| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1960-03-25)March 25, 1960 (age 65) Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S. |
| Years active | 1978–2003 |
| Sport | |
| Bowling Information | |
| Affiliation | PBA |
| Rookie year | 1979 |
| Dominant hand | Left |
| Wins | 29 PBA Tour (8 majors) |
| Sponsors | Brunswick |
Michael Aulby (born March 25, 1960) is an American former professional bowler and former member of theProfessional Bowlers Association (PBA). He is one of only five PBA bowlers to win both a Rookie and Player of the Year award. (Tommy Jones,Chris Barnes,Jason Belmonte andE. J. Tackett are the others.) He is also the first player in history to complete a career "Super Slam", in which a bowler wins all fivePBA Tour major tournaments at least once. He has since been joined in this exclusive club byJason Belmonte. Aulby owns 29 careerPBA Tour titles, currently 9th place all-time, with eight major titles among these wins. He is a member of both the PBA andUSBC Halls of Fame.
Aulby joined the PBA Tour in 1978 and captured his first title and Rookie of the Year honors in 1979. His first title was a major in the 1979PBA National Championship, as he became the youngest player (19 years, 83 days) to ever win a PBA major. That record stood until2016, whenAnthony Simonsen (19 years, 36 days) won theUSBC Masters.[1] On June 12, 1985, Aulby became one of the youngest players in PBA history (25 years, 89 days) to reach ten career PBA titles. As of 2020, Aulby remains third-youngest on this list, behindPete Weber (24 years, 247 days) andMarshall Holman (24 years, 274 days).[2]
Aulby won 18 titles in the 1980s, nine in the 1990s, and one more in 2001, giving him 29 titles in all for 8th place all-time. The victory at the 2001 Silicon Valley Open also made him the first bowler in history to win at least one regular PBA Tour title in four different decades.Pete Weber,Norm Duke andWalter Ray Williams Jr. have since joined Aulby in earning this distinction. (Dick Weber andJohnny Petraglia have PBA titles in six decades, but each needed PBA Senior Tour wins in the fourth, fifth and sixth decades).
Aulby was named PBA Player of the Year in 1985 and 1995. In 1985, he won six titles (including his second PBA National Championship) and became the first PBA player to earn more than $200,000 in a single season. In 1989, he collected a then-record $298,237 in winnings, but was beaten out for Player of the Year byAmleto Monacelli. In the history of the PBA Tour, there have been 15 occasions where a player seeded in the 24th and final spot of the match play round went on to win the tournament. Aulby is one of only two players (withPete Weber) to accomplish this feat twice, both times in the 1989 season.[3]
On July 31, 1993, at the PBAWichita Open, Aulby rolled the PBA's sixth televised300 game in history to win the title overDavid Ozio, winning 300–279,[4] in turn setting a record for highest combined score in a title match of 579. The record stands to this day. This marked just the second time a nationally televised 300 game was rolled in a title match (afterBob Benoit). Aulby was also the first left-handed player to bowl a perfect game on TV. In his 1995 PoY season, he won two titles, both of them majors.
Among Aulby's 29 titles are eight major championships. The eight majors place him in a tie with Walter Ray Williams Jr. for fourth-most all-time. OnlyJason Belmonte (14),Earl Anthony (10) andPete Weber (10) have won more major titles. Aulby is one of only nine bowlers to capture the PBA career "Triple Crown" (winning theU.S. Open,PBA National Championship andTournament of Champions) -- and along withNorm Duke andJason Belmonte, the only bowlers to add theABC Masters title for a career "Grand Slam." Also Aulby was the first bowler in history to capture the career Super Slam (winning aTouring Players Championship for all five majors), an achievement not matched until Jason Belmonte did so in2020.[5] Aulby, Belmonte andAnthony Simonsen are the only three PBA players to have won the Masters at least three times.[6]
Aulby had 94 career top-five finishes, and was known as a true gentleman on tour. "Reserved, thoughtful, and pleasant, he's as polite when he's losing as when he's winning," commentedBowlers Digest writer Lyle Zikes in 2001.[7] This led to Aulby winning the PBA's Steve Nagy Sportsmanship award two times. In 2009, Aulby won theDick Weber Bowling Ambassador Award, an honor given annually by the Bowling Proprietors Association of America (BPAA) to the "bowling athlete who has consistently shown grace on and off the lanes by promoting the sport of bowling in a positive manner."[8]
Major championships are inbold text.
Aulby continues to live in the Indianapolis area. He currently owns two ice skating rinks inCarmel, IN, and a bowling alley (Mike Aulby's Arrowhead Bowl) inLafayette, IN.
In the2025 PBA Tour season, a tour stop was named in Aulby's honor: The PBA Mike Aulby Nevada Classic. The lanes featured the Mike Aulby 39 (39 feet in length) oil pattern, which debuted in the 2023 PBA Tour season.[9]
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