Milestone in Australian Bowling

[John_Velo]

G’Day All,
Monday the 18th of March is a big milestone in Australian Bowling.
Many may not realize, but next Monday will be the 50th Anniversary of the first sanctioned 300 game being bowled any were in the world outside of the U.S.
Bowled at Northern Bowl Corrimal on lanes 1 and 2 in a five man teams league.
Well done Dad, that single game put Australian Bowling on the world bowling map.
A few photos and news paper clips may be found here:
http://www.joevelo.com/300.html
http://www.joevelo.com/news.html
Thanks for reading.

 

[granto]

That is fantastic John!
Special moments in our sport need to be captured and published more...Plus we need more heroes of the sport for the juniors to look up to!
This moment and your father are classic examples...

 

[jimcross]

What a marvellous achievment that was, John. Can never be repeated or outdone, or even equalled - not now or ever again, now that we play the 'modern' game.

 

[Wal B]

Yes it was a very special moment in our sport. A sport that had only just got started in Austraia and as such players were just beginning to learn 'the art' of the game.

I've said it before on this site .. Joe was the player I've most enjoyed watching over all those years. He always involved that forgotten element of Tenpin Bowling ... the spectators!

Wow 50 years ago and I remember it like it was yesterday ... I am getting old arnt I?

 

[Mistagear]

Congratulations again on this special anniversary of Jo's achievement. Like Wal B, I remember hearing of Jo's perfect game at the time.
It seemed almost impossible someone could achieve such a score, even a 200 game was such a significant score to bowl that I remember a competitive adult league in Newcastle had wall trophy, for any bowler who rolled a 200 game.
The trophy was in the shape of the AMF triangle and only ten name plaques available for the lucky bowlers who scored 200. It was so rare that it took 2 seasons of the league to fill the ten names due the equipment and conditions back in that era.

So you can tell from this, for Jo to bowl a perfect game was an absolutely incredible feat of bowling.

Seeing the newspaper clippings brought back happy memories of that time as a junior bowler. I also remember meeting and being given valuable coaching tips by Frank Claus at Broadmeadow Bowl in Newcastle.
Thank you John for posting

 

[Jasonguru]

I loved the clippings. A very special and historic moment in our sport.

Thanks John for sharing this with us.

 

[emmtee83]

Fabulous read. A 600 series made the papers and 200-games were placed on the wallboards? Boy this game has gone a long way.

Amazes me how he managed to do all of this 'off the wrong foot'. Goes to show there's no perfect way to bowl.

Thanks for sharing!!

 

[GwenArun]

I enjoyed reading each article, thanks so much for posting them.

 

[Drumo]

Amazes me how he managed to do all of this 'off the wrong foot'.

I think Joe would say he bowls the right way and we all bowl off the wrong foot... lol

 

[jimcross]

I saw Joe bowl several times, couple of times in same event, both before and about when he did the historic perfecto. I can assure you all that it was perfectly balanced and natural. There were some beautiful bowling styles around then. For instance, Erig Jang looked like Nureyev, all that was missing were the swans and the lake.

 

[Street Racer]

Amazing read..

 

[John_Velo]

Thanks for the feed back, it was a pleasure sharing a part of bowling history with every one.

It would be great to see the other stars of the time posting old articles and sharing history of our great sport.

Funny, dad always said we bowled off the wrong foot, the balance was amazing.
Like Belmo today, it looked normal because it was natural.

Thanks again for reading.

 

[GeorgeF]

Pretty amazing mate and thank you for sharing the history. It's important to remember and appreciate the past champions and pioneers in the sport, a true champion in every sense of the word.

 

[Little Weed]

Thanks for the feed back, it was a pleasure sharing a part of bowling history with every one.

It would be great to see the other stars of the time posting old articles and sharing history of our great sport.

Funny, dad always said we bowled off the wrong foot, the balance was amazing.
Like Belmo today, it looked normal because it was natural.

Thanks again for reading.

Really lovely to read this post John, it gave me "goosebumps". Also revived a happy memory (hope I have got this correct) as I believe I loaned my bowling shoes to Joe when he bowled the first ball at a senior tournament in Melbourne a few years ago. Lucky I am a lefty with big feet who wears mens' Linds shoes.

I still bowl in those shoes - maybe I may be allowed to say "I am following in Joe's shoes" and there is still time for me to bowl a 300 game, although I would probably drop dead with shock.

So nice to read a story like this instead of the usual gossip and back chat. We need more bowling history like this.

Greetings from Kiwiland