He defeated Peter Manley, Devon Petersen, Justin Pipe and Steve Beaton before losing 4–9 to Dave Chisnall in the last 16 earning himself £4,000 in the process.
His best results of 2012 were last 16 defeats in the second UK Open Qualifier and the sixth Players Championship, losing to Vincent van der Voort 5–6 on both occasions.
[6] He reached his first PDC semi-final in the sixth 2013 UK Open Qualifier in April, having defeated the likes of Mervyn King (with an average of 108) and Brendan Dolan, but lost 3–6 to Kim Huybrechts.
[7] This result helped him finish 22nd on the UK Open Order of Merit to enter the competition at the third round stage,[8] where he beat Paul Nicholson 9–5.
[10] He reached the last 16 once during the rest of the year, at the seventh Players Championship, in a run that included a 6–0 whitewash over Andy Hamilton before he lost 6–4 to Peter Wright.
[23] He failed to qualify for the 2016 UK Open, but did make the German Darts Masters and saw off Fabian Herz 6–3 in the first round, before losing 6–4 to Adrian Lewis.
[24][25] Bowles' best run of the year was at the 8th Players Championship event where he ousted Devon Petersen, Alan Norris and Berry van Peer in advancing to the last 16.