Columbus resident Troy Coffman credits his lifelong friend Doug Henry for helping him take his bowling skills to new heights when they were kids.
Henry was a junior at Columbus East when he started working at Bulldogs Lane, which no longer exists. Coffman, who was an eighth-grader at the time, spent most of his free time at Bulldogs Lane when Henry started giving him pointers to improve his game.
“He’s the one who really got me focused in on bowling,” Coffman said. “When him and I started working together, he got me where I was concentrating on the line — hit the line, hit the line, hit the line. That’s what made me a lot better bowler.”
Those bowling tips helped foster a lasting friendship that is still in tact decades later and also turned both bowlers into Hall of Famers. The two East graduates were inducted into the Columbus Bowlers Hall of Fame during a May 4 ceremony at Columbus Bowling Center.
Coffman, 53, and Henry, 56, received Hall of Fame plaques with their names on them and a a proclamation from Columbus Mayor James Lienhoop.
Henry was excited when he first heard he would be inducted, but became even more appreciative once he found out he was being inducted alongside his good friend.
“It’s kind of cool getting inducted with Troy because we bowled so much together young, and now we’re further on and we’re getting in there together,” Henry said. “That was cool.”
Henry came from a family of bowlers. Both his mother, Barbara Eddy in 1979, and his step father, Fred Eddy in 2003, were inducted into the Indiana Bowlers Hall of Fame. Henry also went on to bowl in college and won two national championships at Vincennes University.
He said one of his most memorable accomplishments was when he bowled a perfect game as a 17-year-old. His perfect game was one of only six 300s recorded in Columbus that year.
Some of Coffman’s most memorable moments as a bowler came when he bowled a 2,264 for nine games, an average of just over 251 per game. He also set the city record for three games when he was 20. His 854 score was one pin away from the state record and four pins off of the national record. His city record held for 20 years before it was finally broken.
Both Coffman and Henry have great memories from their bowling careers, and it can be traced back to the day they met at Bulldogs Lane all those years ago.
“It made him bowl better trying to beat me,” Henry said. “Then, he got to where he could compete right with me, and we were bowling head to head. You watch a kid evolve into that, and then you’ve got to keep your game up to stay ahead of him. That was fun bowling at Bulldogs.”
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Name: Doug Henry
Age: 56
High school: Columbus East
College: Vincennes
Occupation: Service advisor for Columbus Hubler Honda
Highlights: Bowled a perfect game at 17 years-old, won two collegiate national championships at Vincennes
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Name: Troy Coffman
Age: 53
High school: Columbus East
Occupation: Facility coordinator at Our Hospice of South Central Indiana; owner of Advanced Geothermal Service
Milestones: Averaged over 251 for a nine-game series, set the city record for three games at 20 years-old
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