Carolyn Dorin-Ballard

Carolyn Dorin-Ballard (born 1964, Linden, New Jersey) is one of the top female ten-pin bowlers in the world.

(Patty Costello earned eight professional titles in 1976, but two of the titles were in the spinoff LPBA.)

Born and raised in Linden, New Jersey, she graduated from Linden High School in 1985.

Dorin-Ballard is married to PBA Hall of Famer Del Ballard Jr.., whom she met in college.

The couple has a daughter, Alyssa, and the family now resides in North Richland Hills, Texas.

She was the MVP of the Intercollegiate Bowling Championships in 1989.

She graduated in 1989 with a B.A. in Communications.

She has been a member of Team USA for multiple seasons.

She is a member of the Professional Women's Bowling Association (1990–2003 and 2015–present) and has bowled in PBA Tournaments as well.

Carolyn had 20 Tour titles over a 14-year career (1990–2003).

She won her first title in a doubles tournament in 1991 with her partner, Lisa Wagner, who was one of the top bowlers on the tour in the 1980s.

Her brother-in-law (Cathy's husband), Jeff Lizzi, was a member of the PBA and won a 1992 PBA Tour title.

Daughter Alyssa is a standout bowler for the Vanderbilt Commodores collegiate squad.

In 2022, Carolyn and Alyssa won the PBA King of the Lanes: Royal Family Edition made-for-TV event.

As the only mother-daughter combo in the competition, they eliminated Parker and Brandon Bohn in the semi-finals before defeating Chris and Ryan Barnes in the finals.

In bowling circles, Carolyn is often referred to by just the initials, "CDB."

Carolyn attended West Texas State University on a partial bowling scholarship.

While there, she led the University to back to back national titles and was a three-time All-American.

Dorin-Ballard's first singles title was earned at the 1994 Lady Ebonite Classic.

With the support of her sister and husband, her career really took off in 1997, when she began a string of eight titles in four seasons, beginning with the 1997 Three Rivers Classic.

In that period she was the runner up in the Player of the Year voting all four seasons.

Among Dorin-Ballard's 20 PWBA titles (tied for seventh all-time) are three major championships (1997 and 2001 Brunswick World Open, 2001 WIBC Queens) and a Player of the Year award in 2001.

She is also the sister of former professional bowler and TV bowling analyst Cathy Dorin-Lizzi, who won a PWBA title in 1999.

In WIBC (now USBC) competition, she won three WIBC Titles (2000 All-Events Champion, 2001 Team Champion, 2004 Doubles Champion with Lynda Barnes).

She was a seven-time WIBC All American and six-time Bowlers Journal All-American.

Before the PWBA disbanded, she had moved up to sixth on the all-time Tour earnings list (over $910,000).

The 2001 season was her career year.

She won seven titles (including two of her three majors), posted an average of 214.73, and earned $135,045 in prize money.

She received many honors this year including nomination for an ESPY award.

She tied or broke 11 PWBA Tour records in 2001, including setting a record for most titles (7) and the most TV finals appearances (18) in a season.

She won two PBA Women's Series titles (2007 Great Lakes Classic and 2008 Cheetah Championship).

She was an exempt competitor in the 2008–09 and 2009-10 PBA Women's Series seasons, which were sponsored by the United States Bowling Congress (USBC).

Between the PWBA and the PBA Women's Series, she has won 22 professional titles.

Carolyn was a 2008 inductee into the USBC Hall of Fame, and a 2020 inductee into the PWBA Hall of Fame.

Dorin-Ballard is a member of the Roto Grip Professional Staff, and also endorses Turbo 2-N-1 Grips, USBC and Ballard's Bowling Solutions.

She also won the PBA Women's Series Showdown, a non-title event held in April, 2009.

On March 1, 2011, she was named the USBC's Director of Coaching.

Her father was a POW during World War II.

In 2011, she was part of the team that went to the WTBA World Women's Championships in Hong Kong and took home gold for the United States in the team event for the first time since 1987.

During the original existence of the PWBA Tour, Carolyn was one of its top bowlers.