How low can you go? Bowling’s new scoring system

Recently, a new system of scoring a bowling game was introduced to the sport. Bowlers in Prince William County have always used the traditional method of scoring in which strikes, spares and pin count are counted in an attempt to reach 300, the highest possible score for one game. For most, a 300 game is out of reach but still every bowler tries to bowl the highest score they can.

Is it possible that the traditional way of keeping score could change? Is it possible that bowlers could actually try to bowl the lowest score rather than the highest score? If you consider that the traditional scoring system has been around for over 100 years, the likelihood of turning the scoring system upside down is extremely slim.

Nevertheless, a new scoring system was used in a nationally-televised professional women's tournament in April and was widely acclaimed to be interesting enough to have a chance of catching on.

This new system is called the Petraglia scoring system. Created by Professional Bowling Associa-tion Hall of Famer Johnny Petraglia, the Petraglia scoring system ignores pinfall, but counts the number of balls thrown to clear the pin deck in each frame.

A strike thus equals a "1" and a typical spare would result in a "2" for the frame. A 7-10 split, however, might require three balls for a "3" and a miss could escalate the score even higher for the frame. Under the Petraglia system, like in golf, the lowest score wins. The 10th frame is treated like a normal frame. A perfect Petraglia game would be a "10" for 10 strikes.

By and large, bowlers prefer not to tinker with the game too much; they like it just the way it is. So moving to the Petraglia scoring system might be too much to ask. But if it were to catch on in leagues and tournaments, hypothetically, when someone asks what your bowling average is, you might be able to tell them proudly that your average is down to 18.

Bowling Museum & Hall of Fame moves to Texa

For a quarter of a century, the International Bowling Museum and Hall of Fame in St. Louis served as a one-stop "fix" for those interested in bowling's history and its biggest stars. It shared its facility space with the St. Louis Cardinals baseball team. Now, it is gone.

The museum closed its doors for the final time late last year and staffers are in the process of packing memorabilia in preparation for moving to a new facility that is under construction adjacent to the new bowling campus in Arlington, Texas. The United States Bowling Congress and the Bowling Proprietors of America are already housed at the bowling campus. Opening of the new facility is expected in early 2010.

The new facility will feature interactive displays. They figure to be a big part of the new digs since they are more modern and take up less space. The St. Louis location had some 28,000 square feet of display area while the Arlington location will cover about 18,000 square feet.

Gil Sanchez, a member of the Bowling Writers Association of America, is a freelance bowling writer for the News & Messenger. Reach him at 703-587-6792 or at .