Rob Carlson owns 10 bowling balls, three league averages and a sports dream fatter than a 7-10 split.
He wants to be pummeling pins Sunday when the PBA Mile High Classic is reduced to its final four bowlers and ESPN’s TV lights are baking the lanes at Brunswick Zone Lakewood.
To get there, the engineering firm president just has to score high enough in seven games today to qualify for the tournament, survive again Thursday when the 64-man field is slashed in half, and somehow outlast the game’s coolest customers Friday during three more cutdown rounds.
“On the off chance that I am not bowling Sunday,” Carlson said with a grin, “I did buy a couple of tickets so I could watch in person.”
That’s a smart purchase, given the formidable talent packing this week’s PBA Tour stop – from flashy Pete Weber to steady Walter Ray Williams Jr., who needs just one more title to tie the legendary Earl Anthony for career tour wins (41).
Not that Carlson, 54, can’t whip just about any bowler in Colorado. In the past year, he has rolled two 300 games plus a 299, racked up two 800 series, and averaged 239, 231 and 219 in three leagues. He’s good enough to carry a PBA membership card.
But even with that pedigree, Carlson must boost his game today. The qualifying round – from noon to 5 p.m. – will pit a crowd of non-exempt PBA members such as Carlson plus a wave of talented amateurs. “The wannabes,” Carlson calls them. Five of those bowlers will make the tournament field.
During last year’s PBA Tour stop in Lakewood, Carlson missed the qualifying cut by about 30 total pins, finishing 11th in the opening round. It costs $300 to enter. The winner earns $40,000.
“The good news for me is I’m not making a living at it,” Carlson said. “It’s bowling, and this week, I’m just paying more per game than I normally do.”
Bill Briggs can be reached at 303-820-1720 or bbriggs@denverpost.com.
