Bowling From The Heart Ron Hart Loves Game, Has Three 300s This Season

After not bowling a 300 game for years, 39-year-old Ron Hart broke his slump this season by rolling three perfect games in Diamond Bowl’s Budweiser Trio League.

“I wanted to catch up,” Hart explained.

Hart is president of the league and claimed three of the five 300 games bowled in it this season.

Three perfect games in one season is a first for the 28-year bowling veteran, who broke a personal record of having two in one season years ago, and also a first at Diamond Bowl.

“We are very proud of him,” said Phyllis Edelin, Diamond Bowl’s league coordinator and secretary of the Budweiser Trio League. “Everybody just stood behind him. The league is a real together league.”

Hart began bowling when he was 11 and has bowled nonstop since.

“My dad was in the service. There wasn’t much to do on base, so you bowled,” Hart said. “Way back then, it was only 10 or 15 cents to bowl a game on base, so it didn’t cost very much.”

Hart is a supervisor at Kaiser in Mead and a father of three children, ages 15, 12 and 7.

Unfortunately for Hart, none of his kids were able to see any of his perfect games since bowling in the Tuesday night league did not start until 9.

In addition to bowling the 300s, Hart also took second place for the league’s high series honor with an 824, his third 800 series ever, bowling games of 300, 265 and 259.

Previously, Hart had bowled an 837 series, making the 824 his second-best.

“He’s very deserving,” Edelin said. “He’s just one of those people who’s a good bowler and just a very decent person.”

Hart was an especially active bowler as a teenager.

“When I was in high school, I bowled every day; I practiced every day,” Hart said.

Practice paid off for Hart when he bowled his first 300 game in 1979.

“Back then, there weren’t many 300s thrown,” he said. “Nowadays, there’s a few more, so back then it was a big deal.”

Hart has had his share of frustration in his bowling career, having three 300 games the American Bowling Congress would not sanction due to improper lane conditions.

“They used to come in and inspect the alleys, and if they felt the oil pattern was unfair, they turned it down,” Hart said. “Now they come in and periodically check the house instead of every time a person throws a 300.”

This year, Hart raised his average from 208 to 217, helping his Baker Construction team to a third-place finish in the 24-team league. His teammates are Don Owens and Lance Steggell.

Owens averaged 156 for the season, while Steggell matched Hart’s 217, sending Baker Construction into the roll-offs.

In 1983, Hart had a 222 average, a city record that stood for a couple of years.

In addition to the 11 sanctioned 300s, Hart has shot a 299 twice, plus one 297 and a 296.

“I’ve had a 200 game or more every year since 1981,” Hart said proudly.

Hart agrees that the most difficult part of bowling a perfect game is preparing to throw the final ball.

“The farther you go, the more pressure there is,” he said. “You’ve just got to not think about it and just concentrate on where you have to throw the ball and that’s it.”

Although Hart plans to bowl in the Budweiser Trio League again next year, he has higher ambitions.

“My goal is to bowl on the senior (pro) tour,” he said.