Gary Faulkner Jr. (born October 18, 1990) is an American ten-pin bowler from

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...

. He competes on the

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 ...

after having been a member of Junior Team USA. He won his first major PBA title in 2015.

Background

Faulkner grew up in Whitehaven and Germantown (in and near

) and is a 2009 graduate of Germantown High School. He learned to bowl at Winchester Bowl and the Strike Zone Bowling Lanes in Memphis, where he earned the nickname “300”. His father, Gary Faulkner Sr., is pastor at Cummings Street Missionary Baptist Church in Southeast Memphis.

Amateur career

Faulkner entered the TNBA (The National Bowling Association) Junior Bowling Program at age 5, eventually mentoring other youth bowlers. He won the Junior Gold Championship in 2011 and earned a spot on Junior Team USA. He attended

Webber International University Webber International University (Webber or WIU) is a private university in Babson Park, Florida. History Webber International was founded as Webber College by Roger Babson, an entrepreneur and business theorist in the first half of the 20th centu ...

, where in 2012 he anchored the men's team to Intercollegiate Team Championship win, and was 2013 ITC men's most valuable player. He is a TNBA Veronica L. Green Junior Singles Scratch Tournament Masters titlist.

Professional bowling career

Faulkner joined the PBA in 2013, and, in his first professional television appearance, in 2015 he won a major title at the Rolltech PBA World Championship. In 2016 he finished ninth in the PBA Xtra Frame Lubbock Sports Open. Faulkner became the second PBA Tour African-American champion, after now-retired tour winner

George Branham III George Branham III (born November 21, 1962) is a professional ten-pin bowler and former member of the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA). He began his career in 1984 and retired at the end of the 2003 season. His career is most noted because h ...

. In recognition, Tennessee

Representative Representative may refer to: Politics *Representative democracy, type of democracy in which elected officials represent a group of people *House of Representatives, legislative body in various countries or sub-national entities *Legislator, someon ...

Steve Cohen Steve, Steven or Stephen Cohen may refer to: Sportspeople * Stephan Cohen (born 1971), French pocket billiards player * Steve Cohen (gymnast) (born 1946), American Olympic gymnast *Steve Cohen (judoka) (born 1955), American judoka and Olympian *Ste ...

invited Faulkner to bowl at the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800. ...

, where on March 4, 2016 he bowled on the lanes beneath the adjacent

Eisenhower Executive Office Building The Eisenhower Executive Office Building (EEOB)—formerly known as the Old Executive Office Building (OEOB), and originally as the State, War, and Navy Building—is a U.S. government building situated just west of the White House in the U.S. ca ...

with some members of his family, of Cohen's staff, of White House staff, and Cohen himself.

Recognition from the United States Congress

PBA Tour wins

#2015 – Rolltech PBA World Championship (Reno, Nevada)

Personal

Faulkner has a bachelor's degree in computer information systems from

, and enjoys computer programming, working out, and basketball.

References

External links

Faulkner's Profile
at PBA.com
Faulkner "Bowler" page
on Facebook
Recognizing and Congratulating Gary Faulkner Jr.
United States ''Congressional Record,'' February 4, 2016 {{DEFAULTSORT:Faulkner, Gary Jr. American ten-pin bowling players Sportspeople from Memphis, Tennessee 1990 births Living people African-American sportsmen Webber International University alumni 21st-century African-American sportspeople