Gordon celebrates 60 appearances at USBC Open Championships
June 03, 2026
RENO, Nev. – Fred Gordon of Cumberland Foreside, Maine, recently celebrated a major milestone at the 2026 United States Bowling Congress Open Championships, becoming the 37th bowler in tournament history to reach 60 years of participation at the event.
The 91-year-old was presented with a plaque, chevron and engraved money clip to recognize the achievement, and he was joined by his wife of 65 years, Shirley, and son, Scott, during the ceremony at the National Bowling Stadium.
“It’s really an honor, and I’m very humbled about the whole thing,” Gordon said. “I’m really pleased that I was able to do it, but it was not my goal to begin with. I just wanted to enjoy myself and hopefully have a good tournament, and I just kept going and going and going.”
Gordon made his tournament debut at the 1965 event in St. Paul, Minnesota, and has only missed once appearance since that first trip (1967 in Miami Beach, Florida). His excursion to St. Paul took place during the same time as the famed boxing match between Muhammad Ali and Sonny Liston for the World Heavyweight Championship in Lewiston, Maine.
“The big thing about that trip was the heavyweight championship fight in Lewiston, Maine, which was about 20 miles from my home, between Muhammad Ali and Sonny Liston,” Gordon said. “It was supposed to be a fantastic worldwide event, and that’s when Ali knocked out Liston in less than two minutes in the first round.
“That particular night was our first night in St. Paul. The next day we bowled doubles and singles, and my doubles partner and the other two from my team were people who got out there and took their time to bowl. I was concentrating on everything about the pair of lanes we were on and still in seventh heaven just being there. Suddenly, it was the third game of singles and something seemed different. I looked around, and there was no one else bowling except for us. Everybody had already finished and packed up and left. One of the tournament employees came by at that time and stood by me. He looked up at the scoreboard and saw where we were from and said, ‘Ah. Maine. The site of fast fights and slow bowlers.’ That’s one that has stuck with me all the way through.”
As the appearances at the Open Championships started to add up, so did Gordon’s years of service to the sport.
Shortly after joining his first league with Shirley, he was approached to serve as the assistant secretary treasurer to his local association. The next year, he moved up to secretary treasurer – a position he held for more than 15 years.
Gordon made his way to president of the local association before joining the board of directors for the state association in Maine. Over the course of his time on the state board, he served as president for 10 years.
In 1994, Gordon joined the board of directors for the American Bowling Congress (ABC) and served at the national level for 12 years.
Around the same time he joined the board for ABC, Gordon was approached by USBC Hall of Famer Max Skelton of Ada, Oklahoma, to join his team at the Open Championships – the Barnstormers.
“Max was a past president of ABC at that point, but the Barnstormers needed a bowler,” Gordon said. “Max came to me and asked if I would be interested, and of course, I was interested so I joined the team. I didn’t know the history of the Barnstormers until more recently, but the team started and has been to every tournament – with many changes of personnel – since the mid-1940s. It has been about 80 years that the Barnstormers have been present at the tournament.”
That tradition continued for Gordon’s 60th appearance in 2026, and both Shirley and Scott have taken part to make sure the team’s annual trip to compete stays on course.
Although Scott didn’t bowl this year, he has 17 appearances at the Open Championships, while Shirley continued her historic run at the tournament in 2026, making her 32nd consecutive appearance.
Shirley is one of three female bowlers to compete each year at the Open Championships since 1994, when ABC changed its rules to allow female competitors at the event. She also has 42 appearances at the USBC Women’s Championships.
“1994 in Mobile, Alabama, was the first year ABC allowed women to bowl, and the tournament became the Open,” Gordon said. “I was down there for convention and to bowl, and she came with me and put her name up on the substitute board.
“There was a team from Florida that all averaged more than 200 that needed somebody, and she was the only one there to sub, so she did. Two of the four did not care for women bowling the tournament, while the other two were OK with it. She ended up beating them all and helped the team cash, and they recognized she was a good part of the reason why they cashed.”
Gordon has enjoyed the chance to travel for the tournament, and each appearance holds a special memory or two.
For on-lane performances, his trip to Long Beach, California, in 1972 stands out. He finished the year tied for sixth place in Regular All-Events with a 1,944 total – his top overall score for nine games.
During his 51st appearance in 2016, he moved into the top 10 of Classified Singles with a 599 series and finished the year tied for 19th place.
“I did my own research, and over 60 years, I’ve been to 21 different states and 31 different cities,” Gordon said. “Every one of them has a certain type of memory because it allowed me to see a lot of the country that I probably would not have – that’s a big plus to following the tournament.
“I have to remember Long Beach because that was my biggest tournament – I tied for sixth place. It was the 69th tournament in the history of the event, and at that point, I became only the 15th bowler to roll nine consecutive games of 200 or better. That’s my 15 minutes of fame. Just a few years ago, I tied for ninth place in singles while I was here, so twice in my career I’ve ended up on the leaderboard. That’s kind of a feather in the cap.”
With 60 appearances in the books, Gordon has knocked over 90,821 pins at the Open Championships for a career average of 178. He also became the first competitor from the six-state area of New England to celebrate 60 years.
The Open Championships is celebrating its 122nd edition in 2026 and making its 15th trip to Reno, Nevada. The 2026 event is scheduled to feature more than 55,000 bowlers and 11,000 five-player teams competing across 128 consecutive days at the National Bowling Stadium.
