Kelly Kulick

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Kelly Kulick (born March 16, 1977) is an American professional bowler from Union Township, New Jersey.

Kulick is a former three-time collegiate player of the year from Morehead State University. Kulick is also a former two-time Collegiate Bowler of the Year and was a two-time All-American at Morehead State.

Kulick began her professional career with the now defunct Professional Women's Bowling Association (PWBA), winning the 2001 Rookie of the Year Award. She also won the 2003 Women's U.S. Open. As an amateur, Kulick was a three time member of Team USA (1998-2001). After the demise of the PWBA, Kulick began bowling in the PBA Eastern Region. In 2005-06, Kulick cashed in 12 of the 14 regional events in which she competed.

On June 4, 2006, Kulick made history by becoming the first female professional bowler to earn a Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) Tour exemption. This allowed her to compete in every PBA event of the 2006-07 season. Kulick did not perform well enough to retain her exemption for the 2007-08 season, finishing 54th in points. Kulick was also unsuccessful in her attempt to regain an exemption for the 2007-08 season at the 2007 PBA Tour Trials.

The PBA opened its membership to women in April 2004 after the Professional Women's Bowlers Association folded. The PBA Tour switched to an all-exempt field in 2004-05, with 58 bowlers earning full-time exemptions for each season. Two women — Liz Johnson and Cathy Dorin-Lizzi — have gained entry to PBA Tour events through weekly qualifying.

Kulick is quoted as saying, "To be the first woman is huge...words can't even describe the feeling. I feel confident I can be a good enough competitor to stay out on Tour. My next goal is to make a television show and become the first woman to win a PBA Tour title."

Recently, Kelly Kulick was featured as a supporting character in Spider-Man's cast, as friend and former girlfriend of Flash Thompson, starting with Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #20.

Kelly won the USBC Queens event in May 2007.