900 series (bowling)
A 900 series refers to three consecutive perfect games bowled by an individual bowler. A 300 is a perfect score in one game, thus a player's maximum possible score would be 900 in a series of three consecutive games (the typical number of games in a single league session). To achieve the feat, a bowler would have to bowl 36 consecutive strikes. To date, 36 individuals have bowled a total of 37 certified 900 series (that is, 900s that have been officially recognized by the United States Bowling Congress, the sport's national governing body in the United States).
Sanctioning issues
On 1 July 1982, Glenn Allison bowled the first 900 series to be recorded in sanctioned league play. He achieved this feat with a plastic bowling ball with a conventional drilled grip, on wood lanes, and an oil pattern that would be today sanction as sport compliant. Tragically, this accomplishment was not officially certified by the American Bowling Congress due to "non-compliant" lane conditions.[1] To this day, there is a cult following supporting Glenn Allison and urging the USBC to officially recognize him as the first bowler to achieve a perfect series, especially because it was accomplished before the era of reactive bowling balls, and other scores in the bowling center that night were not unusually high.[2] However, the USBC still refuses to sanction Allison's 900 series after concluding a re-evaluation in 2014, stating among other things that it would call into question all other rejected honor score applications from that era.[3]
In fact, the first six 900 series reported in ABC league play were all rejected for certification. The first perfect series to be officially sanctioned by the ABC/USBC was shot by collegiate bowler Jeremy Sonnenfeld in 1997 at Sun Valley Lanes bowling alley in Lincoln, Nebraska.
The first 900 in the history of the Professional Bowlers Association was bowled by Joe Scarborough on 22 April 2013 in a PBA50 Tour (formerly PBA Senior Tour) event. The PBA had seen three consecutive 300 games on one other occasion, by Norm Duke in 1996, but this was not considered to be an official 900 series because the games were not part of a contiguous set. The first two of Duke's 300 games were at the end of one round of play, and the third was at the beginning of the next round.[4]
On 11 January 2017, John Buchanan III became the oldest bowler (71) in USBC history to roll a sanctioned 900 series.[5]
The 900 Club
Name | Age | Hand | Location | Date |
---|---|---|---|---|
Jeremy Sonnenfeld[6] | 20 | (R) | Lincoln, Nebraska | 2 February 1997 |
Tony Roventini[7] | 28 | (L) | Greenfield, Wisconsin | 9 November 1998 |
Vince Wood[8] | 20 | (R) | Moreno Valley, California | 29 September 1999 |
Robby Portalatin[9] | 28 | (L) | Jackson, Michigan | 28 December 2000 |
James Hollywood Hylton[10] | 28 | (R) | Salem, Oregon | 2 May 2001 |
Jeff Campbell II[11] | 22 | (R) | New Castle, Pennsylvania | 12 June 2004 |
Darin Pomije[12] | 30 | (R) | New Prague, Minnesota | 9 December 2004 |
Robert Mushtare[13] | 17 | (R) | Fort Drum, New York | 5 December 2005 |
Lonnie Billiter Jr.[14] | 24 | (R) | Fairfield, Ohio | 13 February 2006 |
Robert Mushtare (2)[15] | 18 | (R) | Fort Drum, New York | 19 February 2006 |
Mark Wukoman[16] | 50 | (R) | Greenfield, Wisconsin | 22 April 2006 |
P. J. Giesfeldt[17] | 24 | (R) | Milwaukee, Wisconsin | 23 December 2006 |
Rich Jerome Jr.[18] | 29 | (R) | Baltimore, Maryland | 22 December 2008 |
Chris Aker[19] | 47 | (L) | Winnemucca, Nevada | 30 October 2009 |
Andrew Teall[19] | 24 | (R) | Medford, New Jersey | 2 November 2009 |
Andrew Mank[20] | 22 | (R) | Belleville, Illinois | 18 March 2010 |
William Howell III[21] | 22 | (L) | Newburgh, New York | 21 October 2010 |
Matt Latarski[22] | 23 | (R) | Medina, Ohio | 28 December 2010 |
Bob Kammer Jr[23] | 41 | (R) | Crown Point, Indiana | 9 January 2012 |
John Martorella Sr.[24] | 28 | (R) | Greece, New York | 12 April 2012 |
Jimmy Schmitzer[25] | 18 | (R) | Norco, California | 20 April 2012 |
James Williams[26] | 47 | (R) | Wakefield, Rhode Island | 16 April 2013 |
Joe Scarborough[27] | 50 | (R) | Lady Lake, Florida | 21 April 2013 |
Todd James[28] | 31 | (R) | Laurel, Delaware | 18 March 2014 |
Amos Gordon[29] | 29 | (R) | Fort Carson, Colorado | 11 April 2014 |
Earon Vollmar[30] | 26 | (R) | Toledo, Ohio | 19 January 2015 |
Hakim Emmanuel[31] | 38 | (R) | Brockton, Massachusetts | 19 February 2015 |
David Sewesky[32] | 27 | (L) | Plymouth, Michigan | 10 January 2016 |
Dale Gerhard[33] | 59 | (R) | Linden, Pennsylvania | 12 January 2016 |
Sean Osbourne[34] | 24 | (R) | Cypress, Texas | 22 November 2016 |
John Buchanan III[35] | 71 | (R) | Evansville, Indiana | 11 January 2017 |
Sam Esposito[36] | 26 | (R) | Lockport, Illinois | 3 February 2017 |
Joe Novara[37] | 26 | (R) | East Islip, New York | 16 October 2017 |
Jonathan Wilbur[38] | 36 | (R) | North Clarendon, Vermont | 14 January 2019 |
Jeremy Milito[39] | 26 | (L) | Farmingdale, New York | 25 April 2019 |
Wesley Low[40] | 23 | (L) | Glendale, Arizona | 19 July 2020 |
References
- Amdur, Neil (1 July 2007). "Why a 900 Series Just Isn't What It Used to Be". The New York Times.