Follow the action from the tournament’s official Facebook and Instagram accounts.
The 91-year-old was presented with a plaque, chevron and engraved money clip to recognize the achievement, and he was joined by his wife of 65 years, Shirley, and son, Scott, during the ceremony at the National Bowling Stadium.
“It’s really an honor, and I’m very humbled about the whole thing,” Gordon said. “I’m really pleased that I was able to do it, but it was not my goal to begin with. I just wanted to enjoy myself and hopefully have a good tournament, and I just kept going and going and going.”
Gordon made his tournament debut at the 1965 event in St. Paul, Minnesota, and has only missed once appearance since that first trip (1967 in Miami Beach, Florida). His excursion to St. Paul took place during the same time as the famed boxing match between Muhammad Ali and Sonny Liston for the World Heavyweight Championship in Lewiston, Maine.
“The big thing about that trip was the heavyweight championship fight in Lewiston, Maine, which was about 20 miles from my home, between Muhammad Ali and Sonny Liston,” Gordon said. “It was supposed to be a fantastic worldwide event, and that’s when Ali knocked out Liston in less than two minutes in the first round.
“That particular night was our first night in St. Paul. The next day we bowled doubles and singles, and my doubles partner and the other two from my team were people who got out there and took their time to bowl. I was concentrating on everything about the pair of lanes we were on and still in seventh heaven just being there. Suddenly, it was the third game of singles and something seemed different. I looked around, and there was no one else bowling except for us. Everybody had already finished and packed up and left. One of the tournament employees came by at that time and stood by me. He looked up at the scoreboard and saw where we were from and said, ‘Ah. Maine. The site of fast fights and slow bowlers.’ That’s one that has stuck with me all the way through.”
As the appearances at the Open Championships started to add up, so did Gordon’s years of service to the sport.
Shortly after joining his first league with Shirley, he was approached to serve as the assistant secretary treasurer to his local association. The next year, he moved up to secretary treasurer – a position he held for more than 15 years.
Gordon made his way to president of the local association before joining the board of directors for the state association in Maine. Over the course of his time on the state board, he served as president for 10 years.
In 1994, Gordon joined the board of directors for the American Bowling Congress (ABC) and served at the national level for 12 years.
Around the same time he joined the board for ABC, Gordon was approached by USBC Hall of Famer Max Skelton of Ada, Oklahoma, to join his team at the Open Championships – the Barnstormers.
“Max was a past president of ABC at that point, but the Barnstormers needed a bowler,” Gordon said. “Max came to me and asked if I would be interested, and of course, I was interested so I joined the team. I didn’t know the history of the Barnstormers until more recently, but the team started and has been to every tournament – with many changes of personnel – since the mid-1940s. It has been about 80 years that the Barnstormers have been present at the tournament.”
That tradition continued for Gordon’s 60th appearance in 2026, and both Shirley and Scott have taken part to make sure the team’s annual trip to compete stays on course.
Although Scott didn’t bowl this year, he has 17 appearances at the Open Championships, while Shirley continued her historic run at the tournament in 2026, making her 32nd consecutive appearance.
Shirley is one of three female bowlers to compete each year at the Open Championships since 1994, when ABC changed its rules to allow female competitors at the event. She also has 42 appearances at the USBC Women’s Championships.
“1994 in Mobile, Alabama, was the first year ABC allowed women to bowl, and the tournament became the Open,” Gordon said. “I was down there for convention and to bowl, and she came with me and put her name up on the substitute board.
“There was a team from Florida that all averaged more than 200 that needed somebody, and she was the only one there to sub, so she did. Two of the four did not care for women bowling the tournament, while the other two were OK with it. She ended up beating them all and helped the team cash, and they recognized she was a good part of the reason why they cashed.”
Gordon has enjoyed the chance to travel for the tournament, and each appearance holds a special memory or two.
For on-lane performances, his trip to Long Beach, California, in 1972 stands out. He finished the year tied for sixth place in Regular All-Events with a 1,944 total – his top overall score for nine games.
During his 51st appearance in 2016, he moved into the top 10 of Classified Singles with a 599 series and finished the year tied for 19th place.
“I did my own research, and over 60 years, I’ve been to 21 different states and 31 different cities,” Gordon said. “Every one of them has a certain type of memory because it allowed me to see a lot of the country that I probably would not have – that’s a big plus to following the tournament.
“I have to remember Long Beach because that was my biggest tournament – I tied for sixth place. It was the 69th tournament in the history of the event, and at that point, I became only the 15th bowler to roll nine consecutive games of 200 or better. That’s my 15 minutes of fame. Just a few years ago, I tied for ninth place in singles while I was here, so twice in my career I’ve ended up on the leaderboard. That’s kind of a feather in the cap.”
With 60 appearances in the books, Gordon has knocked over 90,821 pins at the Open Championships for a career average of 178. He also became the first competitor from the six-state area of New England to celebrate 60 years.
The Open Championships is celebrating its 122nd edition in 2026 and making its 15th trip to Reno, Nevada. The 2026 event is scheduled to feature more than 55,000 bowlers and 11,000 five-player teams competing across 128 consecutive days at the National Bowling Stadium.
Follow the action from the tournament’s official Facebook and Instagram accounts.