Henderson bowler earns national honor

Richard Brian

Henderson resident and professional bowler Wendy Macpherson, who was recently inducted into the national USBC Hall of Fame, poses at the Sam’s town Bowling Center.

By Sean Ammerman (contact)

Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2009 | 11:50 p.m.

Henderson professional bowler Wendy Macpherson has gotten used to the role of hall of fame inductee throughout the last four years.

The Basic High graduate's first induction was into the Southern Nevada Bowling Association's hall of fame in 2006. Another followed in 2008, when Macpherson, 41, was voted in the Southern Nevada Sports Hall of Fame.

In May, she will be inducted into her most prestigious hall yet, the United States Bowling Congress Hall of Fame.

"I'm honored people are recognizing my career as something worthy to be part of a hall of fame," she said. "I kind of reminisce a little bit because they say once you get inducted into a hall of fame, it's because you're old."

Macpherson, a professional bowler for 23 years, was a sure bet to be inducted in what was her first eligible year, Bowling Congress spokesman Matt Cannizzaro said.

Her career began in 1986 when she won the U.S. Women's Open as an 18-year old amateur. Macpherson has kept her competitive edge ever since.

She has 14 Professional Women's Bowling Association titles, including six major titles, and was named the association's bowler of the year a record four times.

In 2006, she became the first female bowler to win the USBC Open Championships, which includes men and women, when she bowled an 812 series in singles competition.

"She pretty much came in right off the bat and was successful," Cannizzaro said. "She wanted it more than anybody and proved herself over and over again."

In search of a new challenge and bigger purse, Macpherson joined the Japanese bowlers association in 2007.

She has spent the last two summers abroad, competing in a land where she can communicate only with an interpreter.

The culture shock has been difficult, she said, but it hasn't effected her game. Macpherson has won two Japan Professional Bowlers Association titles and expects to return to the country in July.

"They love the sport of bowling over there," she said. "You sit there in your own little world because they are all speaking Japanese. It makes it easier to bowl, actually. I have no interaction with anybody else, so that makes me concentrate a little easier."

Macpherson's most recent win came at the Medford Classic Women's Series in Medford, Ore., Jan. 18.

After trailing near the end of the final match, she threw a strike in the ninth frame and three more to finish out the 10th and win the tournament.

Jon Burroughs, Macpherson's close friend and bowling ball fitter, said she has a habit of pulling out close matches.

"Wendy has a complete lack of ego, which isn't something all bowlers have," Burroughs said. "She doesn't get rattled easily."

Today, Macpherson feels just as competitive as she did when she broke in to the tour.

She is slated to compete in the 2009 USBC Open Championships, which runs through July at Cashman Center.

"I absolutely feel as good," she said. "Physically, your body changes as you get older, but your game adapts to your body's changes."

Sean Ammerman can be reached at 990-2661 or sean.ammerman@hbcpub.com.