BATON ROUGE - A lot has been written and broadcast this week about the passing of three-term Baton Rouge Mayor Kip Holden in the past week, but I also thought back about his time as mayor during the start of Baton Rouge’s run as a championship bowling host at the Raising Cane’s River Center.

Now let me make it clear right off the bat, Mayor Holden was not in office when the bid for the 2005 then American Bowling Congress Championship was won for the still being built River Center exhibit hall addition to the building. That was another administration which did a great job selling the ABC on coming to Baton Rouge.

But when he took office at the start of 2005, Mayor Holden embraced the event which would be a big success with over 13,000 teams. The Mayor was there to celebrate bowlers coming to our city and it wasn’t a surprise to look up and see him passing through the building checking out what was going on.

His excitement for the event and the USBC’s excitement over Baton Rouge’s success hosting the tournament, prompted Mayor Holden and USBC officials to quickly put together a plan that brought the tournament back seven years later in 2012. Over 11,700 teams took part in what was one of the fastest non-Las Vegas-Reno turnarounds for a host city in the tournament’s history.

The Mayor, Visit Baton Rouge and the USBC before his final term ended were at it again and not only did Baton Rouge get the 2025 USBC event we are experiencing now, but also a 2017 Women’s Championship that featured several television broadcasts that also showcased the city.

His outgoing personality made him perfect to welcome bowlers to our city.  He attended some big bowling events at the local centers to welcome people and helped get started the event that was first held in 2005 that became the Baton Rouge Mayor’s Celebrity Challenge. Some big names came out to bowl with local bowlers on the tournament lanes in 2005 and 2012 and Mayor Holden was right there as well.

He was a major part of the Baton Rouge personality that people who came to our city enjoyed. Even in 2025 that personality is still shining through as a new group of bowlers come to visit.

Speaking Of The Mayor’s Challenge

The 2025 version of the Mayor’s Strike Out Cancer Celebrity Challenge was held prior to the start of the USBC Open on the River Center lanes and this past week the check was presented to Mary Bird Cancer Center and Cancer Services.

In a brief ceremony at All Star Lanes in Baton Rouge, a check for $34,000 from the event proceeds was presented. That’s a great donation that will go a long way from those that packed the 54 lanes that night for the event.

Marc Pater and Kim Bogan co-chaired the event and did a tremendous job putting that all together and Dudley DeBosier law office was the presenting sponsors of the event.

The USBC Women’s Championship

We hosted this event in 2017 as I mentioned and it is presently underway at the South Point Bowling Plaza in Las Vegas and a Louisiana bowler recently had big-time success as Darian Miller of Slidell rolled an 812 series in doubles.

Miller, in her first Women’s Championships, started her set strong with nine strikes and a 278. In Game 2, she followed with 276 and then finished with 258. She paired with Summer Jasmin of Beckley, West Virginia, during the set to finish at that point in fifth place for Diamond Doubles with 1,447.

"This was my first nationals, so coming in, I had a lot of jitters and was really nervous,” said Miller in a Bowl.com release, who added 692 in singles and 607 in team for an all-events total of 2,111. “I made a lot of simple mistakes (in team event), so it started pretty rough. I just got my head together and made a ball change which allowed me to feel more confident.

“I threw some really good shots and had some lucky breaks that got me through that front nine. I started with the front seven in Game 2, made a little bit of a move but stayed with the same ball. I tried a different ball on my fill but ended up going back to my original ball and finished out with 258 for my 800. I can’t describe shooting my first 800 at my first nationals. I couldn’t ask for anything better.”

Bowling on TV

The USBC Queens title will be decided on CBS Sports Network Tuesday at 6 p.m. CT. This is the first major of the PWBA season.

Much like the final Pro Bowlers Tour show in 1997 on ABC when Walter Ray Williams Jr. and Pete Weber met in the final match, the FOX Sports bowling coverage, which has been home to the tour since 2019, will close its doors with a top matchup as Bowler of the Year EJ Tackett and Jesper Svensson meet in the PBA Playoffs final. This is scheduled for Saturday at 1:30 p.m. CT.

We have a look back at an interesting part of the 2005 USBC Open in Baton Rouge 20 years ago next Monday.

Until then, good luck and good bowling,

                                    Kent Lowe