Brian Voss (born August 4, 1958) of

Cornelius, North Carolina Cornelius is a suburban town located along Lake Norman in northern Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, United States. It is a major suburb in the Charlotte metropolitan area. The population was 24,866 at the 2010 census. History Potts Plantation ...

, is a professional ten-pin bowler and 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. Membe ...

since 1982. The right-hander owns 25 PBA Tour titles (11th all-time), including one major championship, plus two titles on the PBA50 Tour and one PBA60 event title. He was inducted into the PBA Hall of Fame in 1994 and the USBC Hall of Fame in 2007.

Early years

Born August 4, 1958, Brian Voss grew up in

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(USA), where his father took ownership of a bowling center when Brian was 6. As he said in a 2002 interview, "Bowling has been part of my life for as long as I can remember." After his family moved to

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...

, Voss struggled to pay for college while working at a bowling center, before deciding to enlist in the U.S. Army. He served two years as an Army electronics technician in the

Seattle, WA Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region of ...

area, where he also had the opportunity to participate in intramural bowling and refine his game while winning multiple All-Army championships.

PBA career

Voss won his first PBA tour title in 1983. In the title match, Voss and challenger Pete McCordic tied after the standard 10 frames with an unusually low score of 176. Voss took the championship in a 9th/10th frame roll-off. The 1980s saw him win his only major title, the 1988

PBA National Championship The PBA World Championship is one of five major PBA ( Professional Bowlers Association) bowling events. It is one of three PBA Tour major events that are open only to PBA members. (The U.S. Open and USBC Masters allow qualifying amateurs to enter ...

. Also in 1988, he earned a then-record $225,485 and was named PBA Player of the Year. Voss enjoyed his best career stretch from 1987–1998, winning at least one title in 12 straight seasons. (The PBA record of 17 straight seasons with a title is held by

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 ...

) It was during this time that two well-known catchphrases caught on: "Don't cross the Voss!" and "Voss is Boss!". Voss suffered a broken wrist at the beginning of the 1999 season, and the streak ended. He has collected over $2.4 million in career PBA earnings. He was known for exceptional versatility, being able to bowl well on multiple oil patterns. According to pba.com, Voss was "a threat to win any event in which he entered." Voss lost his PBA Tour exemption following the 2006-07 season, but was reinstated as an exempt player for 2009-10 under the PBA's new "Golden Parachute" rule. In that season, at age 51, Voss won his 25th PBA Tour title—a mixed doubles championship with Diandra Asbaty. With the win, Voss bowled as an exempt player for the 2010-11 PBA Tour season. This made him the oldest exempt player on tour at that time. (Voss turned 52 in August, 2010. Exempt player and all-time titles leader

turned 51 in October, 2010.) On August 3, 2016, a day shy of his 58th birthday, Voss won his first PBA50 Tour title at the Dave Small's Championship Lanes Classic in

Anderson, Indiana Anderson, named after Chief William Anderson, is a city in and the county seat of Madison County, Indiana, United States. It is the principal city of the Anderson, Indiana Metropolitan Statistical Area which encompasses Madison County. Anderson ...

. He won his second PBA50 Tour title on May 2, 2018, at the Mooresville Open in Mooresville, NC. In August 2018, he turned 60 and won the Dick Weber Classic for PBA60, winning the 60-up tour in his first tournament.

PBA Tour titles

Major titles in bold type. # 1983 Greater Detroit Open ( Dearborn Heights, Michigan) # 1984 Houston Open ( Houston, Texas) # 1987 Quaker State Open (

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) # 1987 Southern California Open (

Riverside, California Riverside is a city in and the county seat of Riverside County, California, United States, in the Inland Empire metropolitan area. It is named for its location beside the Santa Ana River. It is the most populous city in the Inland Empire and ...

) # 1988 Trustcorp PBA National Championship (

Toledo, Ohio Toledo ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Lucas County, Ohio, United States. A major Midwestern United States port city, Toledo is the fourth-most populous city in the state of Ohio, after Columbus, Cleveland, and Cincinnati, and accordin ...

) # 1988 True Value Open (

Peoria, Illinois Peoria ( ) is the county seat of Peoria County, Illinois, United States, and the largest city on the Illinois River. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 113,150. It is the principal city of the Peoria Metropolitan Area in Centr ...

) # 1989 ''Bowlers Journal'' Florida Open (

Merritt Island, Florida Merritt Island is a peninsula, commonly referred to as an island, in Brevard County, Florida, United States, located on the eastern Floridian coast, along the Atlantic Ocean. It is also the name of an unincorporated town in the central and s ...

