Parker Bohn III was honored as the 1999 Chris Schenkel PBA Player of the Year by his fellow bowlers on the strength of his tour-leading five victories—three more than his closest competitor. Bohn earned the vote by his superior performance throughout the year, as he led most categories of performance on the tour. This was reflected by his Number 1 power rating in computer statistics that includes the top 50 PBA Tour bowlers.

Bohn now has won 22 titles in his career, tying ESPN commentator Marshall Holman. If Bohn maintains his torrid pace of winning five tournaments a year for the next four years, he would catch Earl Anthony, who won a record 41 tournaments on the regular tour and seven as a senior.

Parker says that he never has given any consideration to breaking Anthony’s all-time record because he’s still too many wins away from it.

"I prefer to focus on my victories one tournament at a time because Earl’s record is so far away," said Bohn. "It’s tough to win so often the way he did in the 70s because there are so many competitive bowlers on the tour right now, and it’s hard to win as frequently. Bowlers like Jason Couch and his neighbor, Norm Duke, are winning more often and so does Walter Ray Williams Jr. with his 30 tour victories.

"Jason won consecutive tournaments at the end of last year, and he’s second to me in his tour performance, so it’s hard to win regularly with the stiff competition out there."

Bohn notes that another major difference in the tour today compared to conditions 20 years ago is that the lane dressing conditions from week to week do not have as much effect on today’s pro bowlers because of the variety of reactive resin balls that overwhelm individual lane characteristics to the point that it neutralizes adverse lane conditions for most competitors.

"The balls have allowed more bowlers to be competitive on tour and that situation gives us more winners," he said. "I would rather see a small core of regulars be winners as a result of the ball technology, but we keep seeing new faces. The days of two or three dominant bowlers on the tour such as Earl Anthony, Mark Roth, and Marshall Holman are gone, but I think as far as ratings and fans of bowling on TV are concerned, the small group of recognizable competitors is best.

"It’s too bad we are not on a major commercial network anymore, but ESPN will work well for us as long as we get regularly weekly telecast times. If ESPN starts switching our dates, we will lose some ratings and viewers who would look for us on TV at the previous broadcast date and miss us. A consistent broadcast time on a regular basis is what we really need to be successful."

Bohn’s tour-leading 228.04 average was nearly three pins higher than the second-place Couch, so Bohn also received the George Young High Average Award for a single season by beating the old record of 226.13. This helped him reel in a $240,912 yearly total to add to his career earnings mark of $1,828,019. Bohn appeared in 11 championship rounds and is the only PBA touring pro to have won the Japan Cup three times.

Beyond the numbers, Bohn felt the Player of the Year honor was a reward for the constant practice and scrutiny of the lane conditions he incorporates into his game and an expanding knowledge of the best Brunswick balls to use for the given lane conditions and spare shooting characteristics. He credits his coaches, led by former touring pro (and fiancée) Leslie Beamish, for his better performance on the tour this past season.

"I think the coaches make a big difference in our performance compared to the 1970s and 80s when we had no coaches watching us during match play," Bohn said. "In golf, every pro has a caddie for a coach, and football has a whole lot of coaches, so why not pro bowlers? Coaches can spot certain mistakes you make mechanically and point out subconscious habits you temporarily fall into without knowing it as you compete. In that respect, coaches have improved modern pro bowling."

Bohn feels the tour will be better when an outside group buys the PBA and takes control of the marketing. He is confident a new owner will pay higher prize funds and improve the PBA’s exposure.

"I think it will only enhance the stature of our tour to have an owner from the outside run it because with our past marketing, potential advertisers could only relate to other successes and failures of previous advertisers. An independent owner could bring forth new connections for advertising that we haven’t seen before, and that situation will help us."

Syndicated columnist Richard Kolb is a member of the Bowling Writers Association of America.