Hate to say this, but there is nothing exciting going on in the golf world right now here in Indiana.

The PGA Tour is in Florida, Tiger is not playing, Ernie Els finished off a victory last week, and Brickyard Crossing’s opening day of play has been pushed back due to weather.

A couple of weeks ago, the Professional Bowlers Tour was in town, along with my good friend Randy Pedersen. He is a 13-time winner on the PBA Tour and is now a broadcaster for PBA Tour telecasts on ESPN.

I met Randy about four years ago in Florida through a friend of mine, Steve Aloi from Syracuse, N.Y. Steve hooked us up to play at Bay Hill, and Randy just lived north of there in Clermont, Fla., so we asked him to join us.

Steve proceeded to tell me that Randy was a golf fanatic since he was semi-retired from bowling and was a pretty good player. We played that day, and Steve was right: Randy is a fanatic about golf. He had every latest, greatest thing in golf, whether it was a grip, shaft or golf ball.

We had a great time that day, as Bay Hill is one of the best golf courses in the country. I played really well, and Randy thought I was really something. So now every year when we are in Florida, we try and get together to play. And when he comes up here for the bowling tournament, we go to dinner and catch a little bowling.

This year was no exception, as we went to dinner at Ruth’s Chris right by the lanes and then went over to catch the last part of qualifying for the tournament. What I came to realize is that many professional bowlers play a lot of golf in their spare time.

I started thinking about how maybe bowlers and golfers are a lot alike. In golf, it is you against the course and its ever-changing conditions. Same with bowling. It is the bowler against the lanes and the 10 pins at the end, and during the course of bowling, the lanes can change dramatically.

So the players in both sports must adapt to those changes to excel. Golf and bowling both are played professionally and recreationally and also involve physical movement. Both sports also are very accessible for the recreational player, and most importantly, they can be family activities.

Bowlers dream of 300 games; golfers dream of breaking par or 100 or whatever the case may be. Here in Indiana, we dream of an early spring!

Jeff Schroeder
PGA Professional
Brickyard Crossing