Personal information | |
---|---|
Born | [1] | October 18, 1990
Bowling Information | |
Affiliation | PBA |
Dominant hand | Left |
Wins | 1 |
300-games | 4 |
High series | 879 |
Sponsors | Storm |
Personal blog | facebook |
Gary Faulkner Jr. (born October 18, 1990) is an American ten-pin bowler from Memphis, Tennessee. He competes on the PBA Tour after having been a member of Junior Team USA. He won his first major PBA title in 2015.
Faulkner grew up in Whitehaven and Germantown (in and near Memphis, Tennessee) and is a 2009 graduate of Germantown High School. [2] He learned to bowl at Winchester Bowl and the Strike Zone Bowling Lanes in Memphis, where he earned the nickname “300”. [2] His father, Gary Faulkner Sr., is pastor at Cummings Street Missionary Baptist Church in Southeast Memphis. [2]
Faulkner entered the TNBA (The National Bowling Association) Junior Bowling Program at age 5, eventually mentoring other youth bowlers. [3] He won the Junior Gold Championship in 2011 and earned a spot on Junior Team USA. [1] He attended Webber International University, where in 2012 he anchored the men's team to Intercollegiate Team Championship win, and was 2013 ITC men's most valuable player. [1] He is a TNBA Veronica L. Green Junior Singles Scratch Tournament Masters titlist. [1]
Faulkner joined the PBA in 2013, [1] and, in his first professional television appearance, in 2015 he won a major title at the Rolltech PBA World Championship. [4] In 2016 he finished ninth in the PBA Xtra Frame Lubbock Sports Open. [1]
Faulkner became the second PBA Tour African-American champion, after now-retired tour winner George Branham III. [1] In recognition, Tennessee Representative Steve Cohen invited Faulkner to bowl at the White House, [5] where on March 4, 2016 he bowled on the lanes beneath the adjacent Eisenhower Executive Office Building with some members of his family, of Cohen's staff, of White House staff, [6] and Cohen himself. [2]
Recognizing and Congratulating Gary Faulkner, Jr. for Winning the 2015 Rolltech Professional Bowlers Association World Championship
Mr. COHEN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize and congratulate Gary Faulkner, Jr. of Memphis, Tennessee for winning the 2015 Rolltech Professional Bowlers Association World Championship at the National Bowling Stadium in Reno, Nevada. In his first professional television appearance, Gary Faulkner beat top qualifier EJ Tackett to become the second African American ever to win a PBA Tour title in the PBA's 57-year history after George Branham III won the Brunswick Memorial World Open in 1986.Gary learned the game of bowling at the early age of two when he bowled with his father, Pastor Gary Faulkner, Sr. of Cummings Street Baptist Church. As a sophomore at Germantown High School, Gary won the Division I Bowling Championship title in the Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association individual bowling tournament. At that time, his best series bowling score was 833. While enrolled at Webber International University, Gary helped lead his team to the 2012 Intercollegiate Team Championship.
Gary Faulkner maintained his focus and determination to win the Rolltech Championship. ...
With a goal set in mind to win, Gary Faulkner has represented his family and the city of Memphis well, and I look forward to reading about his future accomplishments. Mr. Speaker, I ask all of my colleagues to join me in congratulating Gary Faulkner, Jr. on winning the 2015 Rolltech Professional Bowlers Association World Championship.
Faulkner has a bachelor's degree in computer information systems from Webber International University, and enjoys computer programming, working out, and basketball. [1]
Earl Roderick Anthony was an American professional bowler who amassed records of 43 titles and six Player of the Year awards on the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) Tour. For over two decades, his career title count was listed as 41. The count was amended to 43 in 2008, when the PBA chose to retroactively award PBA titles for ABC Masters championships if won by a PBA member at the time. He is widely credited for having increased bowling's popularity in the United States. He was the first bowler to earn over $100,000 in a season (1975), and the first to reach $1,000,000 in lifetime PBA earnings (1982). His ten professional major titles—six PBA National Championships, two Firestone Tournament of Champions titles, and two ABC Masters titles—are the second most all time, tied with Pete Weber and five behind Jason Belmonte.
Walter Ray Williams Jr. is an American professional bowler and competitive horseshoes pitcher. He currently holds the record for all-time standard PBA Tour career titles (47), and total PBA earnings. He is a seven-time PBA Player of the Year, and won at least one PBA Tour title in a record 17 consecutive seasons. He starred in the ten-pin bowling sports documentary A League of Ordinary Gentlemen. As of June 26, 2022, Williams is also the all-time title leader on the PBA50 Tour, with 16. He is a three-time PBA50 Player of the Year, and has won three majors on that Tour. He has rolled 110 career perfect 300 games in PBA competition through 2019.
