ABERDEEN, N.C. – For quite some time, Najah Owens of Raleigh, North Carolina, has had people urging her to take a shot at competing on the Professional Women’s Bowling Association Tour.

The 29-year-old right-hander has always been interested in doing so, but she was hesitant to jump right in; instead, her plan was to take things slow and test the waters.

She must have liked how they felt because she dove right in on Sunday, leading the 59-player field during qualifying and then topping Kerry Smith of Lititz, Pennsylvania, 212-201, during the stepladder finals to win the 2023 PWBA Pinehurst Regional, which was held at Sandhills Bowling Center.

With the victory, Owens walked away with her first career title, the $1,700 first-place check and a spot in the season-ending PWBA Regional Showdown, which will be held at Aloma Bowl in Winter Park, Florida, from Dec. 7-9.

Smith, who entered Sunday’s stepladder in search of her second career PWBA Regional title – she won the 2022 PWBA Twin Cities Regional – earned $850 for finishing second.

Owens and the other regional champions from 2023 will automatically be seeded for match play at the Regional Showdown. The remaining spots in the 16-person field will be awarded based on the results of an eight-game qualifying round that will be open to all PWBA Regional-eligible bowlers.

The top 16 players will compete in round-robin match play before the field is cut to the final four bowlers for the stepladder finals.

Every player who qualifies for match play will cash at the Regional Showdown. If the number of entries is high enough, additional cash spots outside the top 16 will be paid at a ratio of 1:3 as is done for PWBA National Tour prize funds. 

The winner of the 2023 Regional Showdown will not only receive a cash prize, but she will also have her entry fees covered for all 2024 PWBA National Tour singles events as well.

All Regional Showdown competitors are longing to secure that prize, but the possibility of attaining it is particularly exciting for Owens as it would mean proving all of her supporters right.

“I’ve had people around me who have helped me get to this point, and they all believed in me,” Owens said. “I’m finally believing in myself, and now to know that the possibility of bowling full time on the PWBA Tour could become available just seems crazy.

“I have so many people to thank because there are just a lot of great people in the bowling community who want to see me out here.”

Owens certainly proved that she belonged during the title match, staying clean and carding clutch doubles in the fourth and fifth and seventh and eighth frames to keep Smith at arm’s length.

However, as chance would have it, it was the spare that Owens converted to end her game that mattered most it guaranteed her no worse than a tie.

With Owens already in with a final score of 212, Smith stepped up for her 10th frame needing all three strikes to get to that same total and force a roll-off.

She delivered the first strike, but her second ball only counted nine, ending her bid for her second title and allowing Owens to officially lock up her first.

The win was especially gratifying for Owens because reaching the winner’s circle was the furthest thing from her mind at the start of the day.

“All I wanted to do today was execute,” Owens said. “I didn’t care about where I finished as long as I knew that I threw great shots. I just wanted to let the ball do the work and make my spares, and I was able to do that.”

That approach paid off as it allowed Owens to lead qualifying with an eight-game score of 1,581 (a 197.63 average) on the Pinehurst Regional’s very difficult 42-foot oil pattern.

Summer Jasmin of Beckley, West Virginia, a two-time PWBA Regional champion, was second with 1,566. Smith was third with 1,539 while Amber MacLeod of Conway, South Carolina (1,524) grabbed the final spot in Sunday’s stepladder by qualifying fourth.

Smith opened the stepladder by topping MacLeod by a final score of 216-144. One match later, Smith dispatched Jasmin, 224-205, to earn her title tilt with Owens.

Jasmin walked away with $700 for finishing third. MacLeod’s fourth-place finish was worth $525.

The next PWBA Regional event will be July 22 at the PWBA Greater Pittsburgh Regional. The tournament will be held at Nesbit’s Lanes in Pittsburgh.

To learn more about the PWBA Tour, visit PWBA.com. For more information on the PWBA Regional competition, visit PWBA.com/Regionals.