“I’m here now. I’m not going anywhere. I hope you guys can see me.”

Those were among the first words uttered by DeeRonn Booker to Kimberly Pressler after Booker defeated Patrick Dombrowski, 217-177, to win the 2024 USBC Masters at Suncoast Bowling Center in Las Vegas last month.

If you’ve never met or spoken with DeeRonn Booker, it’s possible that proclamation could have come off as being mildly egotistical.

If you have had the pleasure of meeting him, however, you’d know that the 33-year-old right-hander from Albuquerque, New Mexico, is anything but full of himself. On the contrary, in an era when many of the sporting world’s biggest names are all too willing to come right out and tell you how great they are, DeeRonn Booker is as humble as they come.

So his comments to Kimberly after the Masters title match weren’t about letting the world know that he’d arrived; they were more about paying homage to the long road he’d traveled to get there and giving thanks to all the people who’ve helped him along the way.

Like many talented bowlers, Booker had aspirations of joining the PBA Tour at an early age. However, he quickly realized that his geographic location and finances at the time simply wouldn’t make that possible.

“I’m originally from California, and it was really tough living in California and trying to go out and bowl on tour because everything back then was on the east coast,” Booker said. “Also, I was told by a lot of people out on tour that it was really expensive, so with my job at the time, I just couldn’t do it.

“I started off just trying to bowl an event or two here and there like the Masters. This was before they had the PTQs. Then, I moved to New Mexico and was lucky enough to get a job in a pro shop in a casino. So then when I got my PBA Tour card in 2018, I wanted to financially set myself up to where I wasn’t ‘bowling for a living’; I wanted it to be where I could just go out there and bowl while having all of the bills taken care of back at home.”

And Booker was prepared to do just that after taking a job in the pro shop at Santa Ana Star Casino in Benalillo, New Mexico. Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic came along not too long after he started, putting his plans to bowl on tour full-time on hold yet again.

When Booker stepped onto the approach at Suncoast Bowling Center at the start of this year’s Masters, he did so with only around a year and a half of PBA Tour experience under his belt, and that experience was as a non-exempt player, meaning that, most weeks, he’d have to advance through a PTQ just to earn the opportunity to compete in the tournament proper and battle for a paycheck.

That isn’t the case at the Masters, however. As long as you’re at your computer in time to register for the tournament before it sells out — which it did again this year — you’re in.

Booker made sure to secure his spot on the appointed day, and that set the wheels of bowling history in motion.

He flew under the radar during qualifying, finishing Round 1 in 29th place at +139, Round 2 in 42nd with +204 and Round 3 in 58th with a three-day, 15-game mark of +229 (a 215.27 average). 

Booker needed every bit of it too as this year’s cut to match play was just seven pins back at +222, which was the score put up by 2022 Junior Gold Championships U20 Boys national champion Justin Bohn, son of USBC and PBA Hall of Famer Parker Bohn III and brother of three-time Junior Gold titlist Brandon Bohn.

However, as most Masters competitors will tell you, the tournament doesn’t really start until match play begins, so as long as you earn yourself a spot in the bracket, you have a chance.

Nevertheless, as the No. 58 seed out of 64 players, Booker’s path through said bracket would be anything but easy.

He opened match play against No. 7 seed Giorgio Clinaz of Brigham City, Utah, who, in addition to being an outstanding bowler in his own right, is engaged to PWBA Tour champion Daria Pajak.

The opening-round battle was close throughout, but Booker managed to emerge with a hard-fought victory by a final score of 629-623.

The margin of victory got wider during Round 2, but the challenge certainly didn’t as Booker’s opponent was none other than two-time defending Masters champion Anthony Simonsen, who came to Suncoast seeking the fourth Masters crown of his career at the grizzled age of 27.

It wasn’t meant to be, however, as Booker zoomed past the defending champion by a final score of 623-589, which dropped Simonsen into the Elimination Bracket while allowing Booker to end Day 1 of match play among the undefeated.

