Man bowls two perfect games during league play at Sunset Station

By Sean Ammerman

Thursday, Oct. 23, 2008 | midnight

Bill Amburgey was nine frames into his bowling game Sept. 24 when reality hit: he was on the verge of rolling a perfect 300.

The pressure was high at Strike Zone inside Sunset Station, even if it was a recreational league night.

"I turned around and there were 40 or 50 people standing behind us," Amburgey said. "At some point you no longer have any control over it. You just throw the ball as good as you can and hopefully the result is good."

Making the evening more extraordinary was Amburgey's teammate Todd Fredrickson also had a perfect game going in the next lane.

The friends didn't dare talk during their game. Bowling a 300 is rare even for a professional bowler, and the last thing they wanted to do was ruin the others' concentration.

Amburgey, 49, finished with three strikes in the final frame to complete his first perfect game since 2006, but Fredrickson faltered with a spare and ended with a 279.

"I was really happy to see him get it because Bill's probably a better bowler than me and he hasn't had one in a long time," said Fredrickson, who leads the league with a 222 average. "Bill is a great guy to bowl against because he has a great time and everyone feeds off of that."

Amburgey, a retired Air Force senior master sergeant, is a lifelong bowler who once practiced daily and played the occasional professional tour stop in his younger days.

He threw a 300, or 12 straight strikes, while stationed in Texas in 1986 but didn't reach perfection again until 20 years later in 2006, also at Strike Zone.

So, when Amburgey threw another perfect game the next week on Oct. 1, he was surprised to say the least.

"The second week was when it really got interesting because the pressure wasn't there," he said. "I was thinking I just shot one last week, what are chances I'm going to do it again? Twenty years ago, when I bowled my first one, I was pretty sure I had peaked out."

Amburgey was happy with throwing perfect games in two straight weeks, but he was more proud of throwing a combined 806 in three games Oct. 1.

While he has amassed seven perfect games, it was his first time cracking 800.

Amburgey said he is bowling his best, even if he has cut back to going to the lanes one night a week.

"Before my perfect game I was actually struggling, so I switched my bowling ball," he said. "It's just like riding a bike. You never forget how to do it."

Amburgey is bowling close to a 240 average with his new ball but has a league average of 218.

He learned his bowling style, which friends call textbook, from his father, William Amburgey.

He also took after his father and joined the Air Force.

"He's perfect," William Amburgey said. "He's just a natural bowler who happens to be in the service."

For a time, Bill Amburgey considered making a push to go professional, but he preferred a life in the Air Force.

He's still competitive and will be on the Gold Coast and Orleans lanes in January for the Military Bowling Championships.

Sean Ammerman can be reached at 990-2661 or [email protected].