Indeed the conditions were rough. You had to be able to hit a spot the size of a dime, 40 feet away, every time. A tad off and you either had a split or you had a gutter ball. I just couldn't make shots when I needed to on Day 3. I think I shot like a 153 and a 147 back to back and that essentially killed me.

As for Weber, he is a different person bowling in a Pro Am versus the actual tournament. He was a huge dick to people, especially the amateur bowlers. Very arrogant. And Belmonte was the same way, he was a dick during the tournament.

***EDIT - Just double checked, I bowled the 2012 US Open. Finished 171. For some reason I thought I was around 120.

Yeah I heard that. Those guys are always really nice to the fans and seem to be having fun in the proams (I've bowled in a number of them). But it changes when the competition starts. In a way I can't blame them much. At the top level the competition is intense and a single shot or two can change everything around. And they have to grind it out against each other for absolute peanuts for prize money. Pro basketball players make more money putting their shorts on in the locker room before a single game than the best pro bowlers make in a year. It has to be a mentally wearing way to make a living.

I'm definitely liking its sign - very cool!

When I was a kid, I used to love watching Saturday afternoon bowling with Chris Schenkel and Billy Welu (and later Nelson Burton Jr.). They used to go to the same towns each year like Overland Park, Ks. and Windsor Locks, Ct.

Been bowling 