Despite being forced to battle another slate of top-flight contenders, that’s where Booker would stay on Day 2 as he secured victories over Jake Peters (623-589), EJ Tackett (784-632) and Sam Cooley (673-605) to officially secure his first PBA Tour stepladder finals appearance.

At that point, the only question that remained was whether it would be as the No. 1 or No. 2 seed.

Although Booker failed to start the top-seed battle against Dombrowski with the same fireworks he ignited during his Round 4 win over Tackett — when he opened with games of 279 and 300 — he was able to emerge victorious once again, this time by a margin of 639-603, to lock up the No. 1 seed for the stepladder finals.

Unbeknown to Booker, no sooner had he claimed the top spot than a flurry of activity began as family and friends from across the country began feverishly making flight and hotel arrangements so that they could be on hand to witness his PBA Tour TV finals debut.

“My doubles partner that I won an Eagle with at nationals (Mark Curtis Jr.) flew from Tennessee literally that night because he was like, ‘I’ve got to see this,’” Booker said. “I was so grateful that my family and friends were willing and able to come out and do that. It was everything to me.”

Of course, while having a large cheering section certainly has its perks, it can also come with added pressure to perform. However, Booker never let that thought enter his mind as he prepared to make his run at the Masters title.

“In the past, my old mentality would have been, ‘I don’t want to let them down,’” Booker said. “My new mentality was, regardless of what I do, they’re going to be proud of me and be happy for me, so there wasn’t this added pressure that I have to win because everyone spent so much time and effort and money to come out here and see me. 

“I knew that they were there to support me no matter what the outcome was, so it made me feel so good to see my dad, my sister and all my friends that I’ve known for the last 15 years out there in the crowd smiling at me.”

They had plenty of reason to smile as they had front-row seats to an entertaining show, one that started with Cooley taking down England’s Richard Teece by a score of 206-180 before falling to fellow Australian Jason Belmonte one match later by a final tally of 222-191.

But for as good as the first two matches were, they were nothing compared to the semifinal tilt between Belmonte and No. 2 seed Dombrowski.

The duo battled back and forth throughout, but after Dombrowski’s ball sailed wide of target and left a 2-10 split in the ninth frame, which he was unable to convert, it looked like Belmonte was destined to advance to the championship match to bowl for his 16th major title and fifth Masters crown.

Destiny had other ideas, and that became clear when Belmonte’s first shot in the 10th also went wide, leaving an 8-10 split that he would have to convert in order to win the match. Despite his best effort, he was unable to do so, which allowed Dombrowski to escape with a 198-193 win to move forward to the final match.

Booker could have watched the drama of the first three matches unfold up close and personal just off set, but instead he chose a different approach.

“I didn’t actually watch the stepladder matches live; I actually sat in the back and watched them on TV,” Booker said. “The reason why I did that was because I wanted to pretend like I was in that moment looking at the shape and reaction of the bowling balls and telling myself, ‘If I was on TV, this is what I would do.’ I put myself out of the moment by also being in the moment and looking at the other guys, watching what they were doing and seeing how they were playing the lanes.

“That’s what I do every time there’s a TV show. I like to analyze and see what the players are doing and what balls they’re using so that I can say, ‘Okay, I would’ve done this,’ or, ‘Hmm, I’m not really too sure why they made that decision.’ I’m not sure that will work every time I actually make a show, but being the No. 1 seed here allowed me to do that, and it worked out really well.”

That’s because Booker’s opening shot of the title match was far from his best work as he pulled the ball well left of target, causing the ball to cross over to the Brooklyn side resulting in a 9-pin.

Booker had dreamed of his first shot on TV many times over the years, and crossing over was not part of the plan.

“I’m a little upset because I told myself that if I ever got on TV, I wanted my first shot to be a strike. Obviously, I failed miserably at that,” Booker said. “But after it happened, I said, ‘Okay, you got that out of the way and made the spare. Now, you’ve done it and you know what it feels like, so just keep on going.’ I also told myself that this is what I want to do, and once I did that and could actually feel the ball on my hand again, I just started feeling better and better about it.”

