At a well-worn strip mall in suburban Atlanta, Bill Hargrove became the oldest league bowler in U.S. history Wednesday when the 106-year-old rolled his ball slowly down the lane. Leading off for “Bill’s Bunch,” he knocked down nine pins with his first throw and averaged 93 in the three-game match.
Plenty of onlookers thought the occasion worthy of notice. The United States Bowling Congress sent a representative all the way from Wisconsin to present Hargrove with a plaque. His minister came out. So did more than a dozen friends, who took turns posing for pictures with the man of the hour. He took up the sport in 1924 and remains passionate about every throw.
“I don’t want to be embarrassed about my bowling,” he said. “When it gets embarrassing to me, that’s when I’m going to quit.”
