Women in Sports: Bowling
Updated February 21, 2017 | Factmonster Staff 
- Bowling is one of the most popular sport for women in the United States today. Women first bowled in the 1880s, despite social disapproval.
- The first women's bowling tournament took place in 1917 in St. Louis, Missouri. There were 100 participants.
- Jennie Kelleher of Wisconsin was the first woman to bowl a perfect 300 game in 1930.
- More bowlers competed in the Women's International Bowling Congress Championship tournament in Reno, Nevada, in 1988 than in any other bowling match in the world. There were 77,735 women competitors.
- Hall of Fame bowler Aleta Sill is the only bowler in history to win the career Triple Crown twice. The women's Triple Crown consisted of the U.S. Open, WIBC (now USBC) Queens, and the Sam's Town Invitational. In 1999, Sill also became the first woman to crack the $1 million mark in career earnings on the women's pro bowling tour.
- Wendy Macpherson was named Bowler of the Decade for the 1990's and already jumped out to a flying start in the new millennium, being named the 2000 Woman Bowler of the Year by the Bowling Writers Association of Amerca. She passed $1 million in career earnings in 2000. She was the first woman to win the regular singles title in the USBC Open.
- Professional bowler Kim Adler also enjoys mountain biking, mountain climbing and snowboarding.
- In 2006, Kelly Kulick became the first woman to earn a full-time spot on the men's Professional Bowlers Association tour.
- In 2007, the PBA Women's Series was inaugerated by the Professional Bowling Association bringing women's bowling back to TV for the first time since the Professional Women's Bowling Association folded in 2003.
- In 2009, Wendy Macpherson, a 20-time Professional Womenâs Bowling Association champion, became a member of the United States Bowling Congress Hall of Fame. Macpherson was the all-time earnings leader in womenâs professional bowling as of 2003. She has been selected Woman Bowler of the Year four times. She was also the only woman to take home a USBC Open Championships title.
 Kim Adler AP Photos |
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