It showed.

After converting the post-Brooklyn 9-pin in the first frame, Booker proceeded to go strike, spare, strike, spare during frames 2-5.

Dombrowski, on the other hand, wasn’t as fortunate. After starting the match with a double, he began having problems on the left lane, leaving a 3-10 baby split in the third frame and the Big 4 (4-6-7-10) in the fifth, both of which resulted in open frames.

He rebounded with a double in the sixth and seventh frames, but Booker punched back with a turkey of his own to maintain a comfortable lead.

At that point, Dombrowski’s only hope was to continue striking in order to apply some last-minute pressure to Booker.

But that never happened, as Dombrowski’s first ball in the eighth frame was light, resulting in a mixer 5-pin that broke his string and brought his max score down to 209.

Booker, meanwhile, still had the possibility of 250 on the table, which meant that if he could just remain clean during the final two frames, he’d be the 2024 Masters champion.

Booker’s ninth shot looked dicey for a moment as it missed target to the left and went high on the head pin; however, any potential crisis was averted when only the 3-pin remained standing.

After calmly converting the spare in the ninth, Booker stepped up in the 10th frame needing just one more mark to seal the victory.

Despite not having any prior TV finals experience to draw upon, Booker’s been around the sport long enough to know that when you need a mark to win, collecting a strike is always the best way to go.

It looked like he was going to do just that as his first shot in the 10th went high flush in the 1-3 pocket. Unfortunately, rather than resulting in a clinching strike, the shot left a 9-pin standing with another pin spinning wildly just out of reach.

As such, the celebration would have to be delayed for at least a moment, and one more spare would have to be converted.

But that was no problem for Booker, who covered the 9-pin just as convincingly in the 10th frame as he had in the first. Then, needing only to stay behind the foul line, his fill-ball knocked down nine pins, officially ending the match and giving Booker his first PBA Tour title and major.

Although the result didn’t become official until his final ball was thrown, Booker started to sense that he was about to become this year’s Masters champion a few frames earlier.

“I really started to feel it when I was finally able to get a double, and that double turned into a turkey,” Booker said. “The show wasn’t really high-scoring the entire time, so a 200 game was going to be a good game. After I threw that strike in the eighth, I knew that if I could just stay clean, I would be in position to win. When that happened, I was like, ‘I can’t believe this; I can’t believe this is going to happen.’ When I let that ball go and spared it, I was like ‘DeeRonn, you did it!’”

In doing so, Booker became just the third African-American bowler to win a national title on the PBA Tour, joining George Branham III and Gary Faulkner Jr. 

But while Booker is certainly proud to have added his name to bowling’s history books alongside those two great champions, he hopes that his Masters victory will be inspirational for reasons other than his ethnic background.

“Being the third African American to win a national title is important, but we all know that and we all see it, so I don’t have to keep touching on that,” Booker said. “It’s more about the adversities I went through just as a bowler to get to this point. Regardless of my ethnic background, I’m still just a guy, a bowler and a human being; that’s what it’s about.”

That’s what it’s about because Booker simply wants to help and inspire other bowlers, all bowlers regardless of their age, ethnicity or current skill level.

“Once I realized that I was in a position to actually win a major title, I started to hyper-focus on what really mattered, and what really mattered to me was being able to collect information to help everyone back at home,” Booker said. “It was the biggest bowling moment I’d ever had in my life, but I knew that if I could keep myself centered and make the best shots that I could, I’d be able to help and touch the lives of so many bowlers, and that’s what made all of this so much more special.”

Two other aspects that make it special for Booker, besides the $100,000 first-place prize and the honor of having earned the right to forever be referred to as a USBC Masters champion, are the fact that he will no longer have to bowl PTQs and that his victory proves that you don’t have to rely on raw power to win on the PBA Tour.

