Bermuda’s David Maycock seeks to add to an already story among PBA stories. “And if I could win here this week, what a story that would be,” he says. (Press Pros Feature Photos)
Without question he’s traveled the farthest this week to compete in PBA tournaments in Minster and Coldwater. And it’s just a guess…but no one probably has a story to tell like David Maycock.
Minster, OH – It’s 24 hours before the 4th annual Kremer Roofing Classic officially kicks off at Minster’s Community Lanes, and David Maycock is the only one in the building at 3 o’clock Monday afternoon.
“Just wanted to get a look at the place, you know,” he said. “Hoped I could throw a few practice balls.”
He doesn’t sound like someone from Minster. Not by a long shot.
Editor and publisher Sonny Fulks writes OHSAA sports and the Buckeyes for Press Pros Magazine.
And if you’d venture a guess at which PBA professional has traveled the farthest this week to compete in the back-to-back satellite tournaments hosted by Community Lanes in Minster, and Plamor Lanes in Coldwater, it’s an even longer shot that anyone beats David Maycock.
How far?
“Bermuda,” he said proudly. “My home is in Paget, Bermuda.”
Paget, named for William Paget, 4th Baron Paget de Beaudesert (1572–1629), and a British Territory located about 650 miles off the coast of North Carolina.
“It’s not very big (the island of Bermuda is about 21 miles long), but it’s beautiful there,” he adds. “The weather is about like it is here today. It’s hurricane season, but there are no hurricanes, not so far.”
In his eleventh season as a PBA professional, Maycock is hardly a household name, as recognizable as Jason Belmonte, E.J. Tackett, and Kyle Troup, but he doesn’t come without competitive merit. A member of the Bermuda national team, his best tour average listed is 211.8 (2022), compiled in about 50 events since 2013, and in career PBA earnings his debits outnumber is credits (source: PBA.com). It hasn’t deterred him, not one bit…and his story is more compelling than most.
“I own a transportation company back in Paget,” he shared.
Bowlerstore.com, of Versailles, is the presenting sponsor of high school bowling on Press Pros Magazine.com.
Translation: Maycock owns a cab company. He’s a cab driver.
“Yessir, I drive one and rent two others out,” he laughs. “Full time.”
He bowls when the streets of Paget (pop. 5,689) can spare him.
“We have tournaments in Bermuda,” he adds. “Some of these guys have been there. Jason Sterner and Dick Allen have been there. But I like to come stateside whenever I can.
“I was coming to Coldwater this week to bowl in that tournament, and then Saturday evening I looked on my phone and saw that there was another tournament 20 miles away, in Minster. So I emailed the tournament director (Doug Davidson), he said there were spots available, and to just pay when I got here. I had to change all my plane tickets, my travel arrangements, I flew to Charlotte yesterday, then to Dayton, got in last night about midnight, then drove an hour and a half to get here. I’m staying in St. Marys, and I’m here to bowl these two tournaments.”
Who needs bowling? David Maycock is from Paget, Bermuda, population 5,689.
He added: “It was a long day.”
His goal this week is to win his first PBA event “on United States soil”, he says. “I’ve had my ups and downs, I’ve cashed in a couple of events…but I need to win over here. I try to do my best.”
Born and raised in Bermuda, he started bowling when he was five.
“My dad was a bowler, and my momma took the initiative to sign me up for lessons when I was five, and I’ve been on the Bermuda national team since I was 16. And I’m 40, now. I’ve bowled in a lot of PBA regional events, and I try to stay in the South region…because it’s closer to my house (in Bermuda). I just need to make some name for myself. That’s what I need now.”
He’ll bowl in Hong Kong later this year with the Bermuda national team, and he’s one of two Bermuda bowlers to be selected for a prestigious Champion of Champions event in Peru. As we noted, he’s not without credentials. He just doesn’t have a PBA title…yet!
In fact, his best finish was eighth in a regional event in Mesa, Arizona last year, where he earned his biggest check yet, stateside…$1,000. He’s looking to do something much better than that this weekend.
“I watch a lot of PBA events on streaming back home, including Coldwater, but I never knew where it was. I’ve done my research, and guys who have bowled here tell me that the lanes are hard to score on in Coldwater. They said to bring urethane balls for Coldwater; That’s what I know about it.”
A self-starter, and confident self-promoter, Maycock is slick with an IPhone, sharing his Instagram account, Facebook, and you can subscribe to watch him on YouTube. He speaks with a heavy Caribbean accent, where the word ‘bowler’ actually sounds like ‘boulder’, and he can cite you chapter and verse about all the top bowlers on tour, going all the way back to Pete Weber and Norm Duke.
“I learned from watching those guys, and I always wanted to be on the PBA tour. I’d actually like to be here full-time, but there’s family, work…and the transportation company. It’s very expensive in Bermuda,” he adds. “Your gas here is like $3.50. Back home it’s $9.00 for a liter.”
First place money at Minster is $4,000, and top money at Coldwater is $10,000. His motivation? There’s always a first time.
“My biggest cash win was a PBA regional back in Bermuda, about $3,000,” he shrugged. “It would be nice.”
Yes, his story is compelling, and not without struggle. Ups and downs…travel…a hotel in St. Marys. He pushes on. A little like Off-Broadway, he needs something stateside. To make a name for himself.
“If I could win here this week,” he says, “What a story that would be!”
Community Lanes hosts the 4th annual Kremer Clasic this week…and your favorite area sports on Press Pros.