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Branham Gives Pro Bowling Another Shot as Tour Swings Past

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Only one thing was truly simple during Patty Branham’s childhood.

Bowling.

There were some tough times. Her parents, Ethel and Frank Cummings, were divorced when she was 11. A few years later, Frank, a mailman, was hit by a motorcycle while walking his route and had to retire because of the injuries.

There weren’t any frills. Ethel ran a snack bar at the post office in Point Loma. She scrimped and cut corners to allow Patty to have the opportunity to pursue her hobby and biggest source of enjoyment, bowling.

It is only recently that Patty Branham, an El Cajon resident who will be continuing a comeback of sorts in the Ladies Professional Bowlers Tour tournament starting today at Kearny Mesa Bowl, has realized the sacrifices her mother made so she could bowl.

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“My mom’s not a complainer,” Branham said. “I was just a greedy little kid. She was just the proudest mom there ever was. She would sacrifice everything she had to for me to be able to bowl.”

Bowling was the biggest and probably one of the best things about Branham’s childhood. She was always two years ahead of her class in school, so she says she never really fit in. Despite her high IQ, she says she didn’t apply herself in classes. And for financial reasons, she had to get a full-time job as a secretary after she was graduated from La Jolla High School at age 16.

But bowling came easy. It was fun and rewarding, and she was a natural. She started when she was 7, going to the bowling alley with her parents. She never needed to practice. Her basic, four-step approach and smooth delivery earned her recognition. She was chosen Southern California junior bowler of the year three times in a row, something that had never been done before and hasn’t since.

Branham, now 25, is deciding which turn to take at the crossroads of her life. She quit bowling professionally 2 1/2 years ago because it had become a chore, and she wasn’t doing as well as she had as a junior. Yet she hasn’t found anything else that gives her as much of a lift.

Branham is an office manager, well-liked and greatly respected by her co-workers. As good as she is at her profession, there’s something missing.

“I spend a lot of hours (at work), and I’m very good at what I do, but it doesn’t get me any recognition. I like attention, I’ll admit it,” she said.

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For a while, after she quit bowling professionally, she was fulfilled by the accomplishments of her husband, George, a bowler on the men’s tour. In November of 1986, George Branham became the first black bowler to win a major tournament at the Brunswick Memorial World Open in Chicago.

It was a big deal. Many tears were shed, Patty said. It was George’s proudest moment as a professional, and she was there to share it and enjoy it with him.

George Branham has won another major tournament and earned $98,000 in the past two years. Initially, his success was a source of happiness for Patty. But that began to fade. She was no longer in the limelight, and he was. It became tough.

“I got upset about it,” she said. “All of a sudden, I was nothing. I’ve actually had it said to me that it might have played a part in my quitting (bowling). When I quit it was very sudden. I just said ‘I’m not ever going to do this again.’ ”

It wasn’t a big surprise to Patty’s parents. Both knew she had talent but lacked the killer instinct that separates a top junior bowler from a top professional.

The pressures of the professional tour combined stiff competition with the need to pay bills. Branham says she has never seriously considered giving up her day job to join the tour full time because the money is too uncertain. As an office manager, the check is always there. As a bowler, the size of the check is directly proportional to the number of pins knocked down.

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In junior bowling, Branham had always been the best. She didn’t worry about being beaten because it happened rarely. She was on top.

When she joined the professional tour, she was just another face, looking at her opponents, knowing they were as good if not better. She never bowled as well under that pressure.

“I think she was more intimidated by the older women,” Ethel Cummings said. “She’s not a real strong competitor. I wish she had more of an ‘I’ll get you’ attitude. She’s never had that real push. I don’t think anybody would have touched her if she had.”

It’s a matter of self-confidence. Branham always has been good at what she does, but she also has been somewhat afraid to try new things. Take basketball, a sport she loves to watch. She is nearly 6-feet but has always been leery of playing it. She doesn’t like to feel as if she’s out of her element.

And maybe that’s another of the reasons she quit bowling professionally.

“When it was just for fun, she enjoyed it,” Frank Cummings said. “She didn’t like the pressure too much.”

Recently, while she sorts through what to do with her future, she has decided to compete again in nearby tournaments. It’s a confidence booster of sorts.

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Her first tournament was in Canoga Park last month. She finished a respectable 13th. Last week at Fullerton, she just missed making the championship cut. Her average (207) is at an all-time high. So she’s brimming with confidence for her hometown tournament this week. Confidence, with a dash of caution.

“I feel good because I bowl there all the time,” she said. “But I also know when you feel comfortable about things, that’s when you tend to fail.”

A funny thing happened, though, at Canoga Park. Branham bowled in a small warmup tournament. En route to winning and earning free entry into the professional event, she did something she has wanted to do for years. She bowled her first perfect game.

Maybe bowling has become fun again. And maybe it’s the lift she’s looking for.

“Everybody,” she said, “needs something they can have self respect about.”

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