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- Aug/Sep 2017
SENIOR CLASSIC
secretary/treasurer Ron Johnson
by Don Phillips
July 18. Show-off for the week was Ron Pearson 267/946. Next was Doug Rege-
lin 246/938. Par rollers were Larry Hilburn 247/885, Mal Helmuth 257/891, Lonnie
Hare 247/848, Steve Curless 225/884, Larry Laub 224/821, Gary Hobbs 265/849,
Gordon Moore 236/862, Vern Castro 278/894, Art Tourtillott 247/864, Bob Atte-
berry 267/899 and Joe Holesapple 237/860.
Nice singles were by Bob McElman 225, Dennis Estes 227, Mark Correale 240,
Mo Snyder 234 and Gerald Law 238.
7/25. Top of the heap was Larry Hilburn 279/935. The other 900's were by Betty
Morris/Laub 269/907 and Ron Johnson 247/903. 800+ rollers were Hank Miles
222/833, Gordon Moore 238/848, Mark Correale 253/824, Bill Graham 265/887,
Stan Seeley 227/869, Don Phillips 244/890, Cal Suan 257/892, Skip Benham
238/824, Mal Helmuth 258/850, Joe Holesapple
224/824, Steve Curless 256/888, Dennis Estes 236/852 and Doug Regelin
242/865. Good games were by Bob Atteberry 235, Mike Hale 244, Art Tourtillott
225 and Bob Sloan 238.
Aug. 1. Only one guy beat the pins--Art Tourtillott 256/912. GREAT!! Seniors in
the 800 range were Bob Sloan 256/850, Nick DeStefano 212/830, Gary Hobbs
257/877, Gordon Moore 248/886, Larry Hilburn 257/899, Dennis Estes 233/823,
Ron Johnson 255/843, Vern Castro 254/818, Doug Regelin 242/886, Cal Suan
254/899, Mal Helmuth 256/888, Mike Hale 226/854 and Steve Curless 236/897.
Top five games were by Don Sager 237, Joe Holesapple 223, Mo Snyder 244,
Mark Correale 224 and Bill Graham 225.
8/8. Leader of the pack was Steve Curless 266/921. Par rollers were Dennis Es-
tes 224/832, Don Phillips 246/874, Doug Regelin 268/886, Lonnie Hare 237/840,
Gary Hobbs 237/832 and Mo Snyder 244/822. Singles were by Stan Seeley 228,
Hank Miles 231, Gordon Moore 234, Bill Graham 231 and Art Tourtillott 244.
AS THE CURTAIN FALLS ON THE 2017 PBA50
TOUR SEASON…
By Bill Vint
● With his win in the season-ending PBA50 DeHayes Insurance Group
Championship, Pete Weber
not only recorded his 100th overall PBA title, but
joined
Walter Ray Williams Jr.
and
Gene Stus
in a tie for fifth place on the all-
time PBA50 Tour titles list with 11.
John Handegard
is the leader in PBA50 Tour
titles with 14.
Tom Baker, Gary Dickinson
and
Dale Eagle
are tied for second
place with 12 titles each.
● Throughout his colorful career as a PBA Tour competitor, winning 38 titles
to rank third on the all-time list behind Walter Ray Williams Jr.
(47) and
Earl
Anthony
(43),
Norm Duke
has never had a year with as many close calls as he
had during the 2017 PBA50 Tour season. In addition to his lone title in Moores-
ville, N.C., in May, Duke had three second-place finishes (New Port Richey, Fla.;
Anderson, Ind., and Fort Wayne, Ind.), a third-place finish in Hammond, Ind., and
a fourth-place finish in the USBC Senior Masters.
● Former Major League Baseball pitcher John Burkett
of Southlake, Fla., was
in contention to make his second career championship round appearance in Fort
Wayne until the end of the final match play round, eventually finishing ninth for his
best finish of the season. Burkett’s best career finish was fourth in the 2015 North-
ern California Classic in his rookie season as a PBA50 Tour player.
● With his 300 game near the end of the second qualifying round in Fort
Wayne, Parker Bohn III
improved his record for most 300 games bowled in PBA
competition to 112, six more than
Walter Ray Williams Jr.
●
PBA Hall of Famer
Pete Weber
has learned he will be inducted into the St. Louis
Sports Hall of Fame during ceremonies on Sept. 15 at the Hilton St. Louis Fronte-
nac Hotel.
PBA Mourns the Losses of Hall of Famer
Mike McGrath, Founding Member Bill Lillard
by Jerry Schneider
PETALUMA, Calif. – Mike McGrath, who stunned the Professional Bowlers Associa-
tion when he won the 1965 Portland Open, the first PBA tournament he entered at
age 19, died late Sunday in California. His death, at age 71, was confirmed by his
daughter Jennifer. Details were not immediately available.
McGrath, a lanky left-hander, was inducted into the PBA Hall of Fame in 1988 and
the United States Bowling Congress Hall of Fame in 1993 after a career that included
back-to-back PBA National Championships in 1969 and 1970, when he was the tour’s
leading money winner. He recorded another major victory when he defeated fellow
Hall of Famer Earl Anthony, 234-222, to become the first left-hander to win the U.S.
Open in 1973 in Madison Square Garden in New York.
McGrath finished his career with 10 Tour titles and $238,305 in career earnings.
During the PBA’s 50th anniversary gala in 2009, he was ranked 39th on list of the
PBA’s 50 greatest players.
In the 1970 ABC Tournament (now USBC Open Championships) McGrath helped
his Merchant Enterprises team win the Classic Division team title. He would go on to
win two more ABC titles during his career.
“Anyone who won 10 titles in that era had some ability,” said PBA Hall of Famer Dick
Ritger about McGrath’s selection to the all-time top 50 list. “He was one of the top
three or four left-handers alongside Bill Allen, Dave Davis and Earl Anthony.”
“Today I lost one of my best friends,” said close friend and fellow hall of famer Barry
Asher. “Mike McGrath has passed. “For those of you who didn't really know and un-
derstand him, you really missed something special. He was a Hall of Fame bowler as
we all know. But in life he was a Hall of Fame person, friend and especially a father. I
will miss him as long as I draw breath.”
Details regarding memorial services will be published when they are available.
The PBA also has learned of the death over the weekend of PBA pioneer and USBC
Hall of Famer Bill Lillard, one of the 33 founding members of the organization in 1958.
A former member of the famous Budweisers of St. Louis, among other noted “beer
teams” of the 1950s, Lillard won his only PBA Tour title in the 1966 Miller High Life
Open. The Houston native would have celebrated his 90th birthday in October.
Lillard had his most visible success in the USBC Open Championships where he
won eight titles and set the all-time pinfall record with 124,087 total pins in 68 con-
secutive years of participation. Lillard also was owner of Palace Bowl , the center that
hosted the PBA-PWBA Xtra Frame Striking Against Breast Cancer Mixed Doubles
event for several years before he sold the center last year.
Lillard is one of 11 bowlers in 114 years of tournament history to reach 65 years of
participation at the Open Championships. Norris, fellow hall of famer Bill Doehrman of
Fort Wayne, Ind. and Sylvester Thiel of Lake City, MN, top the list with 71 years.
Lillard was voted the Bowling Writers Association of America's Bowler of the Year in
1956, and he earned Bowling Magazine's recognition for first-team All-American in
1956 and 1957. In December 1999, Bowlers Journal International had Lillard No. 15
on the list of the 100 greatest bowlers of the 20th century.
