games, highest total pinfall wins. First-time losers during the match play rounds are not eliminated, but are instead placed into an elimination bracket, where they must survive all subsequent three-game matches to have

756-430: Was eventually passed by Jason Belmonte . Belmonte is the only player to win three Masters in a row (2013, 2014 and 2015), and he won again in 2017 to become the only player to win four Masters titles. Prior to Belmonte's threepeat, the last player to successfully defend a Masters title was Billy Welu in 1964–65. The 1984 ABC Masters featured the 43rd and final PBA Tour title for Hall of Famer Earl Anthony . Ernie Schlegel

784-661: Was the runner up in the Player of the Year voting all four seasons. Among Dorin-Ballard's 20 PWBA titles (tied for seventh all-time) are three major championships (1997 and 2001 Brunswick World Open, 2001 WIBC Queens ) and a Player of the Year award in 2001. The 2001 season was her career year. She won seven titles (including two of her three majors), posted an average of 214.73, and earned $ 135,045 in prize money. She received many honors this year including nomination for an ESPY award. She tied or broke 11 PWBA Tour records in 2001, including setting

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