BOWLING : Williams Has Become a Ringer on Pro Tour

Unique in sports is Walter Ray Williams Jr., master of the underhanded delivery.

His dominance in horseshoe pitching earned him world titles, first as a junior at 11 and later as an adult, when he won five championships.

Now the 34-year-old from Stockton is making his move in his other sport, bowling. Much as Don Carter, Dick Weber, Earl Anthony and Mark Roth had their eras of supremacy on the lanes, Walter Ray Williams’ era might be here.

Heading into the $220,000 AC-Delco PBA tournament starting Wednesday at Cal Bowl in Lakewood, Williams is fresh from a year of history-making dominance in pro bowling.

He set four pro records:

--Highest earnings in a single year, $296,370.

--Highest single-year scoring average, 222.98 (for 1,300 games in 33 events).

--Most 300 games in a tournament, four, in the Greater Harrisburg (Pa.) Open.

--Most consecutive 200 games, 61.

His seven titles fell one short of tying another single-year mark.

As a result, Williams, a sizable performer among the pros at 6 feet 2 and 180 pounds, was the overwhelming choice of the Bowling Writers Assn. of America as bowler of the year, and of fellow professionals as pro player of the year, honors he had previously won with less impressive credentials in 1986.

Williams will use an arsenal of reactive resin bowling balls on the synthetic lanes at the “new look” Lakewood center, lately refurbished.

“It’s a relatively new kind of urethane ball,” he said. “It slides a little more on oil (lane dressing) and hooks a little more on a dry spot (where the oil dissipates during play). Properly controlled, the ball can do wonders.”

Williams is known for his accuracy, whether rolling a 16-pound ball at bowling pins 60 feet down a lane or hurling the two-pound horseshoe 40 feet around a 14-inch-high metal stake.

“I suppose my way since school days has been to focus with intensity on whatever I am doing.” Williams said. “Even in practice, I find myself deeply engrossed in testing shots, assessing reasons why shots are successful or fail.”

Williams was an achiever all through his growing years, according to his mother, Esther. “He concentrated so intently on a subject, his grammar school teachers had to startle him into moving on to the next lesson,” she said. “I feel his power of concentration as a student carries over today to explain his success in competition.”

Williams, a bachelor whose interest apart from sports is computer programming, was an honor graduate at Placer Union High in Auburn, Calif., before he earned a degree in physics at Cal Poly Pomona.

His focus at the moment is the $40,000 first prize in the tournament at hand. The money will be on the line in a nationally televised final at noon Saturday.

Williams took up bowling seriously at 17. He has 13 titles and numerous runner-up finishes for his 10 years on the pro trail. He has yet to win, however, in Southern California.

“It’s difficult to predict a win in pro bowling with so many great players today,” Williams said.

“At the moment, I feel I’ve reached a new and higher level of performance. I’m looking forward to doing as well this year as last.”