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Success in sports came easily for Kelly Kulick. So when the women's pro bowling tour folded in 2003, Kulick was that much more determined to qualify for the men's tour. She has been trying to do just that but decided the PBA Tour Trials in June in Hammond, Ind., would be the last attempt.
"I was paying all my own bills, paying all my own entry fees. Seeing my savings dwindle, I wondered if it was the right thing to do," Kulick says.
She financed her quest while working part time in her dad's auto body shop in Elizabeth, N.J., not far from her hometown of Union, 15 miles west of New York City.
With a sixth-place finish in the 140-bowler, five-day Indiana event, Kulick became the first female bowler to earn an exemption on the Denny's Professional Bowling Association Tour. Kulick will compete this season, starting with the USBC Masters from Tuesday-Oct. 29 in Wauwatosa, Wis.
"I just wanted to have a job again," Kulick says, downplaying her achievement. "Considering that I've done what I'm doing on the men's tour -- that's an accomplishment, and I don't know if I'll ever understand what it truly means -- I'm just happy to be doing what I love again."
Kulick competed at Morehead (Ky.) State and for Team USA in non-Olympic international events through the U.S. Bowling Congress. She was the 2001 rookie of the year on the women's pro tour and won the 2003 Women's U.S. Open in 2003.
In 2004, the PBA opened its doors to women. Now she is among the top 58 bowlers in a PBA membership of more than 4,200 worldwide and has earned a spot in all 20 tournaments this season.
She's not the first woman to compete in a men's tournament: Liz Johnson made the final of a March 2005 event after qualifying for a non-exempt spot. She considers Kulick a friend and a tough competitor and will be hosting her when the Tour stops in Cheektowaga, N.Y., a Buffalo suburb.
Kulick is "a very nice girl, very humble, considering everything that's going on," says Johnson, who plans to enter about half the PBA events and would earn an exemption with a win. "She had a great week at the Tour Trials and proved that she's worthy of being an exempt bowler."
Acceptance on Tour should be OK
The rules, measurements and equipment in the women's game are the same as in the men's. Kulick advanced through the Tour Trials dealing with each of the PBA's five distinct oil patterns, which the pros say is the toughest obstacle. Each pattern, rotated week to week, affects the ball's roll.
"We have a tendency to break the lanes down a little differently -- we're physically not as strong as the men -- so we don't have the ball speed," Kulick says. "We rely a lot more on accuracy."
But, as she notes, it's the same playing field.
"Kelly's definitely special," says Tommy Jones, last season's player and rookie of the year. "There's very few (women) that could compete week in, week out (with the different oil patterns). Kelly just happens to be one of them."
Norm Duke, a 24-year pro bowler, expects the Tour to welcome Kulick. "My job is to beat everybody in the world every day," he says. "I don't see any difference between Kelly and any other person."
Kulick's main goal is to earn an exemption again next season. She must finish in the top 32 in points or win a title.
"As long as she keeps her head and concentrates on what she needs to do and not what everyone expects her to do, then she should be fine," 27-year pro Pete Weber says. "If she lets the media and hype stay separate from the bowling, she'll be fine."
Her competition also has to keep the additional hype out of the equation. "If (they) are worried about it, then they're letting the wrong thing bother them," Weber says. "There's already been guys that lost to women. If she beats me, it's no big deal."
Johnson doesn't dismiss the gender factor quite as easily: "Guys don't like losing to women. But I think a lot of the guys view it just as bowling against other great bowlers. If you give respect to the men, they give respect to you. The pins don't know gender."
Strong support of her family
Kulick, like all the pros, must manage the demands of a tour that just decreased its stipend from $2,000 to $1,800 for exempt pros, the minimum they earn each week. (The Tour also cut prize money by 20% to try to at least break even after several years of subsidizing the pros.)
Tour pros pay their way to events. Kulick plans to drive to most events with her boyfriend, Jim Tomek, who is also a bowler and believes has a great chance to earn his own exemption next season.
"We have slightly different routines," Kulick says. "I'm more of a morning person; he's more of an evening person. He can live in the bowling center; I have to get away from it sometimes."
If she can get Tomek off the lanes, having company will help her deal with the downtime between events and the challenge of staying in shape while traveling.
"One minute you're going turtle speed and the next you're going light speed," she says. "If you're unsuccessful for one week and don't make the cut, you're done on Thursday, basically. ... If I have too much free time, I'm climbing the walls."
The expected media coverage could change all that. Commissioner and CEO Fred Schreyer says the added attention for Kulick's debut could help a Tour that had its heyday decades ago. Overall ratings fell 15% last season, ESPN says, but were up 12.5% among men 18-34.
"I think (Kulick) definitely offers the opportunity to bring in a new group of viewers ... and coverage from a broader spectrum of the media," Schreyer says.
In her hometown, Kulick still isn't recognized. She doesn't have an agent. Her support system is not handlers, security and publicists but her family. "They have been the backbone of my support in what I have accomplished," she says. "My mom (Carol) especially knew this was my dream."
Her dad, Bill, gave her the lifeline of a job in the body shop. Mostly, she did the paperwork, but she could bang out a fender, too. "He was great with my schedule. I just told him where I was going and when I'd be back." The job "kept my sanity going."
Kulick even called her father in the middle of training to remind him to file paperwork at the office. He isn't quite sure where she gets her determination.
"I would have thrown in the towel a long time ago," he says. "I hope she makes it. I'd like to see her get wheelbarrows of money. But if she gets a dollar a game and she's happy, God bless her."
*Hear Kulick on how the PBA Tour has accepted her and talk live with Walter Ray Williams at 2 p.m. ET today at
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