Joe Scarborough of Charlotte, N.C., rolled three consecutive 300 games to start the first round of qualifying in the PBA50 Sun Bowl in The Villages presented by Hammer at Spanish Springs Lanes Sunday, recording the first 900 series in Professional Bowlers Association history.

Scarborough (pictured left), who turned 50 in October 2012, is bowling in only his second PBA50 Tour event. He qualified 38th in the re-named PBA Senior Tour's season-opener in New Port Richey, Fla., last week, but lost his first best-of-three-game single-elimination match.

The self-employed electrical contractor threw another strike to start his fourth game, but his streak ended at 37 in a row when he left a split on his 38th shot.

Three straight sub-200 games then toppled him out of the lead and into a tie for 12th place with 1,921 pins, 77 pins behind leader PBA Hall of Famer Mark Williams (right) of Beaumont, Texas, who averaged 249.75 for eight games to lead the field of 159 bowlers with a 1,998 total.

"I'm pretty surprised," Scarborough said. "I had the shot, I took my time and it worked out. To be honest, no, I wasn't nervous. I was pretending I was at home practicing, and I blocked out the crowd and focused on executing every shot.

"After the first three games, I moved to the other end of the house where the lanes were drier and I just couldn't get the ball down the lane the same way. It wasn't the pressure.

"It's unbelievable, especially to be the first in the PBA to do it," he added. Scarborough said his previous high three-game series was an 838 and he had 14 previous 300 games.

"It's interesting that I used a different ball to start practice, but I switched (to a Storm IQ Tour Pearl) and I threw six strikes in a row to end practice. So I decided to start with that ball. I knew I had something good, but not this good.

"I'm proud of what I've done so far," he added, "but I've still got work to do."

Scarborough's perfect start set PBA50 Tour records for consecutive 300 games (the previous record was two by Norb Wetzel of Fond du Lac, Wis., in Albany, N.Y., in 1998 and by Rohn Morton of Portland, Ore., in Tucson, Ariz., in 2005), and highest three-game series.

He also tied the record for most 300s by an individual in a PBA50 Tour tournament, shared by Ron Mohr of Eagle River, Alaska (Columbus, Ohio, 2010) and Bob Kelly of Dayton, Ohio (Mooresville, N.C., 2010).

Norm Duke of Clermont, Fla., bowled three consecutive 300s in a standard PBA Tour event in North Brunswick, N.J., in 1996, but the performance didn't count as a 900 series because he ended one round with two perfect games and started the next round with the third perfect game.

Williams, who rolled games of 269, 234, 259, 268, 204, 279, 268 and 217, said he had his only open frame in the 204 game.

"The conditions were really good," Williams said. "There was a lot of oil in the front, some hold area and the carry was good. But there are a lot of games to go, so we'll see how things go."

The PBA50 Sun Bowl in The Villages presented by Hammer produced another record when 87-year-old Darrell Ducat (159th, 1,177) of Perrysville, Ohio, became the oldest player to compete in a PBA tournament.

Qualifying continues Monday at 9 a.m. and 3 p.m., with the top 32 advancing to match play on Tuesday. Match play rounds are scheduled for 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. Tuesday, followed by a four-player stepladder final at 7 p.m.

PBA's online bowling channel Xtra Frame is providing start to finish coverage of the PBA50 Sun Bowl.

 

Related Articles

2013 PBA50 Tour Schedule & Champions

 

