PARMA HEIGHTS, Ohio – Lindsay Boomershine of Brigham City, Utah, put up a 12-game total of 2,717 (a 226.42 average) to grab the lead after Day 1 of qualifying at the 2023 Professional Women’s Bowling Association Bowlers Journal Cleveland Open, which is being contested at Yorktown Lanes.
Boomershine, who a little over two weeks ago picked up her first career PWBA Tour title and major at the 2023 USBC Queens, broke 200 during 11 of 12 games on Friday and went above 230 five times (233, 238, 231, 267 and 256) to finish the day atop the standings in the 100-player field.
The 37-year-old right-hander has always enjoyed competing at Yorktown Lanes, and Friday’s first two rounds of qualifying certainly did nothing to change that as Boomershine was pretty well locked in from start to finish on the Cleveland Open’s 39-foot oil pattern.
“We’ve come to Yorktown a few times now since the relaunch, and I love bowling here,” Boomershine said. “The bowling center seems to match up to my ball roll, so I made some really good shots, stayed patient and just let each block sort of develop for me.”
But Friday was far from the first time this season that things have developed nicely for Boomershine; on the contrary, her hard work and solid execution have allowed her to seemingly keep her name at or near the top of the standings at just about every event she’s bowled during the first half of the 2023 PWBA Tour schedule.
Through the first six events this season, Boomershine has one win, two stepladder finals appearances and five top-20 finishes to her credit.
That success, and the strong start Friday in Cleveland, is certainly gratifying for Boomershine as it makes life on the road just bit less grueling.
“If I’m going to be away from my family for this long, I want to make sure it’s because I’m making something great happen,” Boomershine said. “Being out on tour is hard. It’s hard on your body, and it’s hard mentally. I’m just lucky that it’s been going in a great direction and that all of the hard work is paying off because I’m not done yet.”
Boomershine is certainly right about that because not only does she have 12 more games to bowl if she wants to make the stepladder finals at the Cleveland Open, but she’ll also have to fend off several top-flite competitors while attempting to do so.
Seven-time PWBA Tour titlist and two-time major champion Danielle McEwan of Stony Point, New York, sits one spot behind Boomershine after coming in with a 12-game total of 2,712 on Friday.
Germany’s Birgit Noreiks and Julia Bond of Aurora, Illinois, both of whom have three career titles and one major on their resumes, finished in third and fourth with 2,699 and 2,698, respectively.
England’s Verity Crawley, who made two stepladder finals appearances and won her second career title at last week’s Grand Rapids Classic at Spectrum Lanes in Wyoming, Michigan, grabbed the final spot in Friday’s top five with 2,693.
Crawley shot the fourth 300 game of the 2023 PWBA Tour season during Round 2 of qualifying Friday night, just hours after Jordan Richard of Tipton, Michigan, shot the third during Game 6 of Round 1.
Richard, who became the first two-time champion on tour this season by winning the Great Lakes Classic on Tuesday, qualified seventh with 2,660.
The 100-player field was cut to the top 33 players after Friday night’s second round, but a roll-off was needed to determine who got the final spot after Haley Richard of Tipton, Michigan, and Dasha Kovalova of Muskegon, Michigan, tied for 33rd with matching totals of 2,476 (a 206.33 average).
Kovalova, a five-time titlist and the 2019 USBC Queens champion, came out on top during the extra session, besting Haley Richard, 224-181, to advance to Round 3.
Saturday’s third round will consist of an additional six games starting at 9 a.m. Eastern. Then, the top 12 players will return at 2 p.m. Eastern for a fourth and final six-game round to complete qualifying, after which the top five players, based on total pinfall for 24 games, will advance to the stepladder finals.
The stepladder will be Saturday at 6:30 p.m. Eastern and will be broadcast live at BowlTV.com. The champion will earn $20,000.
