The USBC Queens is an annual

ten-pin bowling Tenpin bowling is a type of bowling in which a bowler bowling form, rolls a bowling ball down a wood or synthetic lane toward ten pins positioned Tetractys, evenly in four rows in an equilateral triangle. The goal is to knock down all ten Bowlin ...

event for amateur and professional female bowlers, sanctioned by the

United States Bowling Congress The United States Bowling Congress (USBC) is a sports membership organization dedicated to ten-pin bowling in the United States of America, United States. It was formed in 2005 by a merger of the American Bowling Congress—the original codifier ...

. The event is one of four women's professional majors since the PWBA tour returned in 2015 and the female equivalent of the

USBC Masters The USBC Masters is a championship ten-pin bowling event conducted by the United States Bowling Congress. The Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) began recognizing it as a title event in 1998, and it was designated one of the four majors in 2000 ...

, now one of the four majors on the

Professional Bowlers Association The Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) is the major sanctioning body for the sport of professional ten-pin bowling in the United States. Headquartered in Mechanicsville, Virginia, and currently owned by the Lucky Strike Entertainment Corpor ...

(PBA) Tour. The format for the USBC Queens tournament is similar to the

. All entrants bowl 15 games of qualifying over three days. The top 63 qualifiers plus the previous year's champion are then seeded for match play. Match play consists of three-game, total-pinfall matches in a double-elimination format. First-time losers during the match play rounds are not eliminated, but are instead placed into an elimination bracket, where they must survive all subsequent three-game matches to have a chance at making the championship finals. The last five remaining players with either one or zero match play losses are seeded for the televised finals, which is a single-game stepladder format.

USBC Queens history

The USBC Queens made its debut in 1961, as a companion to the

Women's International Bowling Congress The Women's International Bowling Congress (WIBC) was an organization for women bowlers who played ten-pin bowling and was formed in 1916 as a counterpart to the American Bowling Congress (ABC). The WIBC was initially called the " Woman's Nation ...

(WIBC) National Tournament. It was known as the WIBC Queens from 1961–2004, until the WIBC became a part of the

(USBC) on January 1, 2005. The tournament is part of the World Bowling Tour, annually attracting a field of hundreds of the top bowlers from around the world.Official Queens website
/ref> Ten bowlers have won at least two USBC Queens titles, with only two winning three times: Millie Ignizio (Martorella) (1967, 1970, 1971) and Wendy Macpherson (1988, 2000, 2003). Both bowlers are now in the USBC Hall of Fame.

USBC Queens champions

2025 Event

The 2025 USBC Queens tournament was held May 14–20 at Suncoast Hotel & Casino Bowling Center in

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

. The tournament had 198 total entries and a $325,250 prize fund, with a $60,000 top prize. A five-player stepladder format was used for the live televised finals on May 20. Top seed Josie Barnes defeated reigning PWBA Player of the Year Sin Li Jane, 211–198, in her lone finals match, to capture her fifth PWBA Tour title and second major. {{5TeamBracket-Stepladder , RD1=Match #1 , RD2=Match #2 , RD3=Match #3 , RD4=Championship Match , RD1-seed1=4 , RD1-team1=Valerie Bercier , RD1-score1=233 , RD1-seed2=5 , RD1-team2=

Clara Guerrero Clara Juliana Guerrero Londoño (born April 22, 1982, in Armenia, Colombia) is a right-handed Colombian ten-pin bowler who has won Colombian championships and multiple international championships. She has been a member of Team Colombia for twent ...

, RD1-score2=237 , RD2-seed1=3 , RD2-team1=Sin Li Jane , RD2-score1=238 , RD2-seed2=5 , RD2-team2=Clara Guerrero , RD2-score2=236 , RD3-seed1=2 , RD3-team1=Nur Hazirah Ramli , RD3-score1=211 , RD3-seed2=3 , RD3-team2=Sin Li Jane , RD3-score2=235 , RD4-seed1=1 , RD4-team1= Josie Barnes , RD4-score1=211 , RD4-seed2=3 , RD4-team2=Sin Li Jane , RD4-score2=198 Final Standings:
1. Josie Barnes (

Hermitage, Tennessee Hermitage is a neighborhood of Nashville, Tennessee, Nashville, adjacent to – and named in honor of – The Hermitage (Tennessee), The Hermitage, the historic home of Andrew Jackson, seventh President of the United States. Although the area is ...

) – $60,000
2. Sin Li Jane (

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

) – $30,000
3. Nur Hazirah Ramli (Malaysia) – $22,500
4. Clara Guerrero (

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

) – $17,500
5. Valerie Bercier (

Muskegon, Michigan Muskegon ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Muskegon County, Michigan, United States. Situated around a harbor of Lake Michigan, Muskegon is known for fishing, sailing regattas, and boating. It is the most populous city along Lake Michigan' ...

