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Cofer rolls first 300 game
When local bowler Gary Cofer lined up for his 12th ball last Tuesday, he was locked in. For the second time in his 43 years of bowling, Cofer had a 290 with one ball left.
The last time, on Nov. 2, 1998, Cofer came in a little light and left the seven pin standing to finish at 299.
In the decade and a half since, Cofer has had two sons, Andrew and Eric, bowl a perfect game. He's also watched as his brother and nephews have done it countless times.
"I felt the last 15 years it was just a matter of time," Cofer said.
That time came Tuesday, when Cofer, on rolling on lanes one and two at A 'n J Bowl, completed his first 300 game.
"It was weird," he said. "It didn't even set in until after the fact. It was the next day."
The 300-game came with a few weeks left in the league season and Cofer's team needed the win to clinch a first-place finish.
Cofer had a 739 series, with games of 205, 300 and 234.
"I was telling the boys, 'Come on. We need to get this thing going,'" he said. "That's what got me fired up."
He was going on lanes one and two for the series, alternating between his regular ball on one and a new gift from his son, a "Lane One" ball on two.
"That was weird, almost like karma," Cofer said.
After last week Cofer had raised his season average to 199, his highest in more than a decade. He also has a new set of favorite lanes at A 'n J.
He had preferred seven and eight, the lanes he rolled his 299 and his still-high series of 793.
Cofer, 59, has four sons, Eric, Gary, Anthony and Andrew, and a daughter, Alisha. He and his wife, Jeanette, have began bowling in Greencastle in 1979.
When the Greencastle bowling alley was closed for a few years, he joined leagues in neighboring towns, but he said it was nice to finally get his 300 in his favorite alley.
"It's a good feeling to come back home and do this," Cofer said. "It's pretty cool. It's a good feeling."