I recently bowled my first 300 game and I decided to post a question just to see the responses.

 My question is how many 300 games have you bowled, how old were you when you bowled your first one, and how long had you been bowling before you shot it? Also, feel free to leave any additional info worth mention (i.e. your average at the time, what ball you were using, etc)

 To answer this question myself I just turned 20 (as I said it's my first), and I've been bowling for the better part of the last 12 years. I am currently at a 194 average and I was using a Black Widow Pearl

Congrats on your 1st 300 !  Just like other things in life,you never forget your first time. If anyone tries to downplay your accomplishment because of lanes, equipment, etc  , just ignore them. It's still a great personal achievement.

This is also a great topic because i can think of at least  one person who wont be posting here. 

I shot my first 300 when i was 18 with the Columbia U-Dot. I have 3 299's with plastic, but needed the power of urethane to get me over the hump.  Started bowling when i was 12.  I have 42  300's now ,mainly due to easy lane conditions, resin balls, and a lack of talent. If i were any good I'm sure I would have 80 by now.

I'll be turning 40 this summer and that's the magic age where you start tripping 4 pins like Don Gates. I'm definitely looking forward to that.

usedtobegood, I kind of narrowed my identity guessing down to a few.  With the latest clue I'm a guessing you not so long ago got to see yo mama get her first 300.  I was a thinking it might be another ABC national tournament champion but I knows he is over 40.  It's hard to believe there are so many former jtl bowlers now in their 50s.

 

 

Anyway, I got my first 300 in 1963 with a black rubber Hammer which remains my fondest memory of the many bowled since, bowling a 300 in the final game to help my team win the 1984 NYS team event was a biggy moment as well.  While every one was big at the time it takes a memorble moment for a senior like me to recall them, like when I had 300 to win the NYS Senior Singles, 300 in my first 800 series kind of thing.  While I am on injured reserve with a rotator cuff injury to be resolved, I hope, with an operation in May, my remaining award score hope is to be able to get one in the next decade to go along with having bowled a 300 in the 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s, and this decade which most are not old enough to match.  So far as I know Bob Strampe is the only bowler to add  the 50s to his ongoing string of 300 games in each decade.

 

 

Don Gates

What took you so long Don ? Who else is as whacked as me? I was thinking about you and thought that you had a chance for 300 in 6 decades. That would be pretty amazing. I'm sure it's because you and fish have been on the same rigid diet and exercise program for many years. If you want to bowl nationals 2011 in Orlando, I'm sure we can make room for ya.

I updated my avatar to help you as well. Not as good looking as the last one though.

USEDTOBEGOOD:

Congrats on your 1st 300 !  Just like other things in life,you never forget your first time. If anyone tries to downplay your accomplishment because of lanes, equipment, etc  , just ignore them. It's still a great personal achievement.

This is also a great topic because i can think of at least  one person who wont be posting here. 

I shot my first 300 when i was 18 with the Columbia U-Dot. I have 3 299's with plastic, but needed the power of urethane to get me over the hump.  Started bowling when i was 12.  I have 42  300's now ,mainly due to easy lane conditions, resin balls, and a lack of talent. If i were any good I'm sure I would have 80 by now.

I'll be turning 40 this summer and that's the magic age where you start tripping 4 pins like Don Gates. I'm definitely looking forward to that.

 

Don't be too sure of that. 

Bob, I was kind of wavering between you and Hough but when you said age 40 that clinched if for me. While there have been many ABC national champions I doubt if all that many got presented with their 2nd eagle trophy on tv by executive director Roger Dalkin who brought along a replacement for the one you got that had a broken wing. Not that many have a younger sister who was a collegiate Rookie of the Year and All American selection and a mama who is one of the best and got a long over due 300 game not too long ago.; not too many that would collect 40 rings for award scores. Don Gates

 

Don, I thought you might think i was Hough. We're cut out of the same mold.He came up for a visit during Vanwies and hung out. He does have 1 thing i dont though. A 24yr old girlfriend ! Hope all is well with you. Bob

UPDATE: I shot #43 tonight. Nobody else on my pair shot 600. It was amazing how they redid the lanes between shots without me ever seeing them. It's good to know the owner.

Only have had 1 300. I was 23 years old and had been bowling for 13 years. It was in 1987 using a trusty 1979 Columbia 300 White Dot burgandy color. At the time I think was averaging 195 but it has been so many years ago could be off by some.

1st 300 Game: September 30, 2003. I was 41 years old. Been bowling for 28 years.

Of course, I took lessons that previous summer that really helped me improve my game. I have since bowled two (2) additional 300 games.

 

 To shoot 300 before the new equpipment took hold, that is what is truely impressive. If memory serves me correct, the ring they gave out in the 60's was gold? I don't think they gave out to many of those. I love my yellow dot, have 5 honor scores with that ball.

As much as bowling is measured with 300 games, I would ask this: How many 800 series do you have? To me - that is the true measure of a bowler's ability. Pretty hard to get lucky for 36 frames. 

 

Dear USEDTOBEGOOD: I doubt that Don and I are on the "same rigid diet." Unless he has "ballooned up" quite a bit (which I doubt and hope he hasn't) since I last saw him in June of 2006, his diet is likely much "better" than mine.

Might Fish: Perhaps that's why he has won titles and shot award scores for 5 decades. It's tough to stay competitive for that long without taking care of yourself.

Dear USEDTOBEGOOD: Then again, there are many bowlers in "top-top shape" who don't have anywhere near Don's credentials. Actually, I've only seen Don roll seven shots. I walked in to a tournament locale (in The Villages) and he was preparing to roll the sixth frame of the final game, and he proceeded to finish with seven strikes in a row while I was watching. (So I must have been a good-luck charm, of sorts). And he wasn't exactly bowling on "give-away" lane conditions, either. He's far from washed-up, as I apparently am.