900 series (bowling)

Sanctioning

To date in the United States, 41 individuals have bowled a total of 42 certified (or "sanctioned") 900 series – that is, 900s that have been officially recognized by the United States Bowling Congress (USBC), the sport's national governing body in the US. Andrew Granite, of Elverta, California was the most recent 900 series on November 10, 2025.

On 1 July 1982, Glenn Allison bowled the first 900 series to be recorded in sanctioned league play. He achieved this feat using a plastic bowling ball with a conventional drilled grip, on wood lanes, and an oil pattern that would be sanctioned today as sport compliant. This accomplishment was not officially certified by the then-American Bowling Congress (ABC), which cited non-compliant lane conditions. To this day, there is a cult following supporting Glenn Allison and urging the USBC to officially recognize him as the first bowler to achieve a perfect series, especially because it was accomplished before the era of reactive bowling balls, and other scores in the bowling center that night were not unusually high. However, the USBC still refuses to sanction Allison's 900 series after concluding a re-evaluation in 2014, stating among other things that it would call into question all other rejected honor score applications from that era.

In fact, the first six 900 series reported in ABC league play were all rejected for certification. The first perfect series to be officially sanctioned by the ABC/USBC was shot by collegiate bowler Jeremy Sonnenfeld on 2 February 1997 at Sun Valley Lanes bowling alley in Lincoln, Nebraska.

The first 900 in the history of the Professional Bowlers Association was bowled by Joe Scarborough on 22 April 2013 in a PBA50 Tour (formerly PBA Senior Tour) event. The PBA had seen three consecutive 300 games on one other occasion, by Norm Duke in 1996, but this was not considered to be an official 900 series because the games were not part of a contiguous set. The first two of Duke's 300 games were at the end of one round of play, and the third was at the beginning of the next round.

Robert Mushtare is the youngest bowler to have rolled a USBC-certified 900 series, doing so on 5 December 2005 at age 17 and is also currently the only bowler to have rolled a second certified 900, a feat achieved on 19 February 2006, less than 3 months after his first 900. On 11 January 2017, John Buchanan III became the oldest bowler (71) in USBC history to roll a sanctioned 900 series.

The 900 Club

References

References

1. Amdur, Neil. (1 July 2007). "Why a 900 Series Just Isn't What It Used to Be". The New York Times.
2. [https://web.archive.org/web/20120901190430/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1126111/5/index.htm 1982 ''Sports Illustrated'' article on Glenn Allison's 900 series]
3. [https://www.bowl.com/News/NewsDetails.aspx?id=23622323089 USBC concludes re-evaluation of Glenn Allison 900 series] Bigham, Terry 22 November 2014. Retrieved 27 November 2014
4. (22 April 2013). "PBA Senior rookie Joe Scarborough rolls first 900 series in PBA history | bowlingdigital.com".
5. (6 February 2011). "2011 Masters: Mushtare stays positive amid the talk".
6. Smith, Aaron. (13 January 2017). "Indiana Bowler Becomes Oldest to Roll 900 Series". USBC.
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8. Vincent Malozzi. (27 December 1998). "1998 IN REVIEW; Champions All, and All in Anonymity". The New York Times.
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12. (October 2004). "Collegiate Bowler Makes History, Finds Controversy in the Process".
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14. (5 July 2006). "Youngest 900 shooter ready to tackle Junior Gold Championships".
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40. Gregg Sarra. (27 April 2019). "Perfection! LI bowler Jeremy Milito rolls a 900 series". Newsday.
41. Matt Cannizzaro. (27 April 2019). "Former Team USA Member Wesley Low JR. Rolls 900 Series".
42. (17 November 2021). "Breaking! Perfect 900 Series Bowled by Cody Schmitt".
43. (16 March 2022). "Pennsylvania Bowler Rolls 900 Series in Local Association Tournament".
44. (25 June 2022). "Indiana's Bryan Deck Connects For 900 Series".
45. (22 January 2025). "New York's Desron Weatherspoon Connects For 900 Series".
46. (14 November 2025). "California's Andrew Granite authors 900 series".