Bowling One-On-One with Eric Hattrup: Living a Dream
Bowling means so much to a lot of people around the world. All the time and effort, the challenges, the blood, sweat and tears, the joys of victory and agony of defeat. It captivates our souls and invigorates our hearts and has us coming back for more every day. No one understands this more than Eric Hattrup. He’s dedicated to helping the sport of bowling grow and is also a fearless competitor. I had an opportunity to chat with Eric and I asked him about his bowling journey.
Eric started bowling at 8 years old and fell in love with the sport right away. Over the next decade the young left-hander’s dedication and talent was evident on the scorecard. At the age of 15 he started bowling competitively in a youth scratch tournament club called the JCCB and Bay Area Junior Classic. He won one event and finished in the top five in several others. Eric was hooked and he wanted to be like the professionals he saw on TV on the weekends back in the 70’s and 80’s. And at age 16, his life in bowling would change forever. “If I wasn’t at the alley, I was watching the PBA Tour on Saturday afternoons. I remember watching Earl Anthony and Mark Roth, Marshall Holman to see who would win another title.“
“It was in a youth program under Midge Norry when I achieved my first 300 game. I never even came close before that day. Before I knew it, I had the first nine strikes in a row. I went up into the 10th frame and rolled three more strikes.”
History was made with that achievement as Eric became the first youth bowler in Pleasant Hill Lanes history to roll a 300 game. His passion for the game would catch fire from there and he ended up rolling seven 300 games by age 20.
Eric spent a lot of time at Pleasant Hill Lanes as a teenager and when he turned 18, Paul Thompson, put him to work there. Eric enjoyed everything about bowling, the operations of running a center and working on his game. He was committed to the sport and already planning for his future. “I started putting a lot of time into my game rolling up to 100 games a week. My average climbed from 190’s to 223. When I was 16 years old and after rolling my first 300 game, I set some career goals for myself. No.1, I wanted to join the PBA by age 23. No. 2, I wanted to own my own bowling center by the time I was 50 and No. 3, I wanted to become a Contra Costa County Hall of Famer.”
Eric checked off the first box and at age 23, he joined the PBA. It started off with a bang as he rolled a perfect 300 in his first ever PBA match play game. He finished that tournament in 10th place. In 1988 Eric joined the PBA National Tour and hit the road. “I bought a custom van and drove to LA, Las Vegas, Grand Prarie Texas near Dallas, New Orleans, and Miami to bowl in my first 5 National tournaments. I didn’t cash in any of the events, but I learned a lot. I came back home and regrouped.”
When Eric was faced with adversity, he would simply bear down on his game. “When I had setbacks, I would go practice 100 games a week. That was my routine for over a 10-year span, and it really helped me prepare for my upcoming tournaments. It helped me with my hand-eye techniques. As a kid I would throw a super ball against a retaining wall and catch it repeatedly. I think that specifically helped my hand-eye coordination over the years.”
Eric was focused and preparing for another run on the PBA Tour. Over the next five years he would bowl in 35 professional tournaments. However, the overall success he was looking for didn’t quite materialize. Eric moved on from his PBA career, but he still wanted to compete. Over the following decade, Eric continued to compete in local tournaments and he became one of the top left-handed bowlers in the Bay Area winning nearly 60 tournaments in that span. “I never made it very good out on the tour, but I used what I learned from the PBA Tour to bowl local events in the SF bay area. My best year I bowled in 77 tournaments, cashing in 55 and winning 11 times. Not bad for a weekend bowler.”
Following his experience on the PBA tour, Eric worked mostly in non-bowling industries, at one point for the USPS in Walnut Creek, CA., but the sport of bowling kept pulling at his heart. It’s what he loved to do. He knew there was more in the sport that he wanted to experience and accomplish. “I wasn’t happy. I had the desire to manage bowling centers and to one day become an owner. So, I quit my post office job and took a night manager job at Serra Bowl in Daly City. I traveled across the Bay Bridge every day from Martinez, but I was happier doing what I loved.”
