WATERLOO, Iowa – After the conclusion of the 2023 U.S. Women’s Open on June 20, the Professional Women’s Bowling Association Tour took a scheduled break of more than a month.

While some players returned to the lanes July 27-30 in Houston for the Professional Bowlers Association/PWBA Striking Against Breast Cancer Mixed Doubles tournament, many hadn’t had the chance to compete in a high-level event until qualifying began Wednesday morning at the PWBA Waterloo Open, the kickoff event of PWBA Championship Week – Waterloo.

Any notion that players would be rusty from the layoff was quickly put to rest during Wedneday’s pair of six-game qualifying blocks at Cadillac Xtreme Bowling Center, during which five 300 games were recorded and an average of 228 was needed to reach the top 12 and advance to match play.

Shannon Pluhowsky of Dayton, Ohio, started the final PWBA Tour stop of the 2023 season off in style by grabbing the lead after qualifying at the Waterloo Open.

The 41-year-old left-hander moved to the top of the standings by finishing Wednesday’s 12-game block with a 2,912 total, which was good enough for a 242.67 average and first place in the field of more than 80 bowlers.

Pluhowsky’s total included four games of 260 or higher (267, 267, 260 and 289) and a low score of 203. 

Every player has her own preference regarding scoring pace with some enjoying days when strikes come in bunches while others prefer having to grind by controlling the pocket and making spares.

At this point in her career, Pluhowsky, who has two PWBA Tour titles to her credit, has seen plenty of both. As such, she simply adapts to whatever the pace is calling for.

“When the scoring pace is high, you have to strike more, which means making quicker ball changes and maybe not having to be as patient,” Pluhowsky said. “When the conditions are lower scoring, you can sort of ride the nine-spare for a while and not really have to try to strike.”

Pluhowsky certainly did more than her fair share of striking on Wednesday; however, she wasn’t the only one who had her striking shoes on during qualifying.

Sandra Gongora of Mexico qualified second with a 12-game score of 2,900, and Jordan Richard of Tipton, Michigan, the PWBA Tour’s only three-time winner this season, qualified third with 2,891.

In addition to qualifying near the top of the leaderboard, Richard also wowed the fans at Cadillac Xtreme Bowling Center by notching back-to-back 300 games to close out Round 1 of qualifying on Wednesday afternoon. That gave Richard a PWBA Tour-best three perfect games this season.

Diana Zavjalova of Latvia (2,790) and PWBA Tour Rookie of the Year candidate Hope Gramly of Aubrey, Texas (2,779), rounded out the top five in the Day 1 standings.

Gramly also shot 300 on Wednesday, as did No. 8 qualifier Ashly Galante of Palm Harbor, Florida, and two-time PWBA Tour titlist Diandra Asbaty of Chicago, who narrowly missed the cut, finishing 18th.

The top 12 athletes advanced to match play at the Waterloo Open and will bowl a pair of six-game round-robin blocks starting Thursday morning at 10 a.m. Eastern. Total pinfall, including bonus pins for wins in match play, will determine the five finalists for Thursday evening’s stepladder finals.

All rounds of competition at the Waterloo Open will be broadcast live at BowlTV.com. The stepladder will air at 7:30 p.m. Eastern, and the champion will take home $10,000.

The final qualifying spot at the Waterloo Open went to Daphne Tan of Singapore, who tallied a 12-game total of 2,736, which was good for a 228 average and the final ticket to match play.

Despite enjoying her position as qualifying leader, Pluhowsky knows that the Waterloo Open will likely be won by the player who bowls the best on Day 2. 

With that in mind, she’s looking to hit the ground running as soon as match play kicks off Thursday morning.

“I’ve got to win some matches because there are a lot of bonus pins out there tomorrow,” Pluhowsky said. “I think I’m going to be the only lefty again, which isn’t foreign territory; that happens quite a bit. I’m just going to stick to the same game plan, and hopefully things go well and end with me only having to win one game on TV.”

PWBA Championship Week - Waterloo includes the PWBA Waterloo Open, PWBA Pepsi Open and PWBA Tour Championship, the final major of the 2023 PWBA Tour season.

The Pepsi Open is taking place Aug. 11-12, and the Tour Championship will be Aug. 13-15.

Once the Waterloo Open has concluded, the Pepsi Open will feature the same format. The finals of the Pepsi Open also will air on BowlTV. The stepladder will be Saturday at 7:30 p.m. Eastern.

If Pluhowsky can bring home the Waterloo Open title, not only would it allow her to claim her first standard PWBA Tour title – the two titles currently on her resume were both majors – but it would also guarantee her a spot in the Tour Championship.

In order to qualify for the Tour Championship, a player must be a current PWBA member in good standing and have won a National Tour title during the 2023 season. The remainder of the field will be filled from the PWBA season points list through the most recent tournament preceding the Tour Championship, which will be the Pepsi Open. 

All Tour Championship competitors will be seeded into the round-robin match play schedule according to their position on the season points list after the Pepsi Open.

Those 24 players will bowl three eight-game rounds of round-robin match play starting Sunday at 6 p.m. Eastern. Additional eight-game blocks of matches will be contested on Monday at 11 a.m. and 6 p.m. Eastern to determine the top five for the stepladder finals.

The stepladder finals will start at 7 p.m. Eastern on Tuesday, Aug. 15, and determine which player wins the 2023 PWBA Tour Championship and its $50,000 first-place prize. The finals will be broadcast live on CBS Sports Network.

All rounds leading up to the CBS Sports Network broadcast will be livestreamed at BowlTV.com.