Brian Voss (born August 4, 1958) in Cornelius, North Carolina, is a professional ten-pin bowler and member of the Professional Bowlers Association since 1982. The right-hander owns 25 PBA Tour titles (ranking 11th all-time), including one major championship, plus two titles on the PBA50 Tour and one PBA60 event title. He was inducted into the PBA Hall of Fame in 1994 and the USBC Hall of Fame in 2007.
Early years
Born August 4, 1958, Brian Voss grew up in Anchorage, Alaska (USA), where his father took ownership of a bowling center when Brian was 6. As he said in a 2002 interview, "Bowling has been part of my life for as long as I can remember."[1] After his family moved to Colorado, Voss struggled to pay for college while working at a bowling center, before deciding to enlist in the U.S. Army. He served two years as an Army electronics technician in the Seattle, WA area, where he also had the opportunity to participate in intramural bowling and refine his game while winning multiple All-Army championships.
PBA career
Voss won his first PBA tour title in 1983. In the title match, Voss and challenger Pete McCordic tied after the standard 10 frames with an unusually low score of 176. Voss took the championship in a 9th/10th frame roll-off. The 1980s saw him win his only major title, the 1988 PBA National Championship. Also in 1988, he earned a then-record $225,485 and was named PBA Player of the Year.[2]
Voss enjoyed his best career stretch from 1987–1998, winning at least one title in 12 straight seasons. (The PBA record of 17 straight seasons with a title is held by Walter Ray Williams Jr.) It was during this time that two well-known catchphrases caught on: "Don't cross the Voss!" and "Voss is Boss!". Voss suffered a broken wrist at the beginning of the 1999 season, and the streak ended. He has collected over $2.4 million in career PBA earnings.
He was known for exceptional versatility, being able to bowl well on multiple oil patterns. According to pba.com, Voss was "a threat to win any event in which he entered."
Voss lost his PBA Tour exemption following the 2006-07 season, but was reinstated as an exempt player for 2009-10 under the PBA's new "Golden Parachute" rule. In that season, at age 51, Voss won his 25th PBA Tour title—a mixed doubles championship with Diandra Asbaty.[3] With the win, Voss bowled as an exempt player for the 2010-11 PBA Tour season. This made him the oldest exempt player on tour at that time. (Voss turned 52 in August 2010. Exempt player and all-time titles leader Walter Ray Williams Jr. turned 51 in October 2010.)
On August 3, 2016, a day shy of his 58th birthday, Voss won his first PBA50 Tour title at the Dave Small's Championship Lanes Classic in Anderson, Indiana.[4] He won his second PBA50 Tour title on May 2, 2018, at the Mooresville Open in Mooresville, NC.[5]
In August 2018, he turned 60 and won the Dick Weber Classic for PBA60, winning the 60-up tour in his first tournament.[6]
2010 Bayer Don & Paula Carter Mixed Doubles w/Diandra Asbaty (Wheat Ridge, Colorado)
Personal
Early in his career, Voss developed a reputation because of his poster-boy good looks. In fact, he became a devout family man. Unlike most bowlers, who stay on the road between stops of the grueling PBA tour, Brian routinely flew home to his wife and two sons in the Atlanta area, even if only for a couple of days.
After living for many years in the Atlanta suburbs, Brian moved to Centennial, Colorado.[4] He currently lives in Cornelius, North Carolina, having been given an opportunity to teach bowling in the area.[5]
Awards and recognition
PBA Player of the Year (1988)
Harry Smith PBA Points Leader award (1987, 1988)
Inducted into PBA Hall of Fame, 1994
Inducted into USBC Hall of Fame, 2007
Through the end of the 2008-09 season, he had rolled 52 perfect 300 games in PBA events.
Was ranked #13 on the PBA's 2008 list of "50 Greatest Players of the Last 50 Years"[7]
References
^"The Natural", an interview with Brian Voss in Bowling Digest, February 2002.
