William Joseph Welu (July 3, 1932 – May 16, 1974) was an American professional bowler, executive for 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), bowling broadcaster, and

ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or sov ...

for the sport. A founding member of the PBA in 1958, he won four PBA titles, including two

USBC Masters The USBC Masters is a championship ten-pin bowling event conducted by the United States Bowling Congress. The Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) began recognizing it as a title event in 1998, and it was designated one of the four majors in 200 ...

(then known as the American Bowling Congress) championships. He was only the second bowler in history to successfully defend a

United States Bowling Congress The United States Bowling Congress (USBC) is a sports membership organization dedicated to ten-pin bowling in the United States. It was formed in 2005 by a merger of the American Bowling Congress—the original codifier of all tenpin bowling stand ...

Masters title, winning the event in 1964 and 1965 to join Dick Hoover (1956–57). The feat was not matched again until

Jason Belmonte Jason Belmonte (born 29 July 1983) is an Australian professional ten-pin bowler. He plays on the PBA Tour in the United States and in world events. He is known for being one of the first bowlers to gain media attention for using the two hand ...

won back-to-back Masters titles in 2013–14. Welu was born to Frank Joseph Welu (1895–1983) and Gertrude Mary Welu (1896–1964); he had a sister Patricia. He graduated from St. Thomas University and later received a master's degree in education from

Saint Louis University Saint Louis University (SLU) is a private Jesuit research university with campuses in St. Louis, Missouri, United States, and Madrid, Spain. Founded in 1818 by Louis William Valentine DuBourg, it is the oldest university west of the Mississip ...

. He played for the short-lived

National Bowling League The National Bowling League (NBL) is a defunct professional bowling league that existed from February 24, 1960 to July 9, 1962. The league was formed as an attempt to ride the popularity of bowling television shows, and also to challenge the Profess ...

(NBL) in 1961–1962. Aside from his two Masters titles, Welu won the 1959 BPAA All-Star (predecessor to the U.S. Open), four ABC championships, and two other PBA titles. He was named an All-American seven times. A 1999 edition of ''Bowlers Journal'' ranked him No. 22 among the greatest bowlers of 20th century. Known for his folksy Midwestern speech pattern and easygoing personality, Welu spent several years as an analyst alongside broadcaster

Chris Schenkel Christopher Eugene Schenkel (August 21, 1923 – September 11, 2005) was an American sportscaster. Over the course of five decades he called play-by-play for numerous sports on television and radio, becoming known for his smooth delivery and bar ...

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

's Saturday afternoon telecasts of the ''

Professional Bowlers Tour The Professional Bowlers Tour, also known as Pro Bowlers Tour, is a broadcast of the Professional Bowlers Association that aired on ABC from 1962 to 1997. In the telecasts, sportscaster Chris Schenkel and the graphics displayed during the show ...

''. He was posthumously inducted into the PBA Hall of Fame in 1975.

Death

Welu's suicide by an intentional Pentobarbital overdose (widely reported as a heart attack) at age 41 in 1974 took a major toll on his close friend Schenkel, prompted ABC to find a new color commentator to join Schenkel in the booth. This was during a time when bowling was wildly popular and garnered very high ratings on television.

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 ...

and Dave Davis alternated telecasts for a brief period until Nelson Burton Jr. was selected as a permanent replacement for Welu. Nelson and Chris spent nearly 23 years together calling the action for

ABC Sports ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

PBA Memorial Scholarship

The

offers the Billy Welu Memorial Scholarship for college bowlers.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Welu, Billy 1932 births 1974 deaths American ten-pin bowling players Bowling broadcasters