- Joined
- May 8, 2002
- Posts
- 1,236,584
- Reaction score
- 59
Jul. 19—By the time he was old enough to join a bantam league, Tom Hartley was already hooked on bowling.
"I remember going to watch my parents bowl, throwing the ball and knocking down those pins, and I couldn't wait to get a shot," Hartley said.
At 8 years old, the then anxious young bowler got that shot and has rarely spent a season off the lanes in the close to six decades that followed.
Hartley, now 65, will be recognized for his years of dedication to the sport by being inducted into the Greater Dayton United States Bowling Congress Hall of Fame in the Veterans division in August at the annual GDUSBC banquet.
"I'm honored, it feels good to be joining my dad, my brother Tim, and my sister-in-law," he said. "It's like the final link in the chain."
Hartley and his younger brother Tim came up through the youth ranks together.
"We pretty much grew up at Thunderbowl," he said.
While only a year apart — and two of eight children in the Hartley family — there was little in the way of rivalry between them on the lanes.
"Surprisingly, I never felt that way," Tom said. "He and I have always supported each other."
He steadily built his bowling resume which now includes 14 800 series, including a career-high 834, and 18 perfect games. His first 300 game, more than 30 years ago, was one of Hartley's most memorable bowling moments.
"It was in a mixed league, and I remember my knees were shaking but I threw an absolutely perfect ball," he said. "One of the women in the league told me afterwards that I was as white as a sheet."
Beyond the honor scores, Hartley earned several city senior titles including team handicap and actual wins in 2012 and 2016 and the all-events actual and handicap titles in 2013. More recently, he placed third in the Joe Mrenak Memorial Tournament in 2023.
But for all his success on the lanes, it's the people not the prizes that are most meaningful to the hall of famer.
"The last couple of years that I was able to bowl with my dad really meant a lot," he said. "It was a great feeling to bowl with the man I looked up to for all those years."
And then there are his fellow bowlers as he continues to compete in three leagues a season.
"The older I get, the more I enjoy bowling," he said. "And it's the people who really get me out there."
Continue reading...
"I remember going to watch my parents bowl, throwing the ball and knocking down those pins, and I couldn't wait to get a shot," Hartley said.
At 8 years old, the then anxious young bowler got that shot and has rarely spent a season off the lanes in the close to six decades that followed.
Hartley, now 65, will be recognized for his years of dedication to the sport by being inducted into the Greater Dayton United States Bowling Congress Hall of Fame in the Veterans division in August at the annual GDUSBC banquet.
"I'm honored, it feels good to be joining my dad, my brother Tim, and my sister-in-law," he said. "It's like the final link in the chain."
Hartley and his younger brother Tim came up through the youth ranks together.
"We pretty much grew up at Thunderbowl," he said.
While only a year apart — and two of eight children in the Hartley family — there was little in the way of rivalry between them on the lanes.
"Surprisingly, I never felt that way," Tom said. "He and I have always supported each other."
He steadily built his bowling resume which now includes 14 800 series, including a career-high 834, and 18 perfect games. His first 300 game, more than 30 years ago, was one of Hartley's most memorable bowling moments.
"It was in a mixed league, and I remember my knees were shaking but I threw an absolutely perfect ball," he said. "One of the women in the league told me afterwards that I was as white as a sheet."
Beyond the honor scores, Hartley earned several city senior titles including team handicap and actual wins in 2012 and 2016 and the all-events actual and handicap titles in 2013. More recently, he placed third in the Joe Mrenak Memorial Tournament in 2023.
But for all his success on the lanes, it's the people not the prizes that are most meaningful to the hall of famer.
"The last couple of years that I was able to bowl with my dad really meant a lot," he said. "It was a great feeling to bowl with the man I looked up to for all those years."
And then there are his fellow bowlers as he continues to compete in three leagues a season.
"The older I get, the more I enjoy bowling," he said. "And it's the people who really get me out there."
Continue reading...
