Kelye Curtsinger was on her way to doubles competition with her mother, Vicki Elliott, at the Lexington Area Bowling Association men's city tournament March 1 at Eastland when she ran into a heckler.
"There was a man standing there saying, 'Look at these women bowling in our tournament. I can't stand it,'" Curtsinger recounted. "That fired me up. Every time I'd go by he had some remark about us being in the tournament. It made me bowl better."
Curtsinger bowled so well that she became the first woman to win singles at the men's tournament. She rolled a 856 series with handicap to take first place and finished third in all events which included singles, doubles and team.
"I bowled a 279, 245, 279 to win," Curtsinger said. "I had a nine-spare in the fifth frame and the rest strikes in the first game, and in the third game in the sixth frame I had a nine-spare."
Curtsinger, the former Kelye Thompson, has been around bowling all her life. Her parents, step-father, brother and step-sister all bowl, as does her husband, Jamie Curtsinger, who holds the high series in Lexington at 856.
For more on this story, see the latest State Journal.
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