From there, Eric spent many years working in management capacities for several bowling alleys including Albany Bowl and Diablo Lanes to name a few. At Diablo he worked for Fred Foerster. There, he was gaining the experience he wanted and needed in preparation of his goal of owning and running a bowling alley. “About a year into it, Fred was looking to retire from the bowling industry and talked with me about ownership. I talked to my father, Gordon Hattrup, and we formed a partnership and purchased Diablo Lanes in April of 2006.”
Eric became the owner and President of Diablo Lanes at age 42. He called upon all his experience and knowledge over the years, and went to work. “I ran the center and implemented my ideas, developed several youth leagues, sport condition leagues and Kegel Pattern leagues.”
Eric continued to dedicate his efforts to the sport that he loved. His impact was felt, and it did not go unnoticed. He was voted Bowlers Journal ‘Proprietor of the Year’ in his rookie year of ownership in 2007. Eric and his father owned the establishment for six years.
Eric Hattrup worked for me at Pleasant Hill Lanes some 40 years ago and was also a very good bowler back then winning numerous bowling events and bowling many 300 games. He now is working for me at Clayton Valley Bowl as my night Manager and League and Special Events Coordinator. He is an expert at doing these things and has helped me and Clayton Valley Bowl tremendously.
-Paul Thompson
Growing up as a child with fond memories of bowling, supporting youth bowling has always been close to Eric’s heart. Back in 2000, a close friend of Eric’s, Vaughn Karabedian, ran a youth tournament club called the Northern California Junior Bowlers Tour. But Vaughn was preparing to step away at the time. “I showed interest in taking over and running the club, and when he decided to take some time off, I did just that. I reached out to the greater San Francisco bay area and the Sacramento area to let everyone know that the youth club was still alive. I put the word out to the newspapers and contacted over 50 bowling centers with fliers and restarted the tour. I started out with 10 bowlers, and it grew to over 100 entries and over 200 members each year.”
Over the next 11 years, Eric ran one tournament a month for a total of 132 consecutive monthly events and his efforts were hugely successful. “The youth club’s success was responsible for paying out over $250,000 in youth scholarships to the USBC Smart Program to help hundreds of kid’s tuitions towards college educations. I had two brothers in the club from South San Francisco, Michael and Darren Tang. They’re both on the PBA National Tour today. I can think of dozens of former youth bowlers who grew up through my club, and becoming PBA Members to some extent, regional or national.”
I asked Eric about the mindset and work ethic it takes to be prepared for competition and what he might say to those trying to improve their game to gain any edge possible in competition. “Practice, Practice, Practice. Work on techniques, work on spares and work on different lane conditions. When I was bowling competitively, I would practice at four to five centers a week and get use to as many conditions as possible. I had a game plan when I first started bowling tournaments. I would try to cash in as many events as possible. The next step was to make the finals and then learn ‘how to win’. I also had to learn ‘how to lose’ so to get better and hungrier.”
One by one Eric accomplished the three goals he had set for himself way back at the age of 16. At 23 years old he became a member of the PBA. At the age of 42 he and his father became owners of Diablo Lanes. And, at the age of 46 he became a Hall of Famer of the CCC USBC.
Eric has been involved in bowling for more than 50 years and working in the industry for the better part of 44 years at more than 10 different bowling establishments. He’s experienced just about every possible role and position at a bowling center. He has competed with the best bowlers in the world on the pro tour. He has (51) sanctioned 300 games in competition and (18) 800 series with a personal high of 868 (299-280-289).
Eric Hattrup followed his heart and continues to positively impact the sport of bowling by doing what he loves. “My life has been full of ups and downs in the industry. I have made several lifetime friends through this great sport of bowling, and I wouldn’t change a thing. It has been like living a dream and I am still living it today here at Clayton Valley Bowl thanks to my Manager and long-time friend Paul Thompson.”
