A debate has been sparked in recent weeks concerning two of the most popular recreational sports in the United States. Golf and bowling appeal to athletes of wide ranging abilities and lifestyles. The controversy concerning these two activities stems from the most elusive event from each. In golf, the accolade that everyone aspires to achieve in his or her lifetime is a hole-in-one; as for bowling, that achievement is a perfect game (or a score of 300). Both of these occurrences are rare on a individual basis and, on the surface, one may say that they are both just as unlikely to occur in a person’s life. However, through careful research and examination of the statistics it is simple to determine which of these two events is more likely to happen in the average participant's time on this planet.

First and foremost, you might be saying to yourself, "How can you compare them, it's like comparing apples to oranges?". The best way to answer that question is by stating that if you were to survey this topic on the professional level, there is a definitive trend to more 300 games that have been bowled by professionals, then hole-in-ones by the same number of professional golfers. The interesting spin on this subject comes from survey of individuals that are adept at both sports. For arguments sake, lets pretend you are only looking for people with a 15 handicap or better, as well as a 190 bowling average or better. Now here is where the controversy begins! It is important to use these ranges because you want individuals who are actually capable of performing these feats. To get some inside perspective I interviewed Steven Ehrenworth, an optometrist from Wayne, NJ. He currently is maintaining a 195 average in a local bowling league, and supports a “friendly” 18 handicap. For our purposes today, this is close enough to our specifications. He has neither bowled a 300 game or had a hole-in-one. continued