Butch Cormier of Lafayette, Louisiana, and Edward VanDaniker Jr. of Chatsworth, California, added their names to the short list of bowlers who have achieved perfection at the 2017 United States Bowling Congress Open Championships, rolling the ninth and 10th perfect games of the event.

Las Vegas has hosted some of the highlights of Cormier’s 27-year USBC Open Championships career, and he now can add a 300 at the South Point Bowling Plaza to that list.

The 46-year-old right-hander (above) finished his singles set June 27 with 12 consecutive strikes on the way to a 778 series, which is sixth in Regular Singles. He started with games of 210 and 268. Ron Jacobson (right) of Jupiter, Florida, leads Regular Singles with 804.

The last time the Open Championships visited Las Vegas (2009), it was held at the nearby Cashman Center, where Cormier made his first run at perfection on the championship lanes. He started his final game of doubles with 10 consecutive strikes, before leaving a 4 pin and finishing with 289.

While Cormier was striking in doubles that year, so were his teammates, Brenda and Stephen Padilla (left) of Mansfield, Texas. The Padillas went on to post a record doubles total (1,566) that day at Cashman Center, and it ended up being enough to claim the 2009 Regular Doubles title.

Brenda Padilla’s success continued in singles, where she rolled her own perfect game and capped off the highest all-events total by a woman at the Open Championships, a 2,132 effort.

The communication and teamwork that went into that performance hasn’t changed for the group, and it was a key component in Cormier’s success at the Bowling Plaza.

“It was a great team effort,” said Cormier, who added sets of 585 in doubles and 538 in team for a 1,901 all-events total.

“We broke them down the right way and stayed together as a team. If they changed, we made the moves together and really communicated well. I was the lucky one to match up the final few games, but it could have happened to any of us.”

Two former members of Cormier’s group, Todd Minotti of Oviedo, Florida, and Stephen Sutphin (right) of Howey in the Hills, Florida, also made headlines at the Open Championships.

Minotti is one of 29 bowlers in tournament history with multiple 300 games on the tournament lanes (1997 and 1999), while Sutphin rolled the first 800 series of the 2011 event at the National Bowling Stadium in Reno, Nevada (827).

VanDaniker (left), a former Team USA member, started his singles event July 1 with 12 strikes and added games of 203 and 258 for a 761 series, which is 19th this year in Regular Singles.

The 31-year-old right-hander had 642 in team and 527 in doubles for a 1,930 all-events effort this year at the Bowling Plaza.

There also were four perfect games this week at the 2017 Bowlers Journal Championships presented by USBC as Perry Crowell IV of Chesterfield, Michigan, Brazil’s Marcelo Suartz, Kyle King of Glendale, Arizona, and Timothy Heimann of St. Peters, Missouri, all shot 300 at the South Point Bowling Center.

A look ahead

There’s less than two weeks left at the 2017 USBC Open Championships and Bowlers Journal Championships presented by USBC.

The Bowlers Journal Championships will conclude first, ending on July 15, while the 149-day run of the Open Championships will end July 16. Competition at both events began on Feb. 18.

By the end of the Open Championships, more than 10,000 teams will have hit the lanes for the 2017 edition at the South Point Bowling Plaza. The Bowlers Journal has been contested at the South Point Bowling Center.

For more information on the Open Championships, click here.

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2017 USBC Open Championships – Regular Division

Top 10 division leaders with hometown and pinfall

Team
(Combined averages of 1,046 and above)
1, Team NABR (Adam Barta, Anthony Pepe, Mike Rose Jr., Scott Pohl, Brian Waliczek), Fairport, N.Y., 3,266. 2, BowlingDynamics.com, Phoenix, 3,246. 3(tie), Shot Makers Pro Shop, Temperance, Mich., and Turbo Grips 4, Chesterfield, Mich., 3,240. 5, HoF Silver Lanes 1, New Hartford, Conn., 3,239. 6, Bowlers Connection 1, Carpentersville, Ill., 3,222. 7, Strike It Big 1, Sanford, Mich., 3,221. 8, Jugs Bowling Center, Sylvania, Ohio, 3,212. 9, Lodge Lanes Kids, Orlando, Fla., 3,207. 10, Kruse’s Pro Shop, Fargo, N.D., 3,198.