PBA50 Sun Bowl in The Villages - First Round Qualifying

Players with position, hometown and 8-game total. a-denotes amateur

1, Mark Williams, Beaumont, Texas, 1,998
2, Ron Dixon, Boynton Beach, Fla., 1,993
3, Amleto Monacelli, Venezuela, 1,982
4, Bo Goergen, Sanford, Mich., 1,978
5, Wayne Webb, Columbus, Ohio, 1,970
6, Kevin Croucher, Grants Pass, Ore., 1,960
7, Tom Baker, King, N.C., 1,949
8, Steve Ferraro, Kingston, N.Y., 1,945
9, Walter Ray Williams Jr., Ocala, Fla., 1,939
10, Sammy Ventura, Syracuse, N.Y., 1,934
11, a-Larry Barwick, Wauchula, Fla., 1,931
12 (tie), Steve Neff, Homosassa Springs, Fla., and Joe Scarborough, Charlotte, N.C., 1,921
14, Mike Edwards, Tulsa, Okla., 1,920
15, a-Philip Frey, Lutz, Fla., 1,918
16, Rick Minier, Houston, Texas, 1,916
17 (tie), Don Blatchford, Santa Monica, Calif., and Keith Sharp, Orlando, Fla., 1,915
19, Hugh Miller, Seattle, 1,906
20, John Petraglia, Jackson, N.J., 1,902
21, Richard McDaniel, Coconut Creek, Fla., 1,901
22, Bob Learn Jr., Erie, Pa., 1,898
23, Paul Lemond, Jasper, Ind, 1,892
24, Dale Traber, Cedarburg, Wis., 1,886
25, Marty Berke, Allentown, Pa., 1,882
26, Pete Weber, St. Ann, Mo., 1,865
27 (tie), Michael Henry, Brunswick, Ohio, and Bryan Goebel, Shawnee, Kan., 1,860
29, John Conroy, Mahopac, N.Y., 1,856
30, John Shreve Sr., Elyria, Ohio, 1,855
31, Darrell Adams, Flintstone, Ga., 1,853
32, Gene Morrison, Spring Lake, N.C., 1,848
33, Christopher Keane, New City, N.Y., 1,844
34, a-Duane Podgorski, Lakeland, Fla., 1,843
35, Darryl Bower, Middletown, Pa., 1,842
36, Don Sylvia, Lady Lake, FL, 1,841
37, Wayne Bolin, Lumberton, N.C., 1,836
38, Mike Dias, Lafayette, Colo., 1,834
39, Timothy Kauble, Marion, Ohio, 1,826
40 (tie), Ted Staikoff, Black Hawk, S.D., and a-Howard Crowder, Tamarac, Fla., 1,824
42, Bob Brady, Santa Monica, Calif., 1,815
43, Bob Handley, Winter Park, Fla., 1,812
44, Leif Sjoberg, Sweden, 1,810
45, Gary Hiday, Indianapolis, 1,807
46, a-Bob Caputo Sr., The Villages, Fla., 1,804
47, Joel Carlson, Omaha, Neb., 1,803
48, Daniel Miner, East Moline, Ill., 1,802
49, Harry Sullins, Chesterfield Twp, Mich., 1,798
50, Terry Metzner, Kentwood, Mich., 1,797
51 (tie), Tom Kennedy, Shepherdsville, Ky., and Nick Morgan, Sacramento, Calif., 1,795
53, Mark Scime, Winter Garden, Fla., 1,793
54, Patrick King, Yankton, S.D., 1,792
55 (tie), David Taylor, Seminole, Fla., and Mike Hastings, Millsboro, Del., 1,790
57 (tie), a-Roger Kossert, Lithia, Fla.; Robert Harvey, Boise, Idaho, and Kevin Foley, Reno, Nev., 1,788
60, Ron Mohr, Eagle River, Alaska, 1,782
61, William Peters, Dayton, Ohio, 1,781
62 (tie), Thomas Ream, Tampa, Fla., and Charlie Tomey, Spartanburg, S.C., 1,780
64, Tommy Kress, Rochester, N.Y., 1,778
65 (tie), Gary Morgan, Marietta, Ga.; Kenny Parks, Hammond, Ind., and Henry Gonzalez, Colorado Springs, Colo., 1,777
68 (tie), a-Lucy Sandelin, Tampa, Fla., and Bill McCorkle, Westerville, Ohio, 1,776
70 (tie), Frank Gallo Jr., Jacksonville, Fla., and Kevin Humble, Lake Mary, Fla., 1,764
72, Dale Eagle, Tavares, Fla., 1,763
73, Ron Jacobson, Jupiter, Fla., 1,758
74 (tie), Fred Ferreira, Kings Park, N.Y., and Pete Couture, Titusville, Fla., 1,751
76, Andy Ippolito, Forest Hills, N.Y., 1,745
77, Jim Pitts, Elmira, N.Y., 1,742
78, Rich Giragosian, Charlotte, N.C., 1,737
79, Jim Lesiuk, Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., 1,734
80, a-huck Richardson, The Villages, Fla., 1,733