Chris Barnes is an American professional bowler and member of the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA), who currently competes on both the PBA Tour and PBA50 Tour. He has also competed internationally as a member of Team USA.
Wayne Webb is an American professional bowler from Rehoboth, Massachusetts. He was known for his success from the late 1970s to the end of the 1980s. Webb is one of only 17 players in history to win at least 20 PBA Tour titles, and is a member of both the PBA and USBC Halls of Fame.
The PBA Tour is the major professional tour for ten-pin bowling, operated by the Professional Bowlers Association. Headquartered in Mechanicsville, Virginia, over 3,000 members worldwide make up the PBA. While most of the PBA members are Regional professionals, a small percentage of the bowling membership competes at the national and international level, forming the PBA Tour. Founded in 1958, the PBA Tour has been in continuous operation since the inaugural 1959 season.
Donald James Carter was a right-handed American professional bowler. Born in St. Louis, Missouri, he learned the game while working a childhood job as a pinsetter, and went on to become one of the legends of ten-pin bowling and a founding member of the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) in 1958.
Brian Voss in Cornelius, North Carolina, is a professional ten-pin bowler and member of the Professional Bowlers Association since 1982. The right-hander owns 25 PBA Tour titles, including one major championship, plus two titles on the PBA50 Tour and one PBA60 event title. He was inducted into the PBA Hall of Fame in 1994 and the USBC Hall of Fame in 2007.
Doug Kent is a right-handed American professional ten-pin bowler, a member of the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA), and a PBA and USBC Hall of Famer. In the 2006–07 season, Kent became just the sixth bowler in PBA history to win two major championships in one tour year as he captured titles in the USBC Masters and Denny's PBA World Championship. For his efforts, he was voted the Chris Schenkel PBA Player of the Year and received a four-year exemption for PBA Tour events.
Wesley Clint "Big Nasty" Malott is an American professional ten-pin bowler and member of the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA). Originally from Pflugerville, Texas, he now resides in Fort Wayne, Indiana. He has won ten PBA Tour titles, and was the 2008–09 Chris Schenkel PBA Player of the Year. He won his lone major championship at the 2012–13 U.S. Open, and has finished runner-up in five other PBA major tournaments. Malott also won the 2006–07 Showplace Lanes Megabucks Shootout, which was not a PBA Tour event. He won the non-title PBA King of Bowling event in 2009, and defended his King position eight consecutive times through 2018.
Robert Mushtare is an American ten-pin bowler from Carthage, New York who is recognized by the United States Bowling Congress (USBC) for having bowled two perfect 900 series, one on December 3, 2005 and the other on February 19, 2006, both at Pine Plains Bowling Center in Fort Drum, New York. He is also said to have rolled another in league play prior to the aforementioned two; that previous 900 series was not officially recognized by USBC because the league in which he was bowling was not properly certified by USBC on the date his 900 series was rolled. Due to the order of USBC certification procedures, it will never be known if it would have been approved even if his league had been certified at the time. The two 900's for which Mushtare was officially recognized came under great scrutiny because they were pre-bowled, meaning he bowled days before his regular league competition, and was sometimes bowling alone. ESPN's Jeremy Schaap did an investigative report on the controversy which was broadcast on the ESPN program Outside the Lines. Glenn Allison, who bowled an uncertified 900 series in 1982, is skeptical of Robert's achievements, as is pro bowler and Team USA coach Tim Mack.
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Bowling is a target sport and recreational activity in which a player rolls a ball toward pins or another target. The term bowling usually refers to pin bowling, most commonly ten-pin bowling, though in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth countries, bowling may also refer to target bowling, such as lawn bowls. Bowling is played by 120 million people in more than 90 countries, including 70 million people in the United States alone.
Robert Learn Jr. is a professional ten-pin bowler and bowling coach. He formerly competed on the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) Tour and is currently active on the PBA50 Tour. He is nicknamed "Mr. 300", having rolled over 100 perfect games between PBA and sanctioned USBC competition. Learn was inducted into the USBC Hall of Fame in 2020. He is also a member of the Erie Bowling and Pennsylvania State Bowling Halls of Fame.
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DeeRonn Booker is an American professional ten-pin bowler. On March 31, 2024, Booker became the third African American bowler to win a major title on the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) Tour.