George Branham Has Cleared Just $1,000 in 10 Pro Bowling Tournaments, but It’s Enough to Be Considered a Top Rookie : Life in the Slow Lane Leaves Almost Nothing to Spare

At age 6, George Branham III first entered a bowling alley to compete. At 15, he entered his first tournament.

He couldn’t even make the cut. He got mad. He quit.

“I had a bad temper,” the younger Branham said. “I gave up when I did poorly. I wouldn’t care anymore. I would pout.”

Exit George Branham III.

Enter George Branham II, a former professional bowler himself in the old National Negro Bowling Assn.

“I told him that just because he didn’t make the cut, it was nothing to get upset over,” his father said. “You have to know how to be a good loser before you can be a winner. If you are going to carry that temper around, you’re not going to bowl.”

A year later, the younger Branham decided his father might have been right; maybe bowling was up his alley after all.

So he returned to tournament action and today--after a short career on the junior amateur circuit--he is a grizzled veteran of 22 on the Professional Bowlers Assn. tour.

He earned his first paycheck in his first professional tournament three months ago in San Francisco.

“What he’s done so far, making the top 24 and the finals in his first tournament,” his proud father said, “is almost unheard of. It’s amazing, unreal. He has a real chance to be rookie of the year.”

The senior Branham never had the chance to compete in the PBA because there was a color barrier when he was in his prime. But he made sure his son had a chance by exposing him to the game early.

Branham remembers his kids bowling in their basement in Michigan. Balls and pins were flying everywhere.

“I had to put mattresses up against the walls to prevent my kids from tearing them down,” George II said.

The younger Branham, a graduate of Poly High in North Hollywood and a resident of Arleta, decided to turn professional after winning the Tournament of Non-Champions in Irvine and the Tournament of Champions in Riverside, two events on the Junior Amateur Tour. That was in 1983. He was selected Bowler of the Year by the Southern California Bowling Writers Assn. and made the organization’s all-star team.

Life as a professional began on the Professional Coast Bowlers tour, a regional circuit on which he won $2,600 last year. He then advanced to PBA regional events, where he collected an additional $5,500.

This year, he has moved up to the PBA national tour--the big boys--and in 10 events he has made the finals three times, earned a paycheck on one other occasion and won $6,500.

Tour official Mark Gerberich echoed the elder Branham’s sentiment that George III could be the 1985 rookie of the year.

And the year is still young.

So he’s arrived? Not necessarily.

There are a lot of costs for rookies on the tour who don’t have the luxury of a sponsor to bankroll them.

Equipment? Branham brings eight balls with him. Cost: $700. That’s not to mention shoes and other items.

Living expenses? It costs an estimated $30,000 a year to travel. And that’s without the frills. These guys cross the country by car. They don’t come near an airport. Or a Hyatt. Or a Hilton.

Branham, for example, after paying his bills, has pocketed $1,000 this season from 10 tournaments. He’s gone from the winners’ bracket to the poverty bracket.

“It’s tough, but I wouldn’t want to do anything else,” said Branham, who is anxiously searching for a sponsor.

“I live at home and my folks help me out. There’s quite a bit of pressure. You’ve got to bowl good to make the money. If you really bowl well, you can earn around $20,000. And then there’s probably five or six guys making $100,000 a year.”

The top money winner on the PBA circuit, with less than half the season gone, is Mike Aulby with $114,270 and a 213.76-pin average. He is followed by Wayne Webb ($97,105 and 213.49), Pete Weber ($88,860 and 213.70), Marshall Holman ($81,440 and 214.58) and Mark Williams ($55,640 and 211.40)

Branham has won his $6,500 with a 201.67 average.

“I figure I have to average at least 190,” Branham said. “If I haven’t done well in three years, then I might quit and think about something else. Perhaps a career as a police officer.”

For a while, it was hard for Branham to think seriously of a career on the lanes. He surprised himself when he made the finals in San Francisco in his first tournament.

Then came a three-tournament drought in which he didn’t win anything. “I thought I might have been lucky the first time,” he said. “But then I got in the finals again and I knew I could make money out here.”

Branham works at it. He is on the lanes five days a week, bowling 25-30 games a day “to keep in the rhythm.”

When his average dips, the one person who can always bring it back up is George Branham II, who makes his living as an animal researcher at UCLA.

“When things are not going well, I have to calm myself, remind myself to get my act together,” the younger Branham said. “But the best thing is to get my father to watch me. He can immediately tell me what I’m doing wrong.”

Said the senior Branham, “I can tell in a minute. I will sit in the back and we have little signs we use to communicate.”

Wayne Tanouye, a Canyon Country bowler who competes locally, works out with the younger Branham and is an admirer.

“You don’t always go up there to do the same thing,” Tanouye said. “You constantly have to make adjustments. George can do that. If the ball drifts a board left, he makes up for it with his arm swing. That’s especially important for those that throw a big hook like he does with a lot of revolutions.

“He’s methodical. He’s very smooth, very consistent. He releases the ball the same all the time. His timing is great at the line. Once you line up and have a shot, you’ve got to keep the ball there every time to score. George does.”

But no matter how strong the praise, nor how impressive the scores, Branham still finds himself shaking his head sometimes when he steps up to the line and sees the bowlers on either side.

“I’ve watched these guys on TV for a long time and read about them in the newspapers,” he said. “Now I’m bowling with them. It’s kind of like a dream.”