Bob Benoit (born July 21, 1954, in

Topeka, Kansas Topeka ( ; Kansa: ; iow, Dópikˀe, script=Latn or ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Kansas and the seat of Shawnee County. It is along the Kansas River in the central part of Shawnee County, in northeast Kansas, in the Central U ...

) is a retired professional bowler in the

Professional Bowlers Association The Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) is the major sanctioning body for the sport of professional ten-pin bowling in the United States. Headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, the PBA membership consists of over 3,000 members worldwide. Member ...

(PBA), who was active in the 1980s and 1990s. Over the course of his career, Benoit won four

PBA Tour The PBA Tour is the major professional tour for ten-pin bowling, operated by the Professional Bowlers Association. Headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, over 3,000 members worldwide make up the PBA. While most of the PBA members are Regional profess ...

titles, all between 1988 and 1993.

PBA career

Benoit is mostly known for being the first bowler to ever roll a

perfect game Perfect game may refer to: Sports * Perfect game (baseball), a complete-game win by a pitcher allowing no baserunners * Perfect game (bowling), a 300 game, 12 consecutive strikes in the same game * Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League, New York ...

in a televised title match, as well as the fifth PBA bowler to throw a televised perfect game overall. He did this against

Mark Roth Mark may refer to: Currency * Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark, the currency of Bosnia and Herzegovina * East German mark, the currency of the German Democratic Republic * Estonian mark, the currency of Estonia between 1918 and 1927 * Fi ...

, beating him 300–255, at the Quaker State Open on January 23, 1988. The victory was in front of his home crowd at the Forum Bowl in

Grand Prairie, Texas Grand Prairie is a city in Dallas, Tarrant, and Ellis counties of Texas, in the United States. It is part of the Mid-Cities region in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. It had a population of 175,396 according to the 2010 census, making it ...

, a place where Benoit bowled league during the eleven years in which he lived in

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

. Only two other players have scored 300 in a televised title match since Benoit's feat:

Mike Aulby Mike Aulby (born March 25, 1960, in Indianapolis, Indiana) is a left-handed bowler and former member of the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA). He is one of only five PBA bowlers to win both a Rookie and Player of the Year award. ( Tommy Jones ...

in 1993 and Tommy Jones in 2020. This was Benoit's first ever title, as well as his first appearance in a telecast, making him the first bowler in history to score 300 in their very first TV appearance. This distinction stood until 2016, when

François Lavoie François Lavoie (born February 27, 1993) is a right-handed Canadian ten-pin bowler from Quebec City, Quebec, Canada, now making his home in Wichita, Kansas. He is a member of the Professional Bowlers Association, and has been a member of Team C ...

scored a 300 game in his first TV appearance, in the semifinal round of the 2016 U.S. Open. In that match, Lavoie defeated Shawn Maldonado, 300–211. Benoit would later be on the other end of a televised 300 game, losing 300–236 to Butch Soper in a stepladder match of the Hilton Hotels Classic in July, 1994. Benoit had 28 career top-five finishes and made it to the final match on eight occasions (wins in bold type): *January 23, 1988: Quaker State Open in

Grand Prairie, TX Grand Prairie is a city in Dallas, Tarrant, and Ellis counties of Texas, in the United States. It is part of the Mid-Cities region in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. It had a population of 175,396 according to the 2010 census, making it t ...

(defeated

) *January 21, 1989: Showboat Invitational in

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a state in the Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the 7th-most extensive, ...

(lost to Del Ballard Jr.) *February 16, 1991: Bud Light Classic in Sunrise, FL (defeated

Wayne Webb } Wayne Webb (born August 4, 1957) is an American professional bowler from Rehoboth, Massachusetts. He was known for his success from the late 1970s to the end of the 1980s. Webb is one of only 17 players in history to win at least 20 PBA Tour tit ...

) *March 9, 1991:

Johnny Petraglia John Petraglia Sr. (born March 3, 1947) is an American professional bowler. He is a member of the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA), where he won 14 PBA Tour titles. He has also won eight PBA Senior Tour titles. He is a member of both the P ...

Open in North Brunswick, NJ (lost to Pete Weber) *June 1, 1991: Beaumont PBA Doubles Classic (w/Del Ballard Jr.) in

Beaumont, TX Beaumont is a coastal city in the U.S. state of Texas. It is the seat of government of Jefferson County, within the Beaumont– Port Arthur metropolitan statistical area, located in Southeast Texas on the Neches River about east of Houston (c ...

(defeated Steve Hoskins and Philip Ringener) *July 6, 1991: El Paso Open in

El Paso, TX El Paso (; "the pass") is a city in and the seat of El Paso County in the western corner of the U.S. state of Texas. The 2020 population of the city from the U.S. Census Bureau was 678,815, making it the 23rd-largest city in the U.S., the s ...

(lost to Ray Edwards) *August 6, 1992: Senior/Touring Pro Doubles (w/ Nelson Burton Jr.) in

Belleville, IL Belleville is a city and the county seat of St. Clair County, Illinois, coterminous with the now defunct Belleville Township. It is also the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Belleville and the National Shrine of Our Lady of the Snows. The ...

(lost to Justin Hromek and

Dick Weber Richard Anthony Weber (December 23, 1929 – February 14, 2005) was a ten-pin bowling professional and a founding member of the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA). Along with Don Carter, Weber is widely regarded as professional bowling's fi ...

) *July 17, 1993: El Paso Open in El Paso, TX (defeated Robert Lawrence)

Personal

Bob has a brother, Rick Benoit, who is still involved in the bowling business, formerly as a tour consultant for Brunswick,BowlingFans.com: Rick Benoit's Expert Bowling Tips
/ref> and currently coaches both PBA and PWBA bowlers. Rick has also founded and developed a bowling educational program known as BowlU. Bob currently is a coach at Seaman High School, near Meriden, Kansas.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Benoit, Bob 1955 births Living people Sportspeople from Topeka, Kansas Sportspeople from Dallas American ten-pin bowling players