
DATE: Tuesday, November 4, 1997             TAG: 9711040462

SECTION: SPORTS                  PAGE: C1   EDITION: FINAL  

SOURCE: BY ED MILLER, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE                        LENGTH:   82 lines

CORRECTION/CLARIFICATION: * Local bowler Glenn Tribble is from Norfolk. A story and caption in Tuesday's editions contained an error. Correction published in The Virginian-Pilot, Wed., Nov. 5, 1997, page C3. * AMATEUR ADVENTURE 3 LOCAL BOWLERS FACED HUGE ODDS AS THEY TOOK ON PROS THEY IDOLIZE.

For Bobby Thompson, it would have been the shot heard 'round the PBA tour.

Imagine an amateur bowler walking into this week's Ebonite Challenge at AMF Western Branch and matching the sport's best, pin for pin. Imagine him shouldering past hall of famers into match play, maybe even the final four.

Imagine him winning the whole thing.

It hasn't happened since 1971, and alas, it won't happen this week.

Thompson, 46, and two other local amateurs were eliminated Monday, when the field at the Ebonite Challenge was whittled from 120 to 24.

No surprise there. The upset would have been if one of the local rollers had qualified for match play. It happens only two or three times a year, according to PBA spokesman Al Wilhelm.

Thompson, of Virginia Beach, and fellow amateurs Charles Terwilliger III of Chesapeake and Glen Tribble of Virginia Beach knew the odds as well as anyone.

``Competing at this level requires guts and intelligence,'' Thompson joked. ``I'm not sure I've got enough of either.''

Competing also requires $500. At least it did for Terwilliger and Tribble, who paid their way into the field. Thompson won a qualifying tournament. The ``house'' is allowed four amateur entries at each PBA event. Geoff Boggs of Newport News was the fourth amateur.

While $500 for two days of tenpins may seem steep, it was worth every penny, said Terwilliger, an electrician at the Surry Nuclear Power Plant who plans to turn pro next year.

As a kid, the 29-year-old Terwilliger used to roll an old bowling ball along the sidewalk in front of his Churchland home, trying to turn the ball like his hero, PBA pro Mark Roth.

On Monday, Roth was two lanes over.

``He's bowling next to his idol,'' said Terwilliger's father, Charles Jr.

Terwilliger III was also, as his father put it, ``running out of gas.''

The bulky former Churchland High football player was finishing his 18th game in 24 hours. His hand was sore, his average plummeting.

``I average about 20 games a week,'' he said. ``These guys roll 200.''

Terwilliger carries a 206 average in three local leagues. He opened with a 214 Sunday and thought he might have a chance at some prize money. The top 39 finishers get paid.

``Then I came back down to Earth,'' he said.

It happens to the best amateurs. Wilhelm said amateurs can count on losing 20 pins on the oil-slick lanes the pros use.

Terwilliger was right on target, finishing with a 188.89 average, good enough for 104th place.

Thompson, a single father of three who drives a Coca-Cola truck, fared better, averaging 200.44, good enough for 82nd. It was not his first PBA tour event, but it was his first in 28 years. He was an 18-year-old in 1969 when he had an experience much like Terwilliger's.

``Three or four lanes down was Dick Weber,'' Thompson said.

Thompson, born three months before his near-namesake, Bobby Thomson, hit his famous home run, went on to become one of the area's top amateurs. In 1995, he set an area record by carrying a 222 average for a whole season.

Tribble, a 31-year-old export manager, was competing in his first PBA tour event. He carries a 210 average, and finished at 195. He also plans to turn pro next year.

``It was a little awe-inspiring,'' he said. ``You watch these guys on TV, and you wonder how you would do, under the same conditions.''

Now that Tribble knows, will he come back to watch Wednesday's final?

``Nah,'' he said. ``I'll watch it on TV.'' ILLUSTRATION: THE EBONITE CHALLENGE

MARTIN SMITH-RODDEN/The Virginian-Pilot

``You watch these guys on TV, and you wonder how you would do, under

the same conditions,'' said Glen Tribble, 31, of Virginia Beach.

Bobby Thompson

Charlie Terwilliger III