bowlingball.com’s Shawn Ryan and company find success at USBC Open Championships
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - With only two days remaining at the USBC Women's Championships, Corrine Ham of Cocoa, Fla., is in position to claim her first title at the storied event. In the meantime, she's been busy knocking down pins at the USBC Open Championships in Albuquerque.
The 41-year-old right-hander doesn't bowl as much as she'd like to because of her duties as the general manager of her family's bowling center in Titusville, Fla., but she accepted the opportunity to bowl in the Open Championships this week and helped Jr. Team USA Support of Orlando, Fla., into fifth place in Team All-Events with a 9,821 total at the Albuquerque Convention Center on Friday. Fox Bowl 2 of Wheaton, Ill., leads with 10,025.
Ham, the daughter of two-time USBC Senior Queens champion, Shirley Levens, was bowling in place of 2007 U.S. Amateur champion, David O'Sullivan, who recently suffered a knee injury.
"I'm really glad I got to bowl with these guys, and I had a really good time," said Ham, who made her seventh Open Championships appearance and turned in a career-best 1,868 all-events total. "Coming in, I felt that team and doubles were the most attainable, so I was focused on those events. Our Team All-Events finish was a nice surprise."
P.J. Haggerty, a former collegiate standout and past member of Junior Team USA and Team USA, led the way for Jr. Team USA Support with a 2,077 all-events total and was followed by former Junior Team USA members Shawn Ryan (2,032) and Clay Herrbach (1,945), tournament first-timer Stephen Rodriguez (1,899) and Ham.
"In the scheme of things, you just want to bowl well and have fun," said Haggerty, who plans to continue his quest to earn an exemption on the Denny's Professional Bowlers Association Tour. "We look forward to this every year because we have such a good time when we get together. If I do get an exemption, I won't be able to bowl in this anymore, so I just want to enjoy it while I can."
For Ham, competing when she can is nice escape from the pressures of work, and finding success on the tournament lanes is an added bonus. Being a few days from a national title is even more exciting.
"It's something you never think you're going to do, so I'm very happy," Ham said. "I never was full-time into the sport because of my family and the business, so this is exciting. After we left, I knew there were still some good teams left to bowl, but I didn't fret about it. If it's meant to be, it will happen."