Doubles
(Combined averages of 419 and above)
1, Vince Biondo/Brandon Biondo, Carpentersville, Ill., 1,452. 2, Mike Reasoner, Hazlet, N.J./John Nolen, Waterford, Mich., 1,431. 3, Andrew Herbert, Eden, N.Y./Brad Angelo, Lockport, N.Y., 1,428. 4, Jacob Kent/Doug Kent, Newark, N.Y., 1,425. 5, David Leverage, Peoria, Ariz./Todd Book, Russells Point, Ohio, 1,424. 6(tie), Rick Miller, Lincoln, Neb./Clint Johnson, Fort Worth, Texas and Tim Pfeifer, Oakdale, Pa./Chris Bardol, Brockport, N.Y., 1,417. 8, Justin Nieman, Macomb, Mich./Craig Nidiffer, New Boston, Mich., 1,411. 9, Ryan Zagar, Racine, Wis./Tylor Greene, Davison, Mich., 1,409. 10, Richard Graham, Lancaster, Pa./Andrew Carson, York, Pa., 1,395.

Singles
(Averages of 210 and above)
1, Ron Jacobson, Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., 804. 2(tie), Matt Gasn, Clarksville, Tenn., and Steve De Kerf Jr., Sheboygan Falls, Wis., 802. 4, James Hamby, Chesterfield, Va., 792. 5, Dan Higgins, Westerville, Ohio, 781. 6, Butch Cormier, Lafayette, La., 778. 7, Adam Barta, Girard, Ohio, 776. 8(tie), Austin Gratzer, University Place, Wash., and Patrick Girard, Quebec City, 773. 10, Curt Dupre IV, Metairie, La., 772.

All-Events
(Averages of 210 and above)
1, Brad Angelo, Lockport, N.Y., 2,176. 2, Jacob Boresch, Kenosha, Wis., 2,122. 3, Jakob Butturff, Chandler, Ariz., 2,110. 4, Brandon Biondo, Carpentersville, Ill., 2,108. 5, Joe Bailey, Doylestown, Ohio, 2,106. 6(tie), William (BJ) Moore, Greensburg, Pa., and Todd Lathrop, Colchester, Conn., 2,105. 8, Chris Gibbons, Madison, Wis., 2,102. 9, Curtis Woods, Santa Rosa, Calif., 2,097. 10, Mike Reasoner, Hazlet, N.J., 2,093.

Team All-Events
(Combined all-events totals of all five team members)
1, Team NABR (Adam Barta, Anthony Pepe, Scott Pohl, Michael Rose Jr., Brian Waliczek), Fairport, N.Y., 9,957. 2, Higgy’s Aquarium, Westerville, Ohio, 9,930. 3, Rose Bowl Lanes, Rochester, N.Y., 9,867. 4, Turbo Grips 3, Chesterfield, Mich., 9,833. 5, Bowlers Connection 1, Carpentersville, Ill., 9,813. 6, Vanilla Salsa, Roseville, Calif., 9,743. 7, BowlU 1, Lockport, N.Y., 9,710. 8, BowlU 2, Blasdell, N.Y., 9,692. 9, Lodge Lanes Kids, Orlando, Fla., 9,668. 10, A&M Affiliates 1, Minneapolis, 9,646.

2017 USBC Open Championships – Standard Division

Top 10 division leaders with hometown and pinfall

Team
(Combined averages of 901-1,045)
1, Minnesota Select Sires 1 (Arvid Strande, Carl Krause, Paul Buendiger, Scott Molnar, Andrew Kasten), Fergus, Minn., 2,922. 2, Mix em Up, Las Cruces, N.M., 2,867. 3, Chris’ Boys, Livingston, Mont., 2,778. 4, C.G. Misfits, Casa Grande, Ariz., 2,771. 5, General Distributors 2, Beavercreek, Ore., 2,748. 6, All-In 2, Accokeek, Md., 2,747. 7, Scotty’s 3, Alexandria, Minn., 2,738. 8(tie), Aztec 4, Lacey, Wash., and Invazn, Columbia, Mo., 2,729. 10, Specialty Paint & Design, Billings, Mont., 2,719.

Doubles
(Combined averages of 361-418)
1, Stuart Sheck, Germantown, Md./Robert Tonelli, Henderson, Nev., 1,236. 2, Brandon Taylor, Crofton, Md./Tyrone Watkins, District, Md., 1,233. 3, Timothy Larke, Royal Oak, Mich./Rick Larke, Lake Orion, Mich., 1,224. 4, Cole Schroyer, Canyon, Texas/Brandon Simmons, Amarillo, Texas, 1,214. 5, Alexander Cariello, Carol Stream, Ill./Ed Mousseau, East Amherst, N.Y., 1,202. 6, Douglas Turney/Brennan Nett, Kiel, Wis., 1,201. 7, Kaitlyn Schroyer, Stanton, Texas/Matthew Hoffman, Richmond, Texas, 1,198. 8, Thomas Fredrick/Mark Mallow, Watertown, Wis., 1,192. 9, Ramon Pagan/Raymond Haran, Chicago, 1,191. 10, Nicholas Frederick, Commerce, Mich./Zane Hollander, Las Vegas, 1,190.