“Right after I won, the first thing that hit me was that I don’t have to bowl the PTQs anymore,” Booker said. “Yes, the title is great. Yes, the money allows me to be able to come out here more, but it’s so great that I don’t have to sweat through those PTQs now because there are so many great bowlers in them and so few spots available week in and week out. Now, I can come out here knowing that I’m going to get to bowl and continue learning and gathering more data because the only way you can really learn what it’s like to compete at this level is to do it; you can’t simulate it.”

Booker doesn’t just log that data for the fun of it; he uses it to make himself that much tougher on the lanes and to prove once again that you can be successful and win titles on the PBA Tour even if you’re ‘A’ Game isn’t the high-speed, high-rev style that has become so prevalent within the modern bowling environment.

“There is so much R&D in these modern bowling balls that you can figure out how to get the ball into a roll down-lane even if you don’t rip the finger-holes out of the ball,” Booker said. “That’s essentially all that we have to do, get our ball to roll properly through the pocket. What I focused on within my game, which is modeled after Parker Bohn III, David Ozio and Johnny Petraglia, is that my ball gets into a roll and picks up speed as it goes through the pins.

“Yes, the guys out here on tour have these incredible rev rates and ball speeds, but the whole object is to knock down all 10 pins. I feel like using the knowledge that I have in bowling balls, layouts, lane conditions and surface adjustment, I can almost simulate the ball going through the pins like it does for EJ (Tackett), Sam Cooley, Jason (Belmonte) or Anthony (Simonsen). And if I can do that, other aspiring bowlers can do it to be successful as well.”  
 
That approach certainly seems to have paid off thus far, and with his Masters win making it easier than ever for him to compete on tour week in and week out, it’s very possible that Booker will make good on his statement to Kimberly Pressler, which is to say “he isn’t going anywhere.”

Despite Second-Place Finish, Dombrowski’s 
2024 Masters Performance is a First-Rate Story

Everyone loves a good underdog story, and bowlers are no different, which is part of the reason why Tom Smallwood’s victory at the 2009 PBA World Championship is still revered to this day.

That’s because, in true Rocky Balboa fashion, Smallwood came out of nowhere to win that title shortly after having been laid off from his full-time job at General Motors’ Pontiac East Assembly Plant, completing a rags-to-riches comeback story that was almost too incredible to be true.

And while just about all hardcore bowling fans know about Smallwood’s Cinderella story, what many may not realize is that Patrick Dombrowski nearly pulled off a similar feat at this year’s Masters.

That’s because on March 1, Dombrowski, along with roughly half of his coworkers, was unexpectedly laid off from his full-time job as an accounts payable professional.

That meant that, when the 2024 USBC Masters rolled around just over three weeks later, Dombrowski would arrive at Suncoast Bowling Center not just wanting to bowl well but needing to do so.

“The first week that I got laid off, my swing was so tight that I pretty much couldn’t even bowl,” Dombrowski said. “But everyone kept telling me that I’m a good bowler and that I could make it past all that.”

Taking their words of encouragement to heart, Dombrowski quickly turned misfortune into opportunity. Rather than dwelling on the sadness and frustration of not being able to go to work each day, he began using the newfound free time to put in extra work on his game.

“I had multiple people staying on me to make sure I got my butt on the practice lanes to get ready and sharp for the tournament,” Dombrowski said. “Honestly, it worked out because it gave me enough time to practice and clear my head with everything that happened, and, luckily, a couple weeks later I was on the show.”

But luck seems to have very little to do with it as over the last couple of years, Dombrowski has shown himself to be rather adept at turning in strong performances at the Masters.

He finished tied for fifth at the 2023 Masters at historic Thunderbowl Lanes in Allen Park, Michigan, qualifying for the first stepladder finals TV show but falling to Sean Rash, 256-237, to end his bid for his first PBA Tour title and major.

