Coke Bowker

Coke Bowker was inducted into the THPA Hall of Fame in 1985 becoming the 11th Member to be inducted.

In horseshoe pitching circles, and around the campfires, they tell stories about a Cheyenne River Sioux Indian who long ago came down to Texas from his reservation in South Dakota. From the Panhandle to the Rio Grande Valley, and from the Guadalupe Mountains and Big Bend across the Hill Country to the Piney Woods, his name is legendary. 

Upon his journey to the Lone Star State, Coquella Gene "Coke" Bowker perfected a deadly 1 1/4 turn shoe to become the greatest horseshoe pitcher in Texas history. 

Billing himself as "Mister Flingaringa," Bowker would go on to become the Horseshoe Pitching Champion of Texas 15 times - a feat that most likely will not be rivaled anytime soon. His total championships rank him second on the all-time list, and no active pitcher is even close. It should also be noted that Bowker has achieved his pitching success in an era when the number of pitchers and quality of competition has been far greater than ever before.     

Bowker also owns 5 2nd Place Finishes in State Championships. He was the last man to win the Texas Championship with at least a 70% ringer percentage, doing so in 1997. He also holds the all-time record for the highest ringer percentage for a Texas State Champion with 71.50% in 1983. Coke once pitched an incredible 41 consecutive ringers in a league game, finishing the contest with 48 ringers out of 50 shoes.

In the larger arena, Bowker has been the World Class B Champion twice, and World Class C Champion once. 

Amazingly, Bowker didn't begin pitching organized horseshoes until he was in his 40's. We can only imagine what he would have accomplished had he started at an earlier age.