Lynda Barnes (née Norry, born October 7, 1967) is one of the world's leading female tenpin bowlers. She is a former member of the PWBA (Professional Women's Bowling Association). Bowling as an amateur, Lynda won the 1998 USBC Queens championship, then known as the WIBC Queens.[1] In 1999, Lynda married Chris Barnes, a leading bowler on the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) tour. The couple's twin sons, Troy and Ryan, were born in May 2002. Lynda is a former member of Team USA.
In 2005, along with Paul Moor of England, she was named the 2005 World Bowling Writers Bowler of the Year.
Lynda appears briefly in the 2006 documentary A League of Ordinary Gentlemen, as her husband was one of four PBA bowlers highlighted in the film.
In August 2006, Lynda competed in the USBC Women's Challenge tournament held at a mall in Las Vegas. The made-for-TV event was later shown on ESPN in a weekly format throughout September and October. She also qualified 7th in the 2007 U.S. Women's Open and fought her way through match play to make the four-person televised finals. She lost her semifinal match to finish in a tie for third place.[2]
On April 30, 2008, Barnes won her second career USBC Queens title in an event televised by ESPN2. Entering the finals as the top seed from qualifying, she defeated Amy Stolz, 215-195, to earn a PWBA major title and the $30,000 first-place prize.[3]
Less than two weeks later, on May 11, Barnes defeated four-time PBA titlist Sean Rash 258-237 in the finals of the first USBC "Bowling's Clash of the Champions." Barnes cashed $50,000 in this made-for-television event, broadcast nationally in the USA by CBS.[4] The following year, she participated in the second and final USBC "Bowling's Clash of the Champions." Although she was eliminated in the first stage, her husband defeated Rebekah Diers in the championship match by a 257-207 victory. Both she and Chris are the only players to win the USBC Clash of Champions.
Barnes made her second U.S. Women's Open televised finals appearance in 2012, but she lost her opening match to finish in fifth place.[2]
Kelly Kulick and Liz Johnson followed Barnes and Zulkifli when they both defeated a man during a televised championship match in bowling. Kulick and Johnson, however, have both won PBA Tour titles. Kulick won the 2010 PBA Tournament of Champions and Johnson won the PBA Chameleon Championship during the 2017 PBA World Series of Bowling.