Battle-tested bowler

Glen Olson stands at attention for the national anthem on the approach to the bowling lanes at Cashman Center.

His right hand placed over his heart displays a blurry, 64-year-old tattoo of an anchor with a heart and the letters "USN" on his forearm.

"We were crazy kids back then, but I never regret getting it," he says.

It was Saturday afternoon and the start of Memorial Day weekend, a time to remember armed forces veterans -- something the 82-year-old Olson says he does most days.

"There aren't very many of us left," the Boulder City resident said before recalling his service on the U.S.S. LST-543 landing craft from 1943 to 1945 in the South Pacific.

There are other factors that make today the conclusion to Olson's best weekend of the year.

He has become one of only 59 bowlers to compete in 52 or more annual editions of the U.S. Bowling Congress Open Championships in the event's 106-year history.

He appreciates the recognition but is happier to have his three sons as teammates for the 15th time in the world's biggest participatory sports event.

"They had to come visit," Olson said, sharing a laugh with Shirley, his wife of 56 years. "I hope I'll be able to bowl with them again next year."

He was content to have rolled games of 165, 156 and 180 Saturday afternoon with the very challenging tournament lane conditions and is glad to have had a day of rest before bowling in singles and doubles competition at 7 a.m. today.

"That's a lot of games for an old man," Olson said, laughing again.

Today marks the 93rd day of the Open, which runs through July 23. Before Saturday's team event, Olson led a procession of 300 bowlers to their lanes. He was introduced for competing in his 52nd Open and being captain on national championship teams in 1970 and 1972. He also won the 1965 team all-events title.

"I believe I'm the only guy who has done that," Olson, the former owner of Boulder Bowl, said of his Hamm's Beer team's accomplishments.

It wasn't mentioned that he became the first in an Open to roll a three-game series over 700 -- 711 -- when he bowled in his first Open in 1951 in his hometown of St. Paul, Minn.

For the first 30 years of the event, he maintained a 200 average. It still is a respectable 186.6 for 465 games over 52 tournaments.

Olson bought the eight-lane center in Boulder City in 1980, and the business kept him traveling around the country to bowl in the Open for six of the next seven years.

In 1986, the only other time the Open has been in Las Vegas, Olson rolled a 280 game at Cashman. "Left a darn four pin," Olson said, referring to the lone hiccup that prevented him from posting his sixth 300 game.

His accomplishments led to his induction into bowling halls of fame in Minnesota, Minneapolis and Southern Nevada.

All that's left is enshrinement into the USBC Hall of Fame, something Olson said he would cherish.

"I really don't know why I haven't been voted in. Maybe what I did happened too long ago," he said. "There are younger guys they've picked that haven't done what I've done."

Bowling first sparked Olson's interest when he was in high school and worked as a pinboy, a dangerous job that involved placing pins in a rack that lowers onto the lane to set them. The proprietor let pinboys bowl for free.

"The four of us would each take a lane, and the one who knocked over the fewest pins had to set 'em up for the rest of us for the next frame," he says. "That made it pretty competitive."

He knows he has many reasons to relish today. Lowest on that list is how many pins he knocks down.

Contact reporter Jeff Wolf at jwolf@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0247.