Nearly 36,000 bowlers will get a share of the $5.5 million prize fund from the 2008 United States Bowling Congress Open Championships, and the first of the checks are in the mail. The tournament was the second largest held outside of the National Bowling Stadium in Reno, Nev., and brought 12,615 teams to the Albuquerque Convention Center in Albuquerque, N.M., between Feb. 16 and July 6. Approximately 11,000 of those teams will get at least one prize check, with 35,888 individual bowlers earning a share of the multi-million dollar prize fund.
With only two days remaining at the USBC Women's Championships, Corrine Ham of Cocoa, Fla., is in position to claim her first title at the storied event. In the meantime, she's been busy knocking down pins at the USBC Open Championships in Albuquerque. The 41-year-old right-hander doesn't bowl as much as she'd like to because of her duties as the general manager of her family's bowling center in Titusville, Fla., but she accepted the opportunity to bowl in the Open Championships this week and helped Junior Team USA Support of Orlando, Fla., into fifth place in Team All-Events with a 9,821 total. 
Brian Johnston of Grinnell, Kan., had the United States Bowling Congress Open Championships debut that most bowlers only dream of, and now he's just three days away from becoming one of the tournament's newest champions. The 36-year-old left-hander, who did not compete in the team event, didn't need much time to get comfortable on the championship lanes before posting games of 234, 255 and 212 to take the Classified Singles lead with a 701 series Thursday, the 139th of 142 days of competition at the Albuquerque Convention Center. Jeremy Noland of Chelsea, Okla., previously held the lead with 696.
Shawn Lee of Centennial, Colo., recently decided to turn a lifelong passion for bowling into a career and soon will open his own pro shop, but for right now, his focus is on his own bowling, and this week has been an exciting whirlwind that included a memorable trip to the United States Bowling Congress Open Championships. After competing in two of the megabuck tournaments being held in Las Vegas this week, Lee made a quick visit to the Albuquerque Convention Center where his run of bad luck on the lanes turned into a streak of strikes on the way to the 31st perfect game of this year's USBC Open Championships.
Last year, Jonathan Masur (l.) of West Orange, N.J., rolled an 810 series on the way to the Regular Doubles title in his United States Bowling Congress Open Championships debut, and he knew it would be a tough act to follow when he returned to the tournament lanes this week. The 24-year-old right-hander and his partner, Jeffrey Butler (r.) of Garfield, N.J., took home the doubles crown with a record 1,544 total at the National Bowling Stadium in Reno, Nev., and put their title on the line at the Albuquerque Convention Center on Tuesday. 
Randy Dickinson of Baltimore rolled a 300 game at the United States Bowling Congress Open Championships on Monday with a bowling ball that has been reliable over the years, but almost didn't make the trip to the Albuquerque Convention Center this year. The 44-year-old right-hander decided at the last minute to include the ball in his tournament arsenal, and the choice paid off with the 29th perfect game of the 2008 USBC Open Championships. Dickinson, who got the ball from a friend a few years ago and has had regular success on the lanes, rolled games of 217, 205 and 300 for a 722 singles effort.
Eric Lukins of Fort Myers, Fla., had 596 in doubles and 584 in team at the USBC Open Championships and knew he was a long way from the 1,900 all-events total he was hoping for, but he had no plans of giving up. Since shooting a 700 series in singles was a secondary goal when he arrived at the Albuquerque Convention Center, he had the motivation he needed. After the lanes opened up a little, Lukins, who uses a thumbless release, posted games of 280, 230 and 268 for a 778 singles set and 1,958 all-events total. His singles effort moved him into fifth place in Regular Singles. Bryan Young of Everett, Wash., leads with 832.
With help from the tournament's lifetime average leader, Fox Bowl 2 of Wheaton, Ill., moved into the top spot in Team All-Events at the United States Bowling Congress Open Championships on Wednesday. The group combined for a 10,025 total to become the 15th team in tournament history to eclipse the 10,000 mark and moved past Team Tilt of Lawrence, Kan., which previously held the lead with 9,986. Team All-Events, which was awarded for the first time in 1947, combines the individual all-events scores of all five team members.
Many bowlers in pursuit of that elusive perfect game at the United States Bowling Congress Open Championships strive year after year to better themselves and build on previous tournament experiences so that maybe one day, they too, can claim the ultimate achievement on the tournament lanes. On Monday, Philipp Hudak of Columbia S.C., reached the milestone in only his second USBC Open Championships appearance and posted the 27th 300 of this year's tournament at the Albuquerque Convention Center.