) # 1989 Don Carter’s Greater New Orleans Classic (

Harvey, Louisiana Harvey is a census-designated place (CDP) in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, United States. Harvey is on the south side (referred to as the "West Bank") of the Mississippi River, within the New Orleans– Metairie–Kenner metropolitan stati ...

) # 1990 Budweiser Classic (

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) # 1991 ARC Pinole Open (

Pinole, California Pinole (Spanish for "cornmeal") is a city in Contra Costa County, California, United States. The population was 18,390 at the 2010 census. History The name derives from " pinole", a Nāhuatl word for a kind of flour made from the seeds o ...

) # 1991 Columbia 300 Open (

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the county seat, seat and largest city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and Williamson County, Texas, Williamson co ...

) # 1992 Paula Carter’s Homestead Classic (

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) # 1993 Active West Open (Riverside, California) # 1994 Oranamin C Japan Cup (

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, Japan) # 1995 Greater Detroit Open (

Taylor, Michigan Taylor is a city in Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. Its population was 63,409 at the 2020 census. Taylor is the fifth most-populated city in Wayne County and the 17th most-populated city in Michigan. The area was originally a civi ...

) # 1996 Oregon Open (

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populou ...

) # 1997 Northwest Classic (

Richland, Washington Richland () is a city in Benton County, Washington, United States. It is located in southeastern Washington at the confluence of the Yakima and the Columbia Rivers. As of the 2020 census, the city's population was 60,560. Along with the nearby c ...

) # 1997 Wichita Open (

Wichita, Kansas Wichita ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Sedgwick County. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 397,532. The Wichita metro area had a population of 647,610 in 2020. It is located in ...

) # 1998 Brunswick Johnny Petraglia Open (

North Brunswick, New Jersey North Brunswick is a township in Middlesex County, New Jersey, United States. It is centrally located in the Raritan Valley region within the New York Metropolitan area. At the 2020 United States census, the population was 43,905, reflecting ...

) # 1998 National Finance Championship (

Virginia Beach, Virginia Virginia Beach is an independent city (United States), independent city located on the southeastern coast of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. The population was 459,470 at the 2020 United States cen ...

) # 2002 PBA Orleans Casino Open (

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish language, Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the List of United States cities by population, 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the U.S. state, state of Neva ...

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) # 2002 PBA Memphis Open (

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) # 2004 PBA Storm Orange County Classic (

Fountain Valley, California Fountain Valley is a suburban city in Orange County, California. The population was 57,047 at the 2020 census. History The area encompassing Fountain Valley was originally inhabited by the Tongva people. European settlement of the area ...

) # 2006 Jackson Hewitt Tax Service Classic (

Trussville, Alabama Trussville is a city in Jefferson and St. Clair counties in the State of Alabama. It is a suburb of Birmingham and part of the Birmingham-Hoover Metropolitan Statistical Area. Its population at the 2020 census was 26,123. Geography Trussv ...

) # 2010 Bayer Don & Paula Carter Mixed Doubles w/Diandra Asbaty (

Wheat Ridge, Colorado The City of Wheat Ridge is a home rule municipality located in Jefferson County, Colorado, United States. Wheat Ridge is located immediately west of Denver and is a part of the Denver–Aurora–Lakewood, CO Metropolitan Statistical Area. Th ...

)

Personal

Early in his career, Voss developed a sort of "pastyboi" reputation because of his poster-boy good looks. In fact, he became a devout family man. Unlike most bowlers, who stay on the road between stops of the grueling PBA tour, Brian routinely flew home to his wife and two sons in the

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,71 ...

area, even if only for a couple of days. After living for many years in the Atlanta suburbs, Brian moved to Centennial, Colorado. He currently lives in

, having been given an opportunity to teach bowling in the area.

Awards and recognition

* PBA Player of the Year (1988) * Harry Smith PBA Points Leader award (1987, 1988) * Inducted into PBA Hall of Fame, 1994 * Inducted into USBC Hall of Fame, 2007 * Through the end of the 2008-09 season, he had rolled 52 perfect 300 games in PBA events. * Was ranked #13 on the PBA's 2008 list of "50 Greatest Players of the Last 50 Years"

References

External sources

* Hall of Fame bios at www.pba.com, official site of the Professional Bowlers Association *
Official website of the Professional Bowlers Association
{{DEFAULTSORT:Voss, Brian American ten-pin bowling players 1958 births Living people People from Cornelius, North Carolina