The first time Bobby Read rolled a 300 game, it brought the typical rush of emotions from nervous to excited, and left him with an accomplishment to remember forever.
Just one problem. Technically, it didn't count. It came in last June's ESP Signs Spring Hill Lanes Invitational, a tournament unsanctioned by the United States Bowling Congress.
Fortunately for Read, that perfect game was far from his last. Since that point, the 20-year-old who graduated from Central High in 2006 has added three 300s - all sanctioned - to his resume.
The first of those came Oct. 11 of last year, followed by another roughly a month later, Nov. 15. The third came on May 14, and he also recently added a 299 during a career-best 792 series.
All came at Spring Hill Lanes, where Read has bowled since his days in the youth leagues.
"It feels awesome," said Read, who works at Weeki Wachee Springs while attending Pasco-Hernando Community College. "I feel like maybe I can take this to another level one day. I felt I should have had more, maybe I rushed a couple of them.
"I want more. Each one I get, I want another one. Get as many as I can, that's my attitude now. I feel like I can pile them up now."
Breakout season
Read's season consisted of more than just a handful of honor scores. He saw his average jump 14 pins, from 208 last season to as high as 222 in the Joni Industries Classic League on Thursday nights.
He also bowled in the Kevin's Pro Shop League on Wednesday nights during the winter season, averaging 216.
"The difference was the people I bowled with," Read said. "(Last season) I bowled with people not taking it serious, just having fun.
"This year I bowled with Clint Bullock and Jimmy King. They coached me in YABA. They made me focus more. My whole game came together bowling with different people."
Read began bowling in fifth grade when he and his older brother Andrew, who bowled a 300 of his own in 2004, decided to take up the sport.
Their father William, a former bowler himself, purchased a bowling ball and bowling shoes for his two oldest sons and soon they decided to join a league. A third Read brother, 16-year-old Steven, also bowls.
However in 2003, Read suffered a severe knee injury that required surgery and kept him off his feet for eight months. He quit bowling for three years before deciding to get back into it for the 2006-07 season.
"Coming back I didn't know how good I was going to be," Read said. "The highest I had averaged (previously) was 180. Last year my high was 208. I don't know how I came out so much better but I did."
He ended up bowling in four leagues that season, earning a berth in the ESP Signs Spring Hill Lanes Invitational thanks to his 200 average. That turned into an exciting experience due to his initial 300.
Still, it left him wanting to pull off the feat in a sanctioned environment so that the achievement would be officially recognized. That made the next one all the more thrilling.
"The last ball was crazy," Read said. "The second ball (in the tenth frame) I had a crazy messenger wipe (the 10-pin) out.
"The last one my heart was pounding. Everyone was watching. I couldn't feel my hand. I was thinking 'Don't drop the ball in the gutter. Get it on the lane so I'd have a shot at it.'
"I couldn't hear nothing. I was in a zone. It seemed like it took forever. That was the longest five seconds of my life."
He said he felt "ten times less pressure" when he bowled his second one, which he said he knew he'd have by the time he had eight strikes in a row. The third one, though, caused some reasonable tension.
"I really wanted another 300, but I felt like I was coming up short," Read said. "That put a little more pressure on me.
"I got into a grove. The tenth frame every ball was in the pocket. I thought each ball it'd go high all three times, but it skidded into the pocket. They all went in and blew it up. So I was happy."
BY THE NUMBERS: BOBBY READ 300 GAMES
Date League/Tournament
07/10/07 ESP Signs Spring Hill Lanes Invitational*
10/11/07 Joni Industries
11/15/07 Joni Industries
05/14/08 Kevin's Pro Shop
*non-USBC sanctioned tournament
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