This year, Dombrowski qualified 16th at +372 (a 224.8 average) and went 5-0 during match play (def. Frank Snodgrass 647-613; def. Tommy Jones 704-614; def. Zac Tackett 715-546; def. Matt Ogle 684-664; and def. Richard Teece 623-587) before falling to Booker in consecutive matches, 639-603 during the battle for the stepladder’s top seed and 217-177 in the finals.

Dombrowski isn’t quite sure where things went awry during the title tilt.

“I haven’t gone back and watched the TV match yet, but I was definitely losing ball reaction,” Dombrowski said. “I want to go back and see if I was playing the same area. The ball reps said I was, so I think it was probably just a matter of me throwing it a little too fast on a couple of shots.

“That’s the trouble with a one-game match. In the earlier matches, when you know you have three games, you can make a ball change or try a different part of the lane because you still have some time as long as you don’t fall behind by too much. In a one-game match, you have to make 10 quality shots, and if you miss two or three of them like I did, it’s hard to come back and string strikes after that.”

But even with those few missed shots, Dombrowski turned in an outstanding performance — one that is worthy of respect even though it didn’t deliver the Hollywood ending.

Nevertheless, Dombrowski isn’t concerned with being involved in a tearjerker as he’s more of an action and adventure type anyway.

“A lot of people who know me know that I love rollercoasters, so I’ll go on coasters before and after tournaments if there is an amusement park close enough,” Dombrowski said. “If I would’ve won the Masters, I probably would’ve made a side trip to Orlando to ride some coasters since Cedar Point isn’t open for the season yet.”

Maybe next year?

Despite Yeoman’s Effort, Tackett Narrowly Misses Extending TV Finals Streak

Among the many noteworthy storylines heading into the 2024 USBC Masters was EJ Tackett’s bid to set a PBA record by advancing to the TV finals at six consecutive events.

That’s because, after starting the 2024 season with a 17th-place finish at the PBA Players Championship, the reigning PBA Player of the Year began another memorable run by reaching the stepladder finals at each of the next five tournaments.

The streak began with a fourth-place finish at the U.S. Open in Indianapolis, fifth place at the Illinois Classic, third at the Pete Weber Missouri Classic, a runner-up finish at the Just Bare Indiana Classic and fifth at the Delaware Classic.

That meant that if Tackett could reach the stepladder finals at the Masters, he would be in uncharted territory as the only bowler to ever make it to TV six times in a row. It would also earn him the opportunity to compete for his first Masters title and the career grand slam.

Not wanting to let that opportunity fall by the wayside, Tackett went to work.

He began the week by qualifying second in the field of 465 bowlers after putting up a three-day, 15-game total of +496 (a 233.07 average). 

Next, he rattled off match-play wins against Karl Wahlgren (703-683), Nickolas Freiberg (741-632) and Jason Belmonte (715-622) before eventual champion DeeRonn Booker used opening games of 279 and 300 to collect a 784-632 victory that sent Tackett into the Elimination Bracket.

Tackett is no stranger to having monster sets tossed against him at the Masters. Last year, he lost to AJ Johnson in the opening round by a score of 769-731 and was eliminated by Tom Smallwood just three rounds later (708-701) despite shooting over 700 yet again.

While Tackett is not the type to make excuses or complain, his opponents’ knack for putting up big numbers against him at the Masters is not lost on the powerful right-hander.

“Over my career, I don’t want to say that I’ve gotten the shaft, but I’ve bowled really well in a lot of matches at the Masters and still lost,” Tackett said. “Sometimes I’ve made mistakes, and sometimes I’ve just gotten beat. Still, I’ve bowled well a bunch of times and just haven’t been able to get back on TV at that event.”

With that in mind, Tackett undoubtedly must have felt a little sense of déjà vu after Booker’s monster set put him on the brink of elimination yet again. 

However, even if he was feeling that way, it never showed as Tackett rebounded from the loss to Booker by taking down Chase Nadeau, 704-577, to punch his ticket to the Masters’ famous four-for-three match.

That meant that if he could top just one of his three opponents, Richard Teece, Sam Cooley or Belmonte, he would make his sixth consecutive TV finals appearance.

