He’s a Solitary Man Who Makes a Profit Off His Pinfall : Bowling: John Handegard’s strong sense of self-reliance has served him well on the PBA Senior Tour.

John Handegard stands there on his approach with 10 pins staring back at him. There are no teammates. There is no coach. There is no one.

His is a sport that relies on one man--himself.

That’s just the way he likes it, this loner from Woodfir, Ore., who grew up living a Huckleberry Finn kind of life on the north fork of the Willamette River.

His was a graduating class of 13, and there was plenty to do while growing up “because we didn’t have TV getting in the way.”

It wasn’t until the summer before his senior year that he picked up a bowling ball. That was 35 years ago. It was 10 more years before bowling’s allure grabbed him. It took him three years to get out of the 150s, 10 years to average 200.

He was much more comfortable in the woods, hunting and fishing. He had a .22 by the time he was 12, once shot a deer with a bow and arrow, and skinny-dipped in the summer like all kids.

Today, he doesn’t own a weapon. He hasn’t hunted in 10 years. With the high-powered rifles, he says, it’s no contest.

When it comes to knocking down targets in his cross hairs, it’s in a bowling center.

He’s gotten pretty good at it. Damn good.

Handegard, 54, set or tied six Senior PBA records last year en route to being named the Tour’s Senior Player of the Year. He will try to follow up that record-setting season this week at the $75,000 Escondido Senior PBA Open at Palomar Lanes.

Handegard last week finished second in the Pacific Cal Bowl Senior Open in Lakewood, falling in the championship match to Gene Stus, 225-216.

After discovering six years ago that he was allergic to some foods, his once-mediocre career took off on the senior tour. He has found it a lot easier to concentrate when he isn’t ready to pass out.

And now he’s at the top of his profession.

Bowling was made for this man who likes the solitude and peacefulness of the woods.

“I like to be by myself,” Handegard said. “I like the idea of being responsible for your own destiny.”

He has rented a house in Thousand Oaks since November, the longest he’s been in one place since 1989, but he lives out of a 29-foot motor home on tour.

He has been separated from his wife, Sue, for more than a year, and his divorce is just a couple of months away. They have been married 10 years and had a pro shop together in Reno, Nev., for seven years.

“She understood my priorities,” Handegard said. “As a bowler’s wife, she was fine. She lived and died with every shot.”

But . . .

“I think there were a lot of years we were together too much. I do know that I need time to myself.

He has a girlfriend.

“We spend a lot of time together,” he says, “but we spend a lot of time apart.”

Such is the life of a loner. Maybe that’s why crunch time is so appealing, the sweaty palms and the rapid heartbeat.

“If there wasn’t (the nervousness and excitement) it wouldn’t be worth it,” Handegard said. “I believe that you have to enjoy those situations, and I do. I think most competitors look forward to those situations where you have to perform well.

“No one is perfect all the time, but champions are more of the time. It takes a lot of courage to make those shots.”

After all, the eyes of live fans and a growing television audience are upon you. And there’s no one else to blame.

Handegard is understated, focused. He has a game face with blinders. There was the time at a Las Vegas car wash when a vaguely familiar face began a conversation:

“You bowled good today.”

The face still didn’t register, but Handegard figured he was a bowler too.

“How did you do?” Handegard asked.

“I was in your pair.”

They had bowled at least eight games together, maybe 16, Handegard couldn’t remember.

That kind of focus helped Handegard average 221 last year, the highest on tour through 12 tournaments--about 500 games--and earn a record $52,220. His three Senior victories tied Earl Anthony for the most in a season, and his seven championship appearances tied another record. At the Villages PBA Senior Open in Lady Lake, Fla., Handegard set an 18-game record 4,416 pins (245 average), a 42-game record 10,396 pins (247) and the 42-game record with 10,921 bonus pins.

All those pins and all that money is important. Handegard’s winnings are his only source of income. Those pins on the other end of the lane mean something every week. For that, maybe he’s lucky there’s no one else depending on him.

“I’ve got to cash in,” he says, “or I don’t make it.”

The pins await.