When Tom Baker polished off a perfect 300 game in this week's opening round of the Professional Bowlers Association Senior Tour Miller High Life Classic, one of his fellow competitors game him a different kind of congratulatory reception.
A hug and a kiss.
It came from fiancee Donna Tuttle, the only female member of the field competing at Mooresville's George Pappas' Victory Lanes.
"Tom is the one who rolled the perfect game," smiled Tuttle, "but I'm the one getting all the attention."
Tuttle's appearance here was her debut on the senior circuit, which features bowlers age 50 and up. And among the 157 entries, she is the only woman.
"To tell you the truth, it does feel a little weird, being the only female in this thing," said Tuttle, a resident of King. "But I've been around bowling so long, and I know so many of these guys, they make me feel right at ease."
For Tuttle, she realized she had plenty of room for improvement after her first eight games bowled, when she stood in 117th place.
"I need to go find a place to hide," Tuttle said with a smile. "It wasn't pretty on my part, but if I've learned anything, it's that you can afford to get too down our here because there's always another day. Tomorrow's a different day, and I'll come back and just try to do better."
Tuttle finished 97th among the 157 bowlers after her qualifying rounds. For her 16 games, she had a total pinfall of 3,312, for a per-game average of 207, but did not advance to match play.
"I competed in some other events," noted Tuttle, "and I did pretty well by making it to some finals. I figured, because this was so close to my home, I'd come here and give it a shot. There's not really a senior tour for women bowlers yet, so I decided to give it a shot."
Tuttle comes from a solid bowling background. Her father won several pro bowling titles, and her brother was also in last year's field at the Mooresville stop. Her fiancee, Baker, is a multi-title holder who has been named the PBA Senior Player of the Year four times.
"Tom's been a great supporter of my own career," Tuttle said. "When I heard that he bowled a perfect game, I had to go give him a hug."
Larry Sullivan is a writer for the Mooresville Tribune.
Email
Facebook
Google
Twitter
Favorites
More
Advertisement