A perfect game is the highest score possible in a game of bowling, achieved by rolling a strike during every frame. In bowling games that use 10 pins, such as Ten-pin bowling, Candlepin bowling, and Duckpin bowling, the highest possible score is 300, achieved by bowling 12 strikes in a row in a single game: one strike in each of the first nine frames, and three more in the tenth frame. Because a strike counts as ten pins plus any pinfall in the next two balls, 30 points are possible in a given frame.
Historically, the perfect game was dauntingly difficult to achieve, but with the advent of new technology in ten-pin bowling, beginning in the 1970s, it has become a slightly more feasible goal even for skilled amateur and semi-professional players. Such technological changes include the use of more "active" synthetic bowling pins, more forgiving lane conditions (especially on synthetic surfaces versus wood) that allow a greater margin for error, and most importantly, bowling balls with modern "reactive" coverstocks that allow greater hooking action and consequently better strike carry on less-than-perfect hits. (See Ten-pin bowling for more information.) As a result, perfect games are somewhat commonplace, especially in professional play. For example, PBA professional ten-pin bowler Parker Bohn III has rolled 85 perfect games in PBA competition during his 24 seasons on tour.[1]
The feat has never been accomplished in candlepin or duckpin bowling, however it has been accomplished in rubberband duckpin bowling.
In Five-pin bowling, the highest possible score is 450, as a strike is worth 15 pins. It is rare to bowl or witness one. The Canadian Five Pin Bowlers Association sanctions from 10 to 40 perfect games per year.
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In sanctioned league play, a 300 game is usually commemorated with a ring, after the score is verified and the lane conditions are approved. Subsequent league 300s are denoted by setting "chips" or precious stones into the ring, so that skilled bowlers don't have to wear several rings. The United States Bowling Congress (USBC) offers a "multiple" 300 ring for an additional fee that features the number of sanctioned 300 games for that bowler surrounded by stones. The ring can be returned to have the number changed as the bowler rolls additional perfect games.
In casual or "open" play, a 300 game is not recognized officially by the Professional Bowlers Association, the United States Bowling Congress, British Tenpin Bowling Association, or any other organization, but may be honored by a "300 game" plaque, trophy or other prize sponsored by the local bowling center.
A handful of 300 games have been broadcast on live TV. Grazio Castellano of Brooklyn, NY was the first to roll a 300 game on live television. This occurred on October 4, 1953 during an Eastern All-Star league session at Newark, New Jersey.[2] (Castellano is a member of the United States Bowling Congress Hall of Fame.) A more recent example of this came in October 2006, when England's Paul Moor became the first man to register a score of 300 in the Weber Cup (the first 300 on live British television), the annual Europe versus America team challenge event. Australian bowler Jason Belmonte became the first player to ever roll a 300 game in the televised finals of the World Tenpin Masters, defeating Moor in the 2007 event. Tommy Jones had shot a perfect game in each Weber Cup from 2007 to 2009.
Through 2009, there have been 19 televised 300 games in title events on the PBA Tour, and two more on the Senior PBA Tour. The first 300 game in a televised PBA event was rolled by Jack Biondolillo in a semi-final match of the 1967 Tournament of Champions (broadcast by ABC).[3] (This was also the first nationally televised broadcast of a perfect game.) The most recent in a live PBA telecast was by Rhino Page in the quarterfinals of the 2009 Dydo Japan Cup. The event was broadcast live on Japanese television (NHK), but was only available as a webcast in the United States.[4] The most recent in a U.S. telecast of a PBA Tour title event was accomplished by Ryan Shafer in the 2007 PBA Pepsi Championship. In 2009, Wes Malott rolled two 300 games in an ESPN broadcast of the King of Bowling series (a taped non-PBA Tour event featuring PBA players).[5] Shafer also threw his second televised 300 game in a singles match at the Geico PBA Team Shootout, a non-PBA title event broadcast on ESPN, July 2, 2011.[6]
Female bowlers have also achieved perfection in front of a television audience. Ritsuko Nakayama of the Japan Professional Bowling Association became the first female to score a perfect game in front of a national television audience, doing so in Japan on August 21, 1970.[7] Michelle Feldman of the now defunct Professional Women's Bowling Association became the first female to roll 300 on American national television, when she accomplished the feat in a 1997 Prime Sports broadcast.[8]
The Andy Varipapa 300, which consists of 12 strikes in a row spanning 2 games, was named after Hall of Fame Bowler Andy Varipapa.
75-year-old Will June, grandfather of Cato June, became the oldest player to bowl consecutive perfect games on August 31, 2010.[9]
An 800 series, a three-game set with scores adding to 800, is a more difficult feat to achieve than bowling a single perfect game because it requires more consistency and careful attention to the subtle changes in the lane conditions from game to game.[10] However, in 1997, a 900 series – or perfect series (three consecutive 300 games in league play) was officially recorded by collegiate bowler Jeremy Sonnenfeld. It was the first 900 series approved by the ABC (now USBC), and was rolled at Sun Valley Lanes in Lincoln, Nebraska. Six previous 900 series had been reported, the first by PBA Hall of Famer Glenn Allison in 1982, but all were rejected by the ABC for various reasons – mostly due to improper lane conditions (which has not been proven true yet).[11] Twelve perfect series were bowled in the ten-year period 1997-2008, and six were bowled in the two years 2009-2010. As of Jan 20, 2011, the USBC lists a total 18 approved 900 series by 17 different bowlers in the records area of its website.[1]. A perfect series was bowled on Jan 8, 2011 and is pending approval.
The concept of a perfect bowling game has been regularly used in fiction for either suspenseful or comedic effect. For example:
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