Buls, Hutchens, Kober high rollers
Jamie Kober, Nick Buls and Coby Hutchens have been oh so close several times, but never on the mark like they have been this season.
All three have rolled perfect games in bowling at the Pine & Cue in Whitefish over the course of the last two months.
Kober, 31, of Whitefish, did it on Nov. 24 in Wednesday's Majors League.
Buls, 28, of Kalispell, followed with a 300 on Dec. 14 in Tuesday's Big Sky League.
And Hutchens, 16, of Columbia Falls, did it Jan. 11 while subbing in Tuesday's Big Sky League.
"Last year we ended up with eight (300 games)," Pin & Cue manager Vince Red Elk said.
"That was unusual. The year before we only had one."
A perfect game consists of 12 strikes, the last three coming in the 10th frame. The odds of an average bowler posting a perfect score are 1 in 11,500.
Hutchens, who also bowls regularly in the Wednesday Majors League, opened his night with the 300, and followed with a 203 and 183 for a 686 series.
"I just got a new ball and found a shot right away," Hutchens said.
Hutchens has been bowling for 12 years. His previous high game was a 279.
His best series is a 730.
Hutchens nearly missed out on his 300 game in the fifth frame.
"I left the nine pin, but a pin came back out and hit it," he said.
"That was the only lucky shot I had."
Hutchens said the intensity level was pretty high when the eighth frame rolled around.
"Calm down and try to stop shaking," he said.
"(My teammates) keep cheering me on."
After that ...
"I better get a strike and not shoot a 299," he said of what was going through his mind.
"I always thought I would get it some day, but I didn't expect to shoot it (that night)."
Buls collected his 300 in the final game. He opened with 191 and followed with a 215 for a 706 series.
"It was tough, it was the hardest one," he said of the being perfect in the final game.
Buls, a 14-year lane veteran, has rolled 279 several times. His series high is a 763.
In the 10th frame of his 300, Buls encountered some tense moments.
"Everybody stopped and watched at that point," he said.
"It (one ball) came in a little bit high. The 10 pin stood and then fell over.
"On the 12th strike, I probably had the best ball I had thrown the whole game."
Buls said he kept it very basic through all 12 strikes.
"Just throw it," he said.
"Do what I've been doing. Don't change anything.
"My brother (Josh) threw one in high school," Nick added.
"He was 18. I can finally say I got one."
Buls' two brothers, Josh and Ryan, and his father, Dan, were also bowling the night Nick achieved perfection.
"Just them being there to watch it meant a lot to me," he said.
Kober flirted with a 300 last year, rolling a 286 in the same league.
Her best series is 780 for three games and 982 for four games.
Kober's 300 came in her opening game.
On two of her strikes in the 10th frame, one "wasn't pretty," while the other one was "a heavy shot. The four pin wasn't falling."
But it did drop.
She finished that night with a 767 three-game series and a 1,025 four-game series.
"I was nervous, my hand was shaking, but they all fell, all the time," she said.
Kober has been bowling for 26 years. She averages 203 a game at the Pin & Cue and 206 in Bigfork at Pick's Bowling Center.
"Maybe, I hope," she said of rolling another 300.
"I have some years left."
Kober's 300 is believed to be the first by a woman in the Flathead Valley.
"As far as I know, the highest game shot by a gal is 298 by Teri Sunell at Skyline Bowl," Red Elk said.
"That was eight, nine years ago, maybe more."
Red Elk was working the night Kober achieved perfection.
"There was quite a bit (of excitement)," he said.
"Everybody stopped to watch her. She actually held up pretty good. I thought that might affect her more than anything else."
Red Elk has coached all three at one time or another.
"It's kind of neat to see them do this," he said.
NOTE: On Friday night, two more bowlers bowled perfect games at Pin & Cue. Zac Wooten and Jimmy Moore both rolled 300 in the Friday Night Mixed League.
Wooten finished with a 670 series.