Unfortunately, that trio of talented bowlers would not be all that Tackett would have to face. 
He’d be forced to battle illness as well.

“Wednesday night, I got a bug of some kind; I definitely wasn’t feeling my best,” Tackett said. “When match play started Thursday, I was really weak and achy. It got better at certain points that day, but when we came back for the last day of matches on Friday, I wasn’t so good again.”

That was clear to all in attendance on Friday as Tackett was having to exert effort just to get to his feet let alone deliver quality shots with his signature brand of speed and power.

Nevertheless, despite it being obvious that he was far from 100-percent, Tackett never backed down even after getting off to a rough start and falling behind his three opponents by a significant margin after Game 1 of the final Elimination Bracket match.

Instead, in an effort reminiscent of the Michael Jordan “flu game,” Tackett reached down deep inside and found yet another gear, one that most competitors simply don’t have.

He managed to slightly lessen the deficit by the end of Game 2, and as the final frames of Game 3 rolled around, he was right on Teece’s heels and was still within striking distance of Cooley.

But that’s when the sometimes-cruel nature of bowling reared its ugly head. Needing a mark to keep his hopes alive, Tackett’s left-to-right rocket shot somehow managed to chop the 3-6, giving him an open frame and officially ending his bid for the TV appearance record and his first Masters title.

It was a bitter pill for Tackett to swallow, but as he always seems to do, he somehow managed to keep it all in perspective.

“I finished sixth, so it wasn’t a bad week for sure,” Tackett said. “Obviously, it wasn’t what I wanted, coming up a little bit short when I had a chance to break a record, but that’s just how it goes sometimes. I put myself in a position to have the opportunity to do it, so it was still a good week.”

At this point, PBA fans are far more surprised when Tackett isn’t in contention because it’s just not something that seems to happen all that often anymore.

For Tackett, performing well at the Masters and continuing to solidify his status as one of the tour’s greats is still something that’s tough to wrap his mind around; nevertheless, it’s not something he takes for granted.

“I’ve always felt like I could compete and win no matter where we’re bowling or what we’re bowling on, and I think that’s an important mindset to have,” Tackett said. “But still, it’s hard to put into words what it feels like to know that people feel that way about me and put me in that category because a few years ago I wasn’t. It’s crazy.”

No, what’s crazy is the consistency with which Tackett seems to be able to place his name at or near the top of the standings despite having to battle the best bowlers in the world.

Although his bid to capture his first Masters title and the career grand slam eluded him this year, if he can stay healthy, it would be foolish to keep EJ Tackett’s name off your list of favorites in 2025 and for many years to come.

‘I’m Not Anyone Other than DeeRonn - ’ Veteran bowling writer George Wooten on the sport’s latest ‘Great Black Hope’

By George Wooten

With a name that you won’t find on the license plate rack of the amusement park, DeeRonn Booker explains how his mother Lavon named her son.

“When my mom was pregnant with me and went into labor, she needed to figure out a name because she didn't have one,” he said. “I'm actually named after my three uncles, Demetris, Ronald, and my middle name is Clarence, so my uncle Clarence to go along with the last name Booker. If you put them all together, you’d have me.”

As the 33-year-old stood at the foul line to receive his $100,000 check for winning the 2024 USBC Masters, you could tell that someone forgot the second ‘N’ on his first name.

But that’s alright because, according to Booker, you can see him now. Out of the three dozen supporters Booker had watching the FOX telecast at Suncoast Bowling Center in Las Vegas on March 31, one had a sign saying, “Can you see him now?”

“With the amount of work we’ve put in… YES!” he told FOX’s Kimberly Pressler in the post-game interview. “I’m not going anywhere. I hope everybody can see me.”

Booker matched the achievement previously accomplished by George Branham III (1993 Firestone Tournament of Champions) and Gary Faulkner Jr. (2015 Rolltech PBA World Championship). In becoming the third African-American bowler to win a major title in the 65-year existence of the PBA Tour, Booker has now inherited a new moniker: The Great Black Hope.

