Even though Liz Kuhlkin is the U.S. Open champion, she keeps bowling in a league. Make that two leagues.
Kuhlkin and Rhino Page set the women’s and men’s target scores, respectively, for the 58th Beat the Champions — the Chicagoland Bowling Proprietors Association’s charity event — at Rolling Lanes in Countryside. The Sun-Times is the media sponsor.
The target show, with Jan Schmidt and Sean Rash announcing, will air at 11 a.m. Tuesday on NBC Sports Chicago, with four repeats this week.
This year, the CBPA raised the handicap line to 220, something scratch bowlers have requested for years. It’s the second 10-pin rise in the last two decades.
Handicap is 90 percent of the difference between a bowler’s average and 220.
When asked for her thoughts about the change, Kuhlkin said, ‘‘How many women bowl that high?’’
‘‘Not many’’ would be the right answer.
Kuhlkin knows league bowling, especially at Towne Bowling Academy, her home center in Schenectady, New York.
‘‘I always wanted to bowl with Dad,’’ said Kuhlkin, who does so in the City League. ‘‘And I do a mixed-doubles league with a good friend.’’
Kuhlkin is a league bowler with a piece of history: She rolled the highest three-game score by a woman (890) on Oct. 17, 2016, in the Kim Brown Memorial League.
The big numbers for BTC are the $2,872,914.93 raised for charity in its first 57 years and the $7,500 that goes to the men’s and women’s champions in the finals in March.
