I picked up both games when I was young. I haven't bowled in about 10 years except for an occassional outing with my kids. I was a league bowler for 15 years(25-40), once a week. My avg was in the low 190s when I quit. I could kick that up to 200+ with one practice session per week(5-6 games), which I usually began around Christamas(mid-season). I called it my "honest sandbagging method". A 220+ avg would equate to a scratch golfer, I suppose. There are some similarities but, at least for me, bowling is sooooooooo much easier than golf. Bowling is like riding a bike and every shot is the same... pick your spot and roll. Differing oil patterns may change your 1st ball path & approach, but that's about it. I used to golf with the guys on my bowling team and believe me, for them the bowling skill didn't translate into golf skill. The best bowler on our team... great hands.. good tennis player, good pool player, etc. , while I wouldn't want to get into a chipping & putting contest with him, could never get any semblance of a full swing down. It was the same with another guy whose bowling skill was about equal to mine. I was easily the best golfer, though none of them had played for as long as I. There just isn't that much to bowling if you're reasonably coordinated, IMO. You get the ball coming off your hand the same way every time and hit your spot. 4-5 beers never hurt my game, in fact it helped at times. I have no doubt that I could pick up bowling again and be averaging 190 within a few weeks. I layed off golf for 5 years and now 4 years back at it am just beginning to get my game to where it was when I quit. One beer on the golf course and I may as well head for the lot, because I'm done for the day. Don't get me wrong, I loved my bowling, but it was strictly for the competitive aspect (we had a great team... 6 titles, 4 2nds in 15 years). If the guys wanted to get the team back together, I'd be there in a heartbeat but as far as bowling for fun... well it just ain't that interesting. I could talk about it for hours , though.. ok... I'm done now.