It’s a title thrust upon him, which was done with every other Black bowler on the PBA and PWBA Tours. It’s the one that means that he will unofficially represent African-American bowlers until he stops bowling. And, for better or worse, they will be held to a higher standard in comparison to their non-Black peers. 

There wasn’t a Saturday afternoon in the winter that didn’t find me in front of the TV if Mark Roth, Marshall Holman, Pete Weber or Amleto Monacelli made the Pro Bowler’s Tour telecast. They were my favorites. But bowlers like Branham, Curtis Odom, Billy Oatman, Rod Pasteur, Cheryl Daniels and Kim Terrell (Kearney) were my heroes. 

These players were heroes to old-school Black bowlers. We lived and died with their every shot. For bowlers of a certain generation — those who had experienced the unlevel playing field in every arena in this country — they were the field levelers in bowling.

Booker says he felt the same way growing up in Southern California. His favorite bowlers were Norm Duke, Parker Bohn III and David Ozio. 

“I’ve never seen David Ozio fall off of a shot, ever,” he said. “Because of them, I found a sport that I connect with and love. But I looked up to the bowlers mentioned as examples of what I could become. Those that came before me have allowed me to believe in this dream that is now a reality.”

Booker’s assignment, along with other high-profile African-American bowlers, is two-fold: Carry the culture and break the stereotypes of what a Black athlete can be. Not only does he understand the assignment, but he embraces his newfound status with open arms. 

“There are those who think of black culture as loud and obnoxious. After the win, I even had a player say to me, ‘We didn't know you were so well-spoken.’ And I said, ‘Well, you never said hi. You never asked me how I was doing, how my day was going, what was happening.’

“But I want to break that. If you know me, you know that I'm not trying to be anything other than what I am, because for the life of me, I couldn't act one way or the other. I'm going to tell you right now, I'm not anyone other than DeeRonn. That's it.”

Booker has always had the confidence to play. However, like quite a few bowlers with dreams of winning major titles, the money hasn’t always been there. More than a few bowlers have had their dreams shattered because they run out of money.

“I got lucky and won the Denver Masters in 2022 and I won the Southern Nevada Bowlers Tour Masters in Vegas three weeks after,” he said. “Between those wins and what I had saved, I had $10,000, which at least allowed me to get started. I save, and I bowl. It’s hard to ask somebody, ‘Hey, can I have some money to go out on Tour?’ That's just not me.”

There was also a confidence that grew within Booker, even when his financial realities came to a head. The bowling world couldn’t see him when he hadn’t made one dollar on the 2024 PBA Tour. The bowling world didn’t notice that he skipped three tournaments at the end of February to gather himself and prepare for the Masters. 

“If I would have gone to those events, I think it would have made me bowl worse,” Booker admitted. “I was so frustrated mentally and emotionally and not bowling those three tournaments was a refresh.”

What’s interesting about Booker is that he enjoys being a role model. He loves to sign autographs and take photos. He loves to hang out and talk bowling. The foundation of him being a professional is centered around education and becoming a student of the game.

It’s knowledge that he shares at his home shop, Bay Area Pro Shop in San Mateo, California. He also serves as the house pro at Starlight Bowling, Bar & Grill, located in the Santa Ana Star Casino Hotel, just north of Albuquerque, New Mexico. He prefers to lead by example. 

“I talk to my youth bowlers all the time,” he said. “The thing I emphasize to them is that you're remembered for who you are, not what you do. They may not remember that my first shot crossed over and left a 9-pin. But they’re gonna remember the reaction that I had when I did it. I'm like, ‘Boy, they make this seem a lot easier on TV than what it is.’ The smile and laugh that broke all the tension.”

Booker hopes to continue to push for change in the sport. His goal is to help bowling become more inclusive, and be an inspiration to people on and off the lanes. 

