(Newser) – A perfect 300 bowling score may not seem newsworthy, until you realize the person achieving it is legally blind. Ron Gooch accomplished his lifelong dream last month, bowling 12 perfect strikes to join the 10 other legally blind bowlers known to have bowled a perfect game. He's been bowling 46 years, ever since his father took him to a bowling alley at age 6 to show him that timing and technique are more important than bad eyesight.



"I didn't want him to feel sorry for himself," his dad tells the Chicago Tribune. Gooch has had blurred vision since birth thanks to a condition called nystagmus, and can only see about 20 feet away at best. He uses lane markers to position himself while bowling, since trying to look down the 60-foot lane "is like trying to look into a flashlight," he says. The kicker? He left the bowling alley after his 300 to do something else he enjoys—play pool.

(Read more bowling stories.)

