Renee Kelly only two off a score of 300 in ten pin bowls.
RENEE Kelly bowled the highest score by a woman at Taree Tenpin since it was opened in 1985.
And she's disappointed.
Renee finished with 298, just two shy of the perfect 300. She fired down 11 consecutive strikes but only managed a split with her last bowl.
"I was crushed,'' she said.
"I only needed one more strike.''
The previous record was 290 set in 1991 by R Rhodes..
Renee admits the pressure may have got to her as she came in for the final bowl.
"I was shaking so much - I could feel my ankles shake,'' she smiled, somewhat ruefully.
"And there were heaps of people watching - I guess I crumbled.''
Renee, now 38, starting bowling when she moved to this area with her parents when she was 13. Her previous best score of 248 when she had seven consecutive strikes was achieved when she was still a junior.
"So it's been a while,'' she said.
Renee plays in the Wednesday League as much for relaxation as competition.
"We have a really good social group,'' she said.
She's also a member of the Taree women's Country Challenge team, playing once a month usually in the Newcastle area.
She's also a member of the Taree women's Country Challenge team, playing once a month usually in the Newcastle area.
"Last year we came third in the State - that's the best effort by a Taree team in the challenge,'' she said.
Renee recalls fondly her time as a junior at Taree Tenpin.
"We had a really brilliantly organised group,'' she said.
"There were three sets of parents who did all the fund raising and we went to the national championships for two years - once in Townsville and the other in Canberra.''
She said a number of top line players graduated from the group including Shaun O'Byrne, who is a member of the 300 club at Taree.
Renee had a break from the game for about six years when she was living in Queensland, but returned to the lanes as soon as she moved back.
Her ambition now is to crack the 300 although Renee doesn't like her chances.
"I'm not one of the top players so I'm not sure if it will happen again,'' she said.
"But I'll keep trying.