“I am hopeful that my story allows a person to continue trying to do whatever that it is that they want to do. Keep trying, keep going, and always make time for something that you enjoy to do. And enjoy doing it. Because if you don't enjoy doing it, why are you doing it?”

The real question is not whether an African American can win on the professional tours. The question is who will take up the baton for Black bowling, and will it take 10-20 years for someone to pick it up and run with it? 

When ABC’s Pro Bowlers Tour series started in 1962, J. Wilbert Sims bowled for the title and finished second. Louise Fulton was the first African-American to win a professional bowling title by winning the 1964 Princeton Open. Players like Charlie Venable, Bobby Williams, Harry Johnson, and Willie Willis are considered pioneers of the PBA who all came close to being the first Black PBA Tour champion but never broke through. 

Willis won the National Resident Pro Championships in 1979, giving him a berth in the 1980 Firestone. The Resident Pro was not considered a tour event (not open to touring pros) according to the PBA. So officially, Branham’s 1986 win at the Brunswick Memorial World Open made him the first black to win a Tour event. 

Branham retired at the end of the 2002 season. His 1995 victory in Cleveland was the last of his five career titles. It took nearly 20 years for Faulkner to be the second Black PBA titlist. Booker became No. 3 nearly nine years later. 

It’ll be interesting to see if Booker will become the next Branham, with sustained proficiency on Tour, or the next Faulkner, who is still grinding away, but hasn’t come close to winning another tour title. 

This is what makes Booker’s win so important. The sport and the industry of bowling needs African-American bowlers. Right now, the highest-profile African-American bowler is Major League Baseball player Mookie Betts. We need somebody full-time.

Why? Because Black people are known to set the trends and be the tastemakers that can influence culture. Just ask golf about that Woods guy, or tennis about those Williams sisters. 

It’s been said that if you lose Black America, you lose Young America. Here’s hoping that Booker’s title will serve as inspiration for others to become professional bowlers. Maybe former U.S. Amateur champions Cameron Crowe and Trent Mitchell will be inspired to give the PBA Tour a try. Perhaps his triumph will be the motivation that Gazmine 'GG' Mason needs to enter the winner’s circle on the PWBA Tour. 

These players are not just changing the face of bowling; they are changing the fabric of American sports. Fulton, Branham, Daniels, Kearney and Faulkner were the trailblazers. DeeRonn Booker is who they blazed them for.

USBC Masters Greats of the 21st Century

By Gianmarc Manzione

With Chris Barnes having bowled his 100th USBC Masters match of the 21st century during the 2024 edition of the long-running event, and fellow veteran Tommy Jones also making match play in the tournament this year for the 17th time in his career, some perspective seems in order as we approach a quarter-century (can you believe it?) of USBC Masters competition since the turn of the millennium. 

Following is a list of the top 12 most prolific match-play qualifiers in the USBC Masters since 2000. Many names are familiar, though only five of the 12 listed have actually won the event (Norm Duke, Jason Belmonte, Walter Ray Williams Jr., Mika Koivuniemi, Parker Bohn III). Which points out two important facts about this unique competition: You don’t have to win it to rank among its most fearsome competitors; and long-term consistency in the event, for all the quirks of its format, seems largely reserved for the greatest players ever to shoe up. 
 

Bowler	Match-Play Appearances	Bracket Record	TV Record	Overall Record
Chris Barnes	20	66-34	0-4	66-38
Tommy Jones	17	49-34	0-2	49-36
Norm Duke	16	50-28	0-3	50-31
Jason Belmonte	15	62-23	9-1	71-24
Walter Ray Williams Jr.	15	51-28	6-2	57-30
Brad Angelo	14	34-28	N/A	34-28
Mika Koivuniemi	14	43-25	5-3	48-28
Wes Malott	14	32-26	4-2	36-28
Pete Weber	14	44-26	2-2	46-28
Parker Bohn III	13	45-23	3-2	48-25
Chris Loschetter	13	30-25	0-1	30-26
Mike Machuga	13	19-25	N/A	19-25

~ Statistics compiled by Eric Hartman