Dave Davis (bowler)

Dave Davis (born April 28, 1942) is a retired American professional ten-pin bowler and former member of the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA). He grew up in Hackensack, New Jersey, and now resides in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. He is a member of the PBA and USBC Halls of Fame.^[1]

Professional career[]

Beginning his PBA career in 1964, the left-handed Davis won 18 PBA Tour titles, including four majors. He was inducted into the PBA Hall of Fame in 1978. In 1965, he became the first left-hander to win a PBA major, taking the title in the PBA National Championship at age 23.^[1]

Davis won multiple titles in a season four times, including six titles in the 1967 season alone. The 1967 season would see him win his second PBA National Championship on his way to PBA Player of the Year honors. He also won two PBA Tournament of Champions titles (1968 and 1975). The 1968 Tournament of Champions title made Davis the youngest player in history (age 25 years, 343 days) to earn three PBA major titles. This record stood until 2022, when Anthony Simonsen won his third PBA major at age 25 years, 31 days.^[2]

Davis had a total of 81 top-five finishes in his PBA career, including 24 runner-up finishes.^[3] He made his final two PBA Tour televised finals appearances in 1981 and 1982, both at the PBA National Championship major, but was eliminated before the final match in both events. He was ranked #19 on the PBA's 2008 list of "50 Greatest Players of the Last 50 Years."

Davis was inducted into the USBC Hall of Fame in 1990. He won the USBC Open Championships Classic Singles title in 1968.^[1] As a PBA Senior Tour bowler, he won back-to-back titles in the USBC Senior Masters (1995 and 1996) among his five total Senior titles.^[4]

PBA Tour titles[]

Major titles in bold text.^[3]

1. 1965 Salt Lake City PBA Open (Salt Lake City, UT)
   
2. 1965 Sixth Annual PBA National Championship (Detroit, MI)
   
3. 1967 Las Vegas Open (Las Vegas, NV)
   
4. 1967 Denver Open (Denver, CO)
   
5. 1967 Miller High Life Open (Milwaukee, WI)
   
6. 1967 Green Bay Open (Green Bay, WI)
   
7. 1967 Nebraska Centennial Open (Omaha, NE)
   
8. 1967 Eighth Annual PBA National Championship (New York City)
   
9. 1968 Firestone Tournament of Champions (Akron, OH)
   
10. 1968 Durham Open (Durham, NC)
    
11. 1969 Canadian Open (Montreal, QC, Canada)
    
12. 1970 San Jose Open (San Jose, CA)
    
13. 1975 Miller High Life Open (Milwaukee, WI)
    
14. 1975 Firestone Tournament of Champions (Akron, OH)
    
15. 1975 Brunswick World Open (Glendale Heights, IL)
    
16. 1977 AMF Regional Champions Classic (Reading, PA)
    
17. 1978 Rolaids Open (Florissant, MO)
    
18. 1978 Fresno Open (Fresno, CA)

Additional roles[]

In addition to participating as a player, Davis served the PBA in various positions on the Executive Board and Tournament Committee.^[5]

For a brief period, Davis spent time in the TV broadcast booth, alongside play-by-play announcer Chris Schenkel. After the death of Schenkel's long-time broadcast partner, Billy Welu, in 1974, Davis and Dick Weber shared analyst duties on ABC-TV's Professional Bowlers Tour until Nelson Burton Jr. was hired as a full-time replacement in 1975. After Burton was hired, Davis would occasionally join him for a "Winning Never Gets Old" or "Tip of the Week" segment.^[6]

Davis also appeared regularly on the 1970s version of Celebrity Bowling as an analyst and cohost.

References[]