July 26, 2013
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Vanderbilt assistant coach Josie Earnest and former All-American Brittni Hamilton survived Thursday’s initial cut at the U.S. Open and are involved today in match play competition.
Earnest had a big Thursday and leaped to fifth in the overall standings, just four pins out of fourth place, while Hamilton was farther back in 22nd.
The field of top professionals and leading amateurs will be chopped to the top four after today’s action, which can be followed on bowl.com.
Match play will continue Friday with two more eight-game rounds at 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. CT, after which, the top four bowlers in each division will advance to the TV finals.
The combined events have a prize fund of more than $400,000 and will culminate with the live two-hour ESPN telecast on Saturday at 11 a.m. CT.
The men’s and women’s champions will face off in a special Battle of the Sexes match to crown the ultimate U.S. Open winner. The special match will be broadcast live on ESPN immediately following the men’s and women’s finals.
The 2013 Lipton Bowling’s U.S. Open started with nearly 400 of the best men and women bowlers in the world, competing side by side (in separate events) at three Columbus-area bowling centers – Wayne Webb’s Columbus Bowl, Columbus Western Bowl and Holiday Lanes.
It took an average of 207.57 to make match play on the men’s side and 195.23 to make the cut in the women’s division.