Daryl Peake of Mount Holly, N.C., has passed on numerous opportunities to compete at the USBC Open Championships, but now that he found success in his tournament debut, he doesn't plan on missing another year. On the way to third place in Classified All-Events at the Albuquerque Convention Center on Saturday night, the 37-year-old left-hander became the second Classified bowler this year to roll three 600 series. Peake finished with 628 in team, 618 in doubles and 603 in singles for a 1,849 all-events total. Daniel Dabkowski of Columbia, S.C., leads with 1,857.
Jeremy Noland of Chelsea, Okla., was hoping to improve his scores after disappointing performances in team and doubles at the USBC Open Championship. The 27-year-old right-hander opened his singles event with games of 258 and 226 before starting the final game with five consecutive strikes. While it looked like he had the lead safely in hand, Nolan opened in three straight frames and forced himself to throw a clutch double to move into the top spot. He finished with 212 and a 696 series to pass Daniel Dabkowski of Columbia, S.C., who previously held the lead with 688. 
Brian Frederick (l.) of Helendale, Calif., watched his friend and former teammate, Tim Rubel (r.) of Golden Valley, Ariz., roll a perfect game at the United States Bowling Congress Open Championships on Wednesday, and rather than relinquish all of the bragging rights for the year, Frederick shot a 300 game of his own. Making only his third USBC Open Championships appearance, Frederick started his doubles event Thursday morning with 12 consecutive strikes for the first perfect game of his 27-year bowling career and the 26th of this year's tournament.
Each year, the USBC Women's and Open Championships offer unique bowling experiences to more than 100,000 bowlers, and after nearly 200 combined years of tradition, both events will have new looks in the coming years. As part of the transformation, the two events will feature a new commercial computer scoring system by Steltronic S.P.A., which will be used for the first time when the Women's Championships makes its arena debut for the 2010 event in El Paso, Texas. 
There were two titles on the line at the United States Bowling Congress Open Championships on Wednesday night, and both sets of champions quickly understood why no one in tournament history has ever successfully defended a Regular Team or Classified Doubles title. Lava Lanes of Medford, Ore. (pictured), hit the lanes first, hoping to make it two team titles in a row, while defending Classified Doubles champions Frank Smyle Jr. of Reeder, N.D., and his son Jesse Smyle of Bowman, N.D., made their run on the final squad of the day.
While Bob Chamberlain Sr. of The Villages, Fla., has enjoyed many individual successes during his hall of fame career, he comes from an era where team bowling thrived and there was nothing like having the undivided attention and support of four teammates behind you for ever shot. The 59-year-old USBC Hall of Famer got a taste of the old days at the Albuquerque Convention Center on Tuesday when he helped Turbo Grips 1 of Chesterfield, Mich., into second place in Regular Team at the USBC Open Championships.
For thousands of bowlers each year, the USBC Open Championships is about friends, family and fun, and success on the tournament lanes often is a team effort. On Monday, with their friends and families looking on, two competitors added their names to the list of bowlers who have rolled 300 games this year. Dan Peters (left, with Nephew Jake) struck first, tossing 12 consecutive strikes during his third game of team for the 23rd perfect game of the year, while Kevin Wheeler (r.) finished singles with the tournament's 24th 300 game.
With his mentor more than a thousand miles away trying to regain his exemption on the Denny's PBA Tour, Daniel Dabkowski of Columbia, S.C., put months of hard work to the test and found success at the USBC Open Championships this weekend. The 24-year-old right-hander has been under the guidance of Randy Weiss, who rolled a 300 game at the Albuquerque Convention Center earlier in the tournament and now sits in fourth place in Regular All-Events, and Dabkowski made his teacher proud by moving into the lead in Classified Singles and second place in Classified All-Events on Saturday night.
In the 71 years they've been married, Flossie and Al Duffey of Osage City, Kan., have shared a lifetime of experiences and memories, and they added one more to the list when the competed at the United States Bowling Congress Open Championships on Friday. The two have been bowling together for 50 years, but because no one from their hometown has ever expressed interest in traveling to the USBC Open Championships, it took until they were both 95 years old to finally decide to make the trip together.