BATON ROUGE - Two weeks from today, the 2025 USBC Open Championships will come to an end after a run at the Raising Canes River Center that began back on March 1. That was the day of the Spanish Town Mardi Gras Parade which seemed almost a perfect day for opening ceremonies of this event.

We’ve come this far with a lot of great bowling along with the tradition meeting of families and friends that happens every year at this event to reunite and share some fun times.

But one thing is missing in this year’s event – no one, repeat no one, has thrown a perfect 300 game in the team event as of Sunday night. It seems a little odd, doesn’t it?

Just for the record, 18 perfect games have been rolled on the River Center lanes in doubles and singles on a pattern that has played much easier downtown and especially easy in the Bowlers Journal event at All Star Lanes.

We’ve been studying lists and doing some research and while the lack of 300s in one event is not unprecedented, in this modern era of bowling it seems almost inconceivable.

First of all, so much has happened in the sport since the first event when 41 teams got together in Chicago in 1901. Since then, there have been 1,027 perfect 300 games in the Championships. The 1,000th 12-strike game came in the team event in Las Vegas last year.

To find the last time 300 games were rolled in two events, but not all three events, you have to go back to the 2016 event in Reno when there was only a grand total of seven 300 games. Two were in the team event and five in singles, but nothing in doubles.

And, when you consider the modern era of this tournament, for our purposes dating back to 1990, that’s the only time until this year that 300s were not rolled in all three events.

Ironically, it should be pointed out in 2005 in Baton Rouge of the 12 perfect games rolled, 10 were in singles, one in doubles and one in team.

Speaking of which someone with more knowledge will have to explain the lack of 300 games in 2015 (6-El Paso), 2016 (7-Reno) and 2017 (10-Las Vegas) when you look at some of the other numbers like 36 a year ago and 52 in 2022 both in Vegas, 52 in Reno in 2011 and the 64 in Billings, Montana in 2002.

It is known that was the time when the lane patterns designed by USBC began to be of the trickier, more challenging variety.

In almost three complete tournaments in Baton Rouge the over 185,000 bowlers in 2005, 2012, 2025 have combined to bowl 49 perfect games at the River Center – 12 in 2005, 19 in 2025 and 18 in 2025 to date. Ironically, this past week, it could have been 19 in 2025 but a missed final shot left a final total of 299.

There have been three close calls with the final ball not knocking them all down in Team for 298 games.  There have also been three bowlers who started with a spare and struck out next eleven for 290 games as well as two who started with 9-count open frames then rolled the next 11 strikes for 279 games in the team event.

If you are curious, the first 300 game in the Championships, then run by the American Bowling Congress, happened in 1913 by William Knox of Philadelphia in singles. It would be 13 years later before another 300 game would be posted.

There have been these 300s by Louisiana bowlers over the years:  Mykel Holliman, Denham Springs (2023, Team); Andre Trahan, Houma (2012, Doubles in BR); Derwin Pitre, Lafayette-Baton Rouge (2001, Team; 1992, Team); Clay Duke, Baker (2000, Singles); Craig Conley, Baton Rouge (1993, Doubles); Keith Bennett, Baton Rouge (1993, Singles); and, Jerry Conard, Chalmette-Baton Rouge (1991, Singles)

By the way, 14 300 games have been shot by females as the Open Championships are truly open. And, the oldest 300 shooter – a 74-year-old named Tony Lindemann of Detroit.

In another interesting twist, there have been five 800 series here in Baton Rouge this tournament and they have all been in the doubles event. There were none shot here in 2005 and two in Baton Rouge in 2012, including one of the best I personally witnessed – the late-night, early morning 847 by Matt McNiel, making it three-straight years with an 800 series at the Open.

Holliman of Denham Springs, mentioned earlier as one of the 300 shooters locally, has one of the 167 sets of 800 or better in tournament history with 813 in team in 2023.

Over at All Star, where the Bowlers Journal event is taking place on the doubles and singles pattern, scoring has been strong with a whopping 35 300 games including one by Alan Addison of Baton Rouge back on March 27. Unfortunately, it appears he was one of 12 that shot a perfect game that didn’t enter the high game jackpot and won’t share in the jackpot which now stands at over $22,000 for high game.

So there you have it. Numbers galore and I’m sure there will be more we find before the lanes are taken out in a couple weeks. Maybe someone will break through in team before it ends, who knows?

Thanks for stopping by for some Spare Notes.

Back next Monday and until then, good luck and good bowling,

                                Kent Lowe