The Best Bowler of All Time

The Day Missourian Don Carter Became A Legend

It was March 12th, 1958 and the air in St. Louis was a crisp 40 degrees. Bowler Don Carter and his teammates went to a bowling alley in St. Louis and made history. He was already a legend, but he was about to become known as the “greatest bowler of all time.”

In 1956, he joined the Budweiser bowling team. That is where he was paired up with the most formidible bowling team of all time. It was Carter, Dick Weber, Ray Bluth, Tom Hennessey, and Pat Patterson all bowling for one team. And on that night 1958, they set the American Bowling Congress‘ all-time scoring record at Floriss Lanes in St. Louis. The five-man team bowled a score was 3,858 pins, which remained the record for the next 35 years. All 5 of the team members ended up in the owling Hall of Fame, and Carter was named the Greatest Bowler of All Time by Bowling Magazine in 1970.

Here is the scorecard from that night.

On March 12, 1958, the Budweiser Beer team arrived at Floriss Lanes in north St. Louis for its weekly Masters League match. Within a couple of hours, the five team members had reached a major stepping stone on their way to the Bowling Hall of Fame. That was the night Don Carter, Ray Bluth, Pat Patterson, Tom Hennessey and Dick Weber teamed to roll a 3,858 series. It bettered by 61 pins the record set in 1937 by another St. Louis team, Hermann Undertakers.

St. Louis Post Dispatch

To put that in perspective, the 5 players all average a score of 257 per match, each. As you can see, there were two 300 games (perfect bowling score).

About Don Carter

Don Carter was born in 1926, grew up in Wellston, and became a 10-time All-American in bowling. He became known as “Mr. Bowling” over the course of his career, which also proved to be lucrative. In fact, he became the first athlete of any kid to sign an endorsement deal for $1,000,000.

Carter was also a founding member of the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) . He was known for his smooth, powerful delivery and leadership. Carter also helped popularize bowling as a televised sport. He was inducted into several hall of fames and is still considered by many to be the best professional bowler of all time.