SPOKANE, Wash. – No matter how hard you work and prepare during the offseason, it usually takes a week or two to get fully up to speed at the start of a new season.
While all bowlers on the Professional Women’s Bowling Association Tour work hard, nobody can claim to work harder than seven-time PWBA titlist and two-time major champion Danielle McEwan of Stony Point, New York.
That work ethic and a healthy dose of pure talent helped the 31-year-old right-hander to a solid 16th-place finish at last weekend’s PWBA Stockton Open, the first event of the 2023 PWBA Tour season and the 100th tournament to award a title since the tour’s relaunch in 2015.
This week, the tour heads to the Pacific Northwest for the 2023 PWBA GoBowling! Spokane Open, which will be contested at Lilac Lanes & Casino in Spokane from May 11-13.
This will mark the second time that Lilac Lanes & Casino has hosted the PWBA Tour. The first came during the 2021 season when McEwan topped USBC Hall of Famer Liz Johnson of Niagara Falls, New York, (203-192), to emerge as champion.
This week, McEwan will try to draw upon the confidence she gained from that winning performance to put forth another strong showing in Spokane.
“Whenever you return to a place with good memories, it’s always nice to be back there and see the familiar faces of fans and staff,” McEwan said. “I think it always gives you a little more confidence to be in an environment where you’ve had success before, so I’m super excited to be going back.”
However, McEwan’s excitement isn’t based solely upon her previous success at Lilac Lanes; it’s also due to the wonderful job bowling center management and staff have done making her and her fellow PWBA competitors feel welcome.
“It’s a very nice bowling center, and they’ve always treated us great and done a wonderful job accommodating us,” McEwan said. “On tour, we don’t really have all that much time to adventure out and see a lot of things outside the bowling center, so when the staff treats you well and makes you comfortable, that’s what you remember and makes you want to go back.”
McEwan would obviously love to have another week to remember by reaching the winner’s circle for the eighth time in her PWBA Tour career; however, that isn’t how she measures success week in and week out.
“Every week, I just try to do my best, learn and grow,” McEwan said. Early in the season is difficult because you’re not sharp competition-wise, so I just try to get sharper every week and continue to grow for the rest of the season.”
Despite the difficulties of coming out of the gate sharp to start the season, Lindsay Boomershine of Brigham City, Utah, kicked her 2023 campaign off in fine fashion last week by reaching the stepladder finals and walking away with a fourth-place finish at the Stockton Open.
Like McEwan, Boomershine also has enjoyed competing at Lilac Lanes & Casino in the past, and she’s hoping to keep her early-season momentum going this week in Spokane.
“I did a lot of preparation and made a few changes to my physical game during the offseason, so it felt awesome to make the stepladder right out of the gate last week in Stockton; it was really satisfying, and it made it feel like all of that work is paying off,” Boomershine said. “Also, I love Spokane. The proprietors are super awesome, and I just genuinely like the bowling center. They put on a great professional event.”
This week’s event kicks off Thursday at 6 p.m. Eastern with the official practice session. Tournament competition will get underway Friday with two six-game qualifying rounds, the first beginning at 1 p.m. Eastern and the second following at 8 p.m. Eastern.
The top 26 athletes will advance and bowl another six-game block Saturday at noon Eastern before the field is cut down to the top 12 players. Those 12 will have a final six-game round at 5 p.m. Eastern to determine the five players for the stepladder finals, based on total pinfall for 24 games.
The finals of the Spokane Open will take place Saturday at 9:30 p.m. Eastern with the winner earning $20,000.
The action doesn’t stop there, however, as Lilac Lanes & Casino also will be hosting the 2023 PWBA Spokane Regional, which will be contested on Sunday starting at 1 p.m. Eastern.
Regional bowlers will participate in an eight-game qualifying block before the field is cut to the top four competitors for the stepladder finals, which will begin at 7 p.m. Eastern.
All rounds of competition at the PWBA GoBowling! Spokane Open and the Spokane Regional will be broadcast live at BowlTV.com.
The 2023 PWBA Tour season features 12 events and an overall prize fund of approximately $1.4 million, which is tied for the largest average per event since the tour’s relaunch in 2015.
The schedule also features three majors, the USBC Queens, U.S. Women’s Open and season-ending PWBA Tour Championship. The stepladder finals at all three majors will be broadcast live on CBS Sports Network.
There are nine events on the 2023 PWBA Regional schedule. The season kicked off with the PWBA Greater Dallas Regional in January and will conclude with the season-ending PWBA Regional Showdown in December.