) – $12,500

List of champions

*2025: Josie Barnes *2024: Jillian Martin *2023: Lindsay Boomershine *2022: Birgit Noreiks *2021: Julia Bond *2020: ''Not held due to

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

'' *2019: Dasha Kovalova *2018:

Shannon O'Keefe Shannon O'Keefe (née Rondeau, born January 27, 1979) is an American professional bowler and bowling coach now living in Jacksonville, Alabama. She has competed in the United States and internationally, and is currently the head coach at Jack ...

*2017: Diana Zavjalova *2016: Bernice Lim *2015: Liz Johnson *2014: Maria Jose Rodriguez *2013: Diana Zavjalova *2012: Diandra Asbaty *2011:

Missy Parkin Missy or Missie is a feminine first name, often a short form of Melissa. People * Mathilde de Morny (1863-1944), French aristocrat and artist * Michele "Missy" Avila (1968-1985), American murder victim * Missie Berteotti (born 1963), American ...

*2010:

Kelly Kulick Kelly Kulick (born March 16, 1977) is an American professional bowler, bowling coach and sportscaster. She has won ten professional women's bowling titles (six of them majors), one PBA Tour title (a major) and a professional mixed doubles tit ...

*2009: Liz Johnson *2008:

Lynda Barnes Lynda Barnes (née Norry, born October 7, 1967) is one of the world's leading female tenpin bowlers. She is a former member of the PWBA (Professional Women's Bowling Association). Bowling as an amateur, Lynda won the 1998 USBC Queens championshi ...

*2007:

*2006:

Shannon Pluhowsky Shannon Pluhowsky (born August 8, 1982) is an American left-handed ten-pin bowler who competes in the Professional Women's Bowling Association (PWBA) and internationally. Pluhowsky is a 22-time member of Team USA (2001–2021, 2024), and a form ...

*2005: Tennelle Milligan *2004: Marianne DiRupo *2003: Wendy Macpherson *2002: Kim Terrell *2001:

Carolyn Dorin-Ballard Carolyn Dorin-Ballard (born 1964) is one of the top female ten-pin bowlers in the world. She is a member of the Professional Women's Bowling Association (1990–2003 and 2015–present) and has bowled in PBA Tournaments as well. She was an ex ...

*2000: Wendy Macpherson *1999:

Leanne Barrette Leanne Barrette-Hulsenberg (born August 18, 1967), from Roseville, California and currently of North Ogden, Utah, was one of the top female professional bowlers on the Professional Women's Bowling Association (PWBA) Tour. In a career that spanne ...

*1998: Lynda Norry *1997: Sandra Jo Shiery-Odom *1996:

Lisa Wagner Lisa Wagner (born May 19, 1961) is a retired professional ten-pin bowler who competed on the Professional Women's Bowling Association (PWBA) Tour from 1980 through 2001. She is the all-time leader in officially recognized PWBA titles with 32. Amo ...

*1995:

Sandy Postma Sandy may refer to: People and fictional characters *Sandy (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or nickname * Sandy (surname), a list of people *Sandy (Iranian music band), Iranian singer, compo ...

*1994: Anne Marie Duggan *1993: Jan Schmidt *1992: Cindy Coburn-Carroll *1991: Dede Davidson *1990: Patty Ann *1989: Carol Gianotti *1988: Wendy Macpherson (largest-ever women's-only sporting event in history, some 88,000 participants) *1987: Cathy Almeida *1986: Cora Fiebig *1985:

Aleta Sill Aleta Sill (née Rzepecki, born September 9, 1962) is a retired American professional ten-pin bowler and current bowling coach from Dearborn Heights, Michigan. She competed nationally on the Professional Women's Bowling Association (PWBA) Tour f ...

*1984: Kazue Inahashi *1983: Aleta Rzepecki *1982: Katsuko Sugimoto *1981: Katsuko Sugimoto *1980: Donna Adamek *1979: Donna Adamek *1978: Loa Boxberger *1977: Dana Stewart *1976: Pamela Buckner *1975: Cindy Powell *1974: Judy Soutar *1973: Dorothy Fothergill *1972: Dorothy Fothergill *1971: Mildred Martorella *1970: Mildred Martorella *1969: Ann Feigel *1968: Phyllis Massey *1967: Mildred Martorella *1966: Judy Lee *1965: Betty Kuczynski *1964: D.D. Jacobson *1963: Irene Monterosso *1962: Dorothy Wilkinson *1961: Janet Harman

References

Ten-pin bowling competitions in the United States