'I live from day to day to just go bowling'

Robert Campbell is 92 1/2 and has no plans to quit the game anytime soon.

By KEVIN KELLY

© St. Petersburg Times, published May 25, 2000

People bowled in their street shoes, marked the lanes with chalk, and threw balls at lopsided pins.

That's what Robert Campbell remembers about the day 72 years ago when he stopped for drinks with friends at a New Jersey bar, went upstairs and found the game he hasn't stopped playing since.

"I didn't care for baseball or any of those sports," said Campbell, who was born in Brooklyn, N.Y. "When I started bowling, it caught my interest."

Now 921/2 -- he insists on including the half -- Campbell bowls twice a week at Hudson Bowl and has no plans of stopping any time soon.

"It's very good exercise," he said. "It loosens you up. As long as I can keep going, as long as I can put up a good average, even when I'm 99, I'll bowl."

Campbell and his wife of 66 years, Harriet, moved from Long Island, N.Y., to Spring Hill in 1979. He wanted to retire in the South so he could fish and play golf, but when his golfing team broke up, he used a gift certificate for Hudson Bowl to get back into the game.

"He's always in good spirits," manager Ron Woods said.

Campbell bowls in a Wednesday Morning Mixed League and with friends on Sundays. He averages 150 and had a 500 series on May 17.

Though he has never had a 300 game in his 70-plus years -- 275 is his career high -- Campbell is satisfied with a 150 average.

"You've got to enjoy the game," he said. "I live from day to day to just go bowling."

BOWLER OF THE YEAR: Lane-Glo Lanes North will hold its Bowler of the Year Invitational Tournament on May 29. It is open to all those who have bowled a 300 game or 800 series during league play this past winter.

So far, 49 bowlers have qualified.

There are two bowlers who have rolled four 300 games and two 800 series -- Bill Ferrie of New Port Richey and Lou Bowers. "I consider myself as one of the favorites to win it after the year I've had there," Ferrie said. "Right now that would top my year. The next thing would be to win or do very well in the Cream of the Crop (in June). I don't think I could expect anything else out of myself because of the year I've had."

Each invited bowler will bowl two games. The field then will be cut in half, with the highest scorers going to the second round. Those qualifiers will bowl two more games, and again, the field will be cut in half, with the top scorers heading to the third round.

In that third and final round, the highest scorer will be named Lane-Glo's Bowler of the Year.

Last year, James Kupres Jr. won with a 277.

Bowers took the lead in the first round with a two-game series of 512 -- the only 500 score that round. Pat Notarione's 495 was good for second and Ron Wolfe's 484 was third. Kupres was sixth at 466. Only 12 made the cut.

In the second round, Bowers again led with a two-game score of 514, just four pins ahead of second-place Anthony Angilella.

Kupres' final-round score was 74 pins better than Angilella. Notarione's 201 was third. Bowers finished fourth at 198.

"It's going to be tough competition," Ferrie said.

UPCOMING: For the dads, Hudson Bowl will hold a Father's Day Tournament at 2 p.m. June 18. The entry fee is $14 in advance and $16 the day of the tournament. For more information, call (727) 863-5481.

The Suncoast Senior Regional Bowling Tournament will be held July 29-30 and Aug. 5-6 at Hudson Bowl.

The ABC-sanctioned event has a 90 percent of 210 handicap and is open to all members 55 and older. The entry fee is $15 per event.

The tournament will feature a four-bowler team event, two singles and one doubles competition. For more information, call tournament manager Bill Scoville at (727) 863-3767 or (727) 862-5523.

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