LAS VEGAS - Paul Portsche of Lincoln, Nebraska, got his start at the United States Bowling Congress Open Championships as a 16-year-old, asked to fill a spot on his father's team at the 1968 event in Cincinnati.

The 66-year-old right-hander has repaid the favor to numerous bowlers throughout the years and reflected on those moments as he celebrated his 50th consecutive USBC Open Championships appearance Thursday at the South Point Bowling Plaza.

"My dad's team needed a bowler, and they couldn't find anyone else, so they asked me," said Portsche, who received a plaque, chevron and diamond lapel pin to commemorate the achievement. "I was a senior in high school, and I had to miss school to bowl. After bowling with my dad's team for a few years, I started my own group and was able to get a lot of people involved with this tournament. I'm really proud to have had so many people bowl their first tournament with me."

Portsche also was excited to have his son, Greg, join him on the championship lanes for the first time.

The competitive aspect of the tournament has motivated Portsche to make the annual trek to the event, and an impressive performance on the lanes alongside his family at the 1971 Open Championships in Detroit stands out as one of his favorite on-lane moments.

"I bowled with my dad and brother in Detroit, and we each shot over 600 in singles," said Portsche, who had a 614 series that day. "My dad bought us a pennant with our scores on it, and I still have that today."

Two years after that performance, Portsche had a memorable trip to the 1973 event in Syracuse, New York.

"My wife doesn't like me telling this story, but we had our honeymoon on our trip to Syracuse," Portsche said. "She doesn't think it's funny that my dad was on our honeymoon."

Portsche's performances on the lanes throughout the years earned him induction to the Lincoln Bowling Association Hall of Fame in 2001. His work also crossed over to the administrative side of the sport, having worked as a board member for the association for approximately 20 years.

That work helped Lincoln land the 2016 World Bowling Youth Championships, which featured more than 200 competitors from 37 countries competing for medals in five events - singles, doubles, team, all-events and Masters.

"It was so enjoyable having all of those kids in Lincoln," Portsche said. "We wanted to show them our Midwestern values, and the city really got behind it. It felt so good to have so many people tell us how much they enjoyed their time in our city while competing."

This week in Las Vegas, Portsche rolled sets of 512 in team, 501 in doubles and 493 in singles for a 1,506 all-events total, bringing his career pinfall at the Open Championships to 83,156, a 184.7 lifetime average.

He plans to continue his Open Championships career as long as he feels competitive on the lanes.

"I've told my teammates that if I don't feel competitive, I don't want to just keep coming back to say I've been here," Portsche said. "I want to be competitive when I come and bowl and help the team out. I really do enjoy bowling with these guys, and it was a humbling experience getting to share this milestone with them."

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