- 1982 Sports Illustrated article on Glenn Allison's 900 series
- USBC concludes re-evaluation of Glenn Allison 900 series Bigham, Terry 22 November 2014. Retrieved 27 November 2014
- http://www.bowlingdigital.com/bowl/node/12093
- Smith, Aaron (13 January 2017). "Indiana Bowler Becomes Oldest to Roll 900 Series". Bowl.com. USBC. Retrieved 14 January 2017.
- James Brooke (9 February 1997). "900 Reasons for Making The Bowlers' Record Book". The New York Times. Retrieved 12 November 2011.
- Vincent Malozzi (27 December 1998). "1998 IN REVIEW; Champions All, and All in Anonymity". The New York Times. Retrieved 12 November 2011.
- Leonard A. Ruble Jr. (5 December 1999). "900 Agai". Retrieved 12 November 2011.
- "Bowler rolls perfect 900 series". 30 December 2000. Archived from the original on 1 April 2012. Retrieved 12 November 2011.
- "Oregon man bowls perfect series". USA Today. 25 July 2002. Retrieved 12 November 2011.
- "Collegiate Bowler Makes History, Finds Controversy in the Process". October 2004. Archived from the original on 25 April 2012. Retrieved 12 November 2011.
- "Minnesota bowler seventh to roll sanctioned 900 series". 16 December 2004. Archived from the original on 16 December 2012. Retrieved 12 November 2011.
- "Is 17-year-old Mushtare a bowling phenom or a phony?". 29 December 2005. Retrieved 12 November 2011.
- Josh Pichler (14 February 2006). "Ohio Bowler Rolls Perfect 900 Series". USA Today. Retrieved 12 November 2011.
- http://www.bowlingdigital.com/bowl/node/1161
- Herbert Bickel (28 April 2006). "USBC Approves Wukoman's 900". Retrieved 12 November 2011.
- Gary D’Amato (23 December 2006). "Perfect gift: Bowler rolls 36 strikes for 900 series". Retrieved 12 November 2011.
- Larry Harris, ed. (13 January 2009). "Front Row: Rich Jerome: Mr. Perfection On The Lanes". Retrieved 12 November 2011.
- Herbert Bickel (18 November 2009). "Nevada, New Jersey bowlers roll 900 series three days apart". Retrieved 12 November 2011.
- USBC Communications (26 March 2010). "Illinois Bowler Rolls 900". Retrieved 12 November 2011.
- Matt Cannizzaro (8 November 2010). "New Yorker rolls USBC-approved 900 series". Retrieved 12 November 2011.
- USBC News (21 December 2010). "Ohio's Matt Latarski becomes 17th bowler to roll a USBC-approved 900 series". Retrieved 12 November 2011.
- Jason Overstreet (9 January 2012). "Indiana bowler Rolls 900 Series". Retrieved 23 April 2017.
- Jay Notareschi (3 May 2012). "Greece resident John Martorella Sr. rolls 900 series". Retrieved 8 May 2012.
- Bowling Digital (24 April 2012). "California teen becomes 20th bowler to roll 900 series". Retrieved 8 May 2012.
- Bowl.com (17 April 2013). "Connecticut bowler shoots 900 series". Retrieved 28 April 2013.
- Bowling Digital (22 April 2013). "PBA Senior rookie Joe Scarborough rolls first 900 series in PBA history". Retrieved 22 April 2013.
- Bowl.com (19 March 2013). "900 series rolled in Delaware". Retrieved 15 April 2014.
- Bowling Digital (15 April 2013). "Colorado bowler Amos Gordon brings the number of 900 series to 25". Retrieved 23 January 2015.
- 11thframe.com (20 January 2015). "The 11th Frame: Earon Vollmar fires 900 series in Toledo, Ohio". Retrieved 23 January 2015.
- http://bowl.com/News/NewsDetails.aspx?id=23622323623
- http://www.bowl.com/News/NewsDetails.aspx?id=23622325793
- http://www.bowl.com/News/NewsDetails.aspx?id=23622325800
- http://www.bowl.com/News/NewsDetails.aspx?id=23622328227
- http://www.bowl.com/News/NewsDetails.aspx?id=23622328465
- http://www.bowl.com/News/NewsDetails.aspx?id=23622328574
- "Joe Novara records first 900 series of the 2017-2018 season". 21 October 2017.
- Matt Cannizzaro (16 January 2019). "Jon Wilbur Speaks with USBC Following His 900 Series". BowlersJournal.com.
- Gregg Sarra (27 April 2019). "Perfection! LI bowler Jeremy Milito rolls a 900 series". Newsday.
- Matt Cannizzaro (27 April 2019). "Former Team USA Member Wesley Low JR. Rolls 900 Series". bowl.com.