81, Dan Howsmon, Lutz, Fla., 1,727
82 (tie), Lennie Boresch Jr., Kenosha, Wis., and Marc Lineberry, Camanche, Iowa, 1,725
84 (tie), Bob Kelly, Dayton, Ohio, and Dennis Rakauskas, Apopka, Fla., 1,721
86, Dennis Farris, The Villages, Fla., 1,719
87, Todd Haney, Spartanburg, S.C., 1,716
88 (tie), Brian Cooper, Henderson, Nev., and Jerry Lau, St. Peters, Mo., 1,714
90, Ed Cutter, Manassas Park, Va., 1,711
91, Guppy Troup, Taylorsville, N.C., 1,709
92, Steve Lang, Indianapolis, Ind., 1,708
93, Tom Carter, Rockford, Ill., 1,707
94, Emilio Mora Sr., Defiance, Ohio, 1,706
95, Danny Gould, Palm Bay, Fla, 1,705
96 (tie), Vince Mazzanti Jr., Levittown, Pa.; Doug O'Bryant, Jasper, Ga., and Larry Graybeal, Elizabethton, Tenn., 1,704
99, Bill Argenbright, Fisherville, Va., 1,701
100, Ron Profitt, Brookville, Ohio, 1,698
101, Jim Knoblauch, Waukesha, Wis., 1,697
102, Peter Knopp, Germany, 1,696
103, Robert Callari, Bloomfield, N.Y., 1,694
104, Lee Rucker, Fort Myers, Fla., 1,690
105, Randy Robertson, Evansville, Ind., 1,686
106, Jim Price, Harrrisburg, N.C., 1,684
107 (tie), Dan Ahlquist, Sweden, and Tom Howison, Chillicothe, Ohio, 1,683
109, a-Robert Vega, The Villages, Fla., 1,680
110, Randy Rose, Gloucester, Va., 1,676
111, a-Roger Tramp, Deltona, Fla., 1,675
112, a-Edward Roberts, Braintree, Mass., 1,674
113 (tie), Steve Bova, Massapequa, N.Y., and William Keenan, Jr., Orlando, Fla., 1,671
115, a-Widmar Vargas, Riverview, Fla., 1,666
116, Dave Paquin, Kannapolis, N.C., 1,656
117, Lee Brosius, Ashburn, Va., 1,654
118, J.C. Quintana, Miami, 1,641
119, Chuck Best, Buda, Texas, 1,640
120, Larry Williams, St. Augustine, Fla., 1,636
121 (tie), Garry Blanton, Owensboro, Ky., and Larry Felts Jr., Moore, S.C., 1,632
123, Bob Chamberlain, The Villages, Fla., 1,628
124 (tie), Bob Andersen, Forest City, N.C., and Steve Stein, Staten Island, N.Y., 1,616
126, a-Gerald Teel, The Villages, Fla., 1,614
127, Nick Panicaro, Ocala, Fla., 1,610
128, Todd Kjell, Roscoe, Ill., 1,601
129, a-John Pullen, Oyster Bay, NY, 1,598
130, Steven Boxerman, University City, Mo., 1,594
131, a-Ed Fenstermacher, Summerfield, FL, 1,589
132, Michael Owen, Gainesville, Fla., 1,588
133, Jeffrey Herman, Bonaire, Ga., 1,585
134 (tie), George Lord, Lakeland, Fla., and Ron Glick, Morganville, N.J., 1,583
136, a-Patrick Trudeau, St. Petersburg, Fla., 1,578
137 (tie), Bill Ursillo, Bluffton, S.C., and Dale Lee, Brandon, Fla., 1,568
139, Timothy Bates, Orlando, Fla., 1,565
140, Brian Miller, Springfield, Ohio, 1,564
141, a-Mike Schmid St. Paul, Minn., 1,561
142 (tie), Dave Bernhardt, Romeo, Mich., and Don Michaelsen Sr., Plant City, Fla., 1,557
144, a-Gene Masterson Jr., Port Orange, Fla., 1,549
145, a-Edgar Gomez, Colombia, 1,540
146, Sal Bongiorno, Hollywood, Fla., 1,527
147, Larry Montgomery, Safety Harbor, Fla., 1,513
148, Dennis Amato, Pine Brook, N.J., 1,503
149, Ken Waters, Kingsport, Tenn., 1,484
150, Ray Randall, Dearborn, Mich., 1,469
151, Stephen Lippman, Palm Harbor, Fla, 1,468
152, Scott Ettinger, Westfield, N.J., 1,066 (WD)
153, Sam Perrotta, Lincoln Park, N.J., 1,436
154, Lindell Woolard, Tallahassee, Fla., 1,433
155, Patsy DellaPenna, Palm Harbor, Fla., 1,416
156, Richard Felten, Rockville, Md., 1,403
157, a-Ricky Bolatto, Sebring, Fla., 1,362
158, Dave Schultz, Jackson, Wis., 1,322
159, a-Darrell Ducat, Perrysburg, Ohio, 1,177

300 Games (6) - Don Batchford, Wayne Webb, Joe Scarborough (3), Christopher Keane.