The Professional Women's Bowling Association (PWBA) formed in 1960. After the organization struggled, a group of female professional bowlers left the PWBA to form the Ladies' Professional Bowlers Association in 1974. The two merged again in 1978, forming the Women's Professional Bowlers Association, which became the Ladies Professional Bowlers Tour (LPBT) in 1981. In its final years, the LPBT changed its name back to the Professional Women's Bowling Association.
In the fall of 2003, the PWBA tour ceased operations before the completion of its 2003 season. This was primarily caused by a lack of interest in sponsoring women's bowling that gradually dwindled over time.
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Many PWBA events were televised on ESPN and ESPN2 from the late 1980s up until when the association folded. From 2004-2006, the WIBC Queens event (re-named USBC Queens in 2005) was the only scheduled event for female bowlers that received TV coverage.
For the autumn of 2007, the USBC acquired rights to the U.S. Women's Open. The event was televised for five Sundays on ESPN, with the action being called by PBA legends Nelson Burton Jr. and Marshall Holman. This event also served as the qualifier for the PBA Women's Series, a special four-stop mini-tour for the top 16 females. The finals for the mini-tour events were televised along with the regular PBA broadcasts for four Sundays on ESPN in November-December, 2007.
The U.S. Women's Open returned for five weeks in September-October, 2008, and the PBA Women's Series was expanded to seven events in the 2008-09 season.
The Women's International Bowling Congress (WIBC) acquired the rights and assets of the PWBA. This gave the WIBC control of the PWBA name, trademark, logo, website domain (pwba.com), as well as the PWBA's historical records. The United States Bowling Congress (USBC) then acquired the PWBA when the WIBC merged with the American Bowling Congress (ABC), Young American Bowling Alliance (YABA) and USA Bowling in 2005.
The Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) opened its membership to women in April 2004. Former PWBA members such as Kelly Kulick, Kim Adler and Liz Johnson would eventually become exempt members of the PBA Tour. The PBA created the PBA Women's Series in 2007, allowing women PBA members to compete in a small number of events without their male counterparts.
Other bowlers either retired from professional bowling, or moved onto other bowling organizations. Wendy Macpherson started competing in the Japan Ladies Bowling Club (JLBC) in 2004, winning the 2004 JLBC Prince Cup in her first appearance. She would eventually earn her membership in the Japan Professional Bowling Association (JPBA) in 2007.[1] In 2007, the Japan Bowling Congress (JBC) started the DHC Cup Girls Bowling International - the tournament eventually becoming the third largest tournament for females in the world in terms of money, just behind the U.S. Women's Open and the USBC Queens.[2]
Donna Adamek, Kim Adler, Lynda Barnes, Leanne Barrette, Lisa Bishop, Alayne Blomenberg, Tammy Turner Boomershine, Cindy Coburn-Carroll, Stephanie Chiera, Cheryl Daniels, Dede Davidson, Marianne Dirupo, Carolyn Dorin-Ballard, Cathy Dorin-Lizzi, Anne Marie Duggan, Helen Duval, Jeri Edwards Karen Ellingsworth, Michelle Feldman, Rene Fleming, Kendra Gaines, Julie Gardner, Shirley Garms, Carol Gianotti, Nikki Gianulias, Tennelle Grijalva-Milligan, Liz Johnson Tish Johnson, Cara Honeychurch, Kelly Kulick, Karen Krejcha, Wendy Macpherson, Dana Miller-Mackie, Debbie McMullen, Betty Morris, Michelle Mullen, Jeanne Naccarato, Sue Neidig, Lori Nichols, Carol Norman, Virginia Norton, Sandy Postma, Stacy Rider, Jan Schmidt, Robin Romeo, Tori Romeo, Jackie Sellers, Sandra Jo Shiery, Aleta Sill, Judy Soutar, Diana Teeters, Lisa Wagner, Leila Wagner