LONG-TIME CENTER OPERATOR TOUNTAS DIES

Pete Taunts, who hosted numerous PBA Tour stops while overseeing the operation of Golden Pin Lanes in Tucson, Arizona, died on Feb. 27. He was 86.

Tountas, who was born in Greece and spoke broken English, bowled on the tour before transitioning to center management, and was known to fellow pros simply as “Greek.” He won PBA titles in Waukegan, Illinois, and Toledo, Ohio, and the 1968 American Bowling Congress Masters in Cincinnati.

While on tour, Tountas met a Tucson real estate developer, Don Allan, who told him that he planned to build a bowling center and offered Tountas the job of running it.

“Pete always had that in his back pocket,” said hall of fame laneman Len Nicholson, who worked for Tountas for three years at Golden Pin. “As I understand it, they worked out a deal for Pete to get a salary plus all the proceeds from the center’s machines — chips, sodas, cigarettes, pinball.”

Nicholson added that Tountas was active in several local service clubs, and when Allan agreed to host the PBA Tour at Golden Pin, “getting sponsorships was easy. Pete worked out discount deals for the pros at a lot of the local motels and restaurants.”