Dale Traber was struggling. His shots weren’t hitting, the pins weren’t falling and by correlation, the bowling tournament victories weren’t coming.
“As bad as my season’s been, I actually thought about not even coming (to Columbus),” said Traber, a 54-year-old bowler from Cedarburg, Wis.
But it’s a good thing he did.
Traber bested the PBA’s most decorated bowler in Walter Ray Williams Jr. — twice — to win the USBC Senior Masters tournament yesterday at Wayne Webb’s Columbus Bowl, his first victory on the senior tour since 2009 when he won the same event.
Traber had made just one finals appearance on the senior circuit in 2011 and was beginning to have second thoughts about making the trip for the Senior Masters. The expenses were piling up from traveling to other tournaments with no winnings to restock his bank account, he said.