# Woman wins Bowling event **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [January 25, 2010, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-wins-bowling-event/526373 "2010-01-25T16:50:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2010, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-wins-bowling-event/526373/1 "2010-01-25T16:50:41Z")
Kelly Kulick wins the Tournament of Champions on the Professional Bowlers Association tour. [Story Here](http://www.freep.com/article/20100125/BLOG35/100125001/1011/NEWS09/Kelly-Kulick-rolls-her-way-to-pioneer-status). Congratulations to Kelly > [@](#): > > It was the first victory for a woman in a PBA tournament and in one of its most prestigious events, no less. She won $40,000 and gets a two-year tour exemption. What I don’t understand is how Kelly got into the tournament if it is a “Tournament of Champions” which implies you need to be a tournament winner to get invited. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2010, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-wins-bowling-event/526373/2 "2010-01-25T16:53:52Z")
> [@notfrommensa](#): > > What I don’t understand is how Kelly got into the tournament if it is a “Tournament of Champions” which implies you need to be a tournament winner to get invited. OP apparently doesn’t read OP’s own link, which says: > [@](#): > > In women’s professional competition, Kulick won the 2003 U.S. Women’s Open at Sunnybrook Lanes in Sterling Heights, the 2007 United States Bowling Congress Queens and the PBA Women’s World Championship last September at Thunderbowl Lanes in Allen Park, **which qualified her for the Tournament of Champions.** ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2010, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-wins-bowling-event/526373/3 "2010-01-25T17:07:01Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > OP apparently doesn’t read OP’s own link, which says: I missed that part of the article. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2010, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-wins-bowling-event/526373/4 "2010-01-25T17:29:25Z")
The week before, on very tough lane conditions, the mens tour had a single match with 2 women. The highest game of the day was bowled by a woman. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2010, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-wins-bowling-event/526373/5 "2010-01-25T17:32:12Z")
> [@gonzomax](#): > > The week before, on very tough lane conditions, the mens tour had a single match with 2 women. The highest game of the day was bowled by a woman. I’m not a bowler, so i need to ask: What the hell are “tough lane conditions”? A stiff crosswind? Patches of oil? A significant tilt to the left? 🙂 I thought all bowling lanes were pretty much the same: flat and straight. ---
**Author:** ![Covered\_In\_Bees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ab992/32.png) [@Covered\_In\_Bees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Covered_In_Bees)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2010, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-wins-bowling-event/526373/6 "2010-01-25T17:38:01Z")
“Patches of oil” is far more accurate than you probably thought. The lanes are coated in different types and amounts of oils which affect how the ball rolls and spins as it moves down it. I think in most tournaments (don’t quote me, I rarely watch bowling) the games are played on two lanes, each with different oil conditions. Some players will rock the lane on the left and practically throw their ball out the window on the right lane and other such things. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2010, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-wins-bowling-event/526373/7 "2010-01-25T17:41:41Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > I’m not a bowler, so i need to ask: > > What the hell are “tough lane conditions”? A stiff crosswind? Patches of oil? A significant tilt to the left? 🙂 > > I thought all bowling lanes were pretty much the same: flat and straight. The oil conditions can vary quite significantly and have a vast impact on the game. [Here is an article explaining it.](http://amateurbowling.suite101.com/article.cfm/understanding_how_lane_conditions_affect_bowling) ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2010, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-wins-bowling-event/526373/8 "2010-01-25T17:42:03Z")
I’m not much of a bowler either, but intuitively, a “slicker” alley means a tougher lane. For instance, the lane was “ice”, it would be really tough to make the ball hook. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2010, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-wins-bowling-event/526373/9 "2010-01-25T17:44:08Z")
Thanks for the link and explanations. I was being completely tongue-in-cheek when i said patches of oil. Learn something every day. ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2010, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-wins-bowling-event/526373/10 "2010-01-25T19:18:45Z")
Sadly, there is no tournament any more which has really difficult lane conditions. The balls these days are so reactive that you’d need boatloads of oil to stop the hooking, and the PBA doesn’t want to stop the hooking, since people like seeing scores of 250+. It’s only going to get worse, now that two-handed bowling is getting popular. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![sevenwood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6de8d8/32.png) [@sevenwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sevenwood)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2010, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-wins-bowling-event/526373/11 "2010-01-25T19:47:59Z")
I saw that event as it happened on TV. I had no idea what was about to happen - I bowl a 150 average and check out those PBA events once in a while just to see if they’ll have any pointers appropriate for a klutz like me. Kelly was the second seed at that event (you apparently earn your seeding in the televised round of PBA events by playing well in earlier, non-televised qualifying rounds) which meant that she only played in the last two matches (semi-finals and finals). Note that this was nothing special because of her sex; it’s just the way PBA events are managed. Chris Barnes, for example, was the first seed and only played in the finals match. Now the crowd watching the event seemed pretty much a normal PBA event crowd, but when Kelly was introduced for the semifinals match the decibel level went right through the roof. It was as if an NFL game had suddenly started up in a domed stadium. No booing, just cheering. And when she pulled ahead in each match… Also, I should mention that neither of her opponents seemed to care what sex she was. Her first opponent, said “I don’t think of her as a female; I think of her as an opponent”. And Chris Barnes, who is married to a lady who is also a professional bowler, pointed out that his wife beats him (in bowling) “all the time”. ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2010, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-wins-bowling-event/526373/12 "2010-01-25T20:20:01Z")
Does bowling use a universal standard for measurement of lane “slickness”? In golf, green speed is measured using a ‘stimp meter’ which is basically a golf ball rolling off an inclined plane. The superintendent measures how far the ball rolls. Typically PGATour events have 10-12 readings which are fast. Majors usually try to reach 12-13. Most country clubs try to have readings in the 10-11 range. ---
**Author:** ![sevenwood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6de8d8/32.png) [@sevenwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sevenwood)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2010, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-wins-bowling-event/526373/13 "2010-01-25T21:30:15Z")
> [@notfrommensa](#): > > Does bowling use a universal standard for measurement of lane “slickness”? I’ve never heard of one. One problem with any such statistic is that the slickness of a lane changes constantly as the bowlers play on it, making any kind of static measure inaccurate. Pro bowlers constantly refer to adjusting to the lane conditions as an event progresses. (We amateurs constantly refer to it as well, but in our case we’re mostly making excuses as to why we can’t hit the pocket.) 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2010, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-wins-bowling-event/526373/14 "2010-01-26T05:59:08Z")
> [@notfrommensa](#): > > I’m not much of a bowler either, but intuitively, a “slicker” alley means a tougher lane. For instance, the lane was “ice”, it would be really tough to make the ball hook. It is much more than that. There are different kinds of balls with differing degrees of porosity. Some grip better on slick conditions but on dryer lanes you could not hold the line. Then there are ways of drilling a ball to make it hook more or go straighter. There are a lot more permutations to the game than just rolling a ball at the pins.