Tom Hess (born December 13, 1969) is a professional bowler from

Urbandale, Iowa Urbandale is a city in Polk and Dallas counties, Iowa, United States. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, the city population was 45,580. It is part of the Des Moines–West Des Moines Metropolitan Statistical Area. History Urbandale was incorporated as ...

, and is a member of 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). He now bowls out of

Granger, Iowa Granger is a city in Dallas and Polk counties in the U.S. state of Iowa. The population was 1,654 at the time of the 2020 census, up 184% from 583 in 2000. It is part of the Des Moines–West Des Moines Metropolitan Statistical Area. Geograph ...

Bowling career

Hess won the 2011

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 ...

for not only his first major title, but his first-ever

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 ...

victory. This victory earned him $50,000. He was the 2003 PBA Midwest Region Rookie of the Year, the 2010–11 PBA Midwest Region Player of the Year, and a three-time Iowa state champion. Hess joined the PBA50 Tour (for players age 50 and older) in 2020, but that season was cancelled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, making 2021 Tom's rookie season. On September 7, 2021, Hess won the PBA50 Senior U.S. Open with a convincing 256–209 victory over PBA Hall of Famer Chris Barnes in the title match. This gave Hess a major title on each of the PBA and PBA50 Tours. On September 19, Hess won his second PBA50 major title at the USBC Senior Masters. Qualifying as the #4 seed, Hess defeated #5 seed Donnie Hogue in the opening match, then went on to defeat three PBA Hall of Famers ( Pete Weber,

Doug Kent Doug Kent (born February 9, 1967) is a right-handed American professional ten-pin bowler, a member of the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA), and a PBA and United States Bowling Congress, USBC Hall of Famer. In the PBA Bowling Tour: 2006–07 ...

and Chris Barnes) on his way to the title. In the process, Hess wrapped up PBA50 Rookie of the Year and PBA50 Player of the Year honors, becoming the third player (after

Tom Baker Thomas Stewart Baker (born 20 January 1934) is an English actor and writer. He is well known for his portrayal of the Fourth Doctor, fourth incarnation of The Doctor (Doctor Who), the Doctor in the science fiction television series ''Doctor Wh ...

and

Norm Duke Norm Duke (born March 25, 1964) is an American professional bowler currently competing on the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) Tour and the PBA50 Tour. He has won 40 titles on the PBA Tour, including seven major championships, and another ...

) to win both awards in the same season. Hess also joined

Dave Soutar David Soutar (born March 7, 1940) is a retired professional ten-pin bowler who competed on the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) Tour. He won 18 times on the regular PBA Tour, and seven more times on the PBA Senior Tour (now known as the PBA ...

and

Walter Ray Williams Jr. Walter Ray Williams Jr. (born October 6, 1959) is an American professional bowler and competitive horseshoes pitcher. He currently holds the record for all-time standard PBA Tour career titles (47) and total PBA earnings (over $4.9 million throu ...

as the only players in history to win both the USBC Masters and USBC Senior Masters in a career. Hess participated in the 2022

PBA Tournament of Champions The PBA Tournament of Champions is one of the five major PBA (Professional Bowlers Association) Ten-pin bowling, bowling events. It is an invitational event and the only PBA Tour major that does not have any open field. All participants must meet qu ...

, and was the only senior player to make it to the match play round. On July 3, 2022, Hess won his third PBA50 Tour title at the Highland Park Lanes Open in

Greeley, Colorado Greeley is the home rule municipality city that is the county seat and the most populous municipality of Weld County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 108,795 at the 2020 United States Census, an increase of 17.12% since the 2010 ...

. Hess is currently sponsored by Storm Bowling, having previously been a member of the Brunswick pro staff.

Professional titles

Major titles are in bold.

PBA Tour titles

# 2011 USBC Masters (

Reno, NV Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada-California border, about north from Lake Tahoe, known as "The Biggest Little City in the World". Known for its casino and tourism industry, Reno is the ...

)

PBA50 Tour titles

# 2021 PBA50 Senior U.S. Open (

Brentwood, CA Brentwood is a city in Contra Costa County, California, United States. It is located in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. The population is 66,854 as of 2022, an increase of 287% from 23,302 at the 2000 census. Brentwood began ...

) # 2021 USBC Senior Masters (

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 ...

, NV) # 2022 PBA50 Highland Park Lanes Open (

Greeley, CO Greeley is the home rule municipality city that is the county seat and the most populous municipality of Weld County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 108,795 at the 2020 United States Census, an increase of 17.12% since the 2010 ...

)

Personal

Hess also works in the sod industry, and is now an analyst/color commentator for live PBA tournament coverage on BowlTV, the USBC's YouTube channel.

References

External links

Tom Hess: player profile
rofessional Bowlers Association {{DEFAULTSORT:Hess, Tom American ten-pin bowling players People from Urbandale, Iowa 1969 births Living people