Singles
(Averages of 181-209)
1, Charlie Theobald, Minot, N.D., 696. 2(tie), Rusty Johnston, Austin, Texas, and Scott Williams, Aberdeen, Md., 681. 4, Nolen Fisher, Caldwell, Idaho, 677. 5, Larry Neb, Loveland, Colo., 674. 6(tie), Gary Burton, Xenia, Ohio, and James King, Edmonds, Wash., 673. 8, Earl Bowe, Bahamas, 667. 9(tie), Dan Contreras, Raytown, Mo., and Brennan Nett, Kiel, Wis., 665.

All-Events
(Averages of 181-209)
1, Rusty Johnston, Austin, Texas, 1,915. 2, Brennan Nett, Kiel, Wis., 1,865. 3, Larry Keel, Huntsville, Ala., 1,831. 4, Nolen Fisher, Caldwell, Idaho, 1,829. 5, Stephanie Sanders, Bakersfield, Calif., 1,826. 6, Williams Labedz, Lansing, Ill., 1,817. 7, Chhaty Sar, Columbia, Mo., 1,813. 8, Timothy Hagar, Celina, Ohio, 1,809. 9, Steven Ireland, Selma, Ind., 1,805. 10, Mike Thielen, Eagle Grove, Iowa, 1,801.

2017 USBC Open Championships – Classified Division

Top 10 division leaders with hometown and pinfall

Team
(Combined averages of 900 and below)
1, Scotty’s 8 (Chad Brandt, Ryan Dew, Bruce Corneliusen, Zach Hedine, Alan Iverson), Alexandria, Minn., 2,569. 2, Dusty’s Floor Covering, Twin Valley, Minn., 2,487. 3, Spray and Pray, Los Angeles, 2,486. 4, The Misfits No. 2, Maryville, Ill., 2,471. 5, Brant Construction, Spirit Lake, Iowa, 2,462. 6, WA Bowlers 7, Renton, Wash., 2,459. 7, Kutztown Fire 1, Kutztown, Pa., 2,456. 8, Cranes Team, Mesa, Ariz., 2,443. 9, Decorah Auto Center, Calmar, Iowa, 2,437. 10, Wags N Whiskers, Livingston, Mont., 2,436.

Doubles
(Combined averages of 360 and below)
1(tie), Ashley Olriksen, Brooklyn Park, Minn./Bud Olriksen, Las Vegas, and Ted Fleming/Paul Davis, Emmett, Idaho, 1,105. 3(tie), Aaron Hagen/Brody Hagen, Benson, Minn., and Mark Nelson, Clitherall, Minn./Lynn Good, Battle Lake, Minn., 1,102. 5, Carol Cooper/Janeen Keywood, Pensacola, Fla., 1,099. 6, Lisa Figures/Timothy Allen, Katy, Texas, 1,098. 7, Wilmer Arquillo, Newark, Calif./Hermen Rodriguez, Union City, Calif., 1,093. 8, Cari Wiest/Larry Wald, Wishek, N.D., 1,091. 9, Dalton Mortenson/Jessica Mortenson, Moorhead, Minn., 1,083. 10, Linda Dawyot, Visalia, Calif./Jim Dick, Fresno, Calif., 1,078.

Singles
(Averages of 180 and below)
1, Wiley Collins, Winter Springs, Fla., 652. 2, Jason Buffington, Las Vegas, 649. 3, Robert Linder, Henderson, Colo., 634. 4, Nick Stenberg, Big Timber, Mont., 621. 5, Michael Tengan, Hilo, Hawaii, 607. 6, Megan Fernandes, Los Angeles, 600. 7, Gary Pettway, Sweetwater, Tenn., 598. 8(tie), Michael Johnson-Wesley, Hewitt, Texas, and Melvin Reynolds, North Ridgeville, Ohio, 596. 10, Rory Hanlon, Las Vegas, 592.

All-Events
(Averages of 180 and below)
1, Nick Stenberg, Big Timber, Mont., 1,733. 2, Gary Pettway, Sweetwater, Tenn., 1,704. 3, Damon Helgevold, Osceola, Iowa, 1,696. 4, Matt Buchholz, Ellensburg, Wash., 1,693. 5, Cody Maier, Spring Creek, Nev., 1,686. 6, Josh Wall, Eastview, Ky., 1,678. 7, Susan Elliott, Warren, Mich., 1,664. 8, Phuoc Tran, West Covina, Calif., 1,661. 9, Robert Beaty, Houston, 1,658. 10, Alicia Graham, Bastrop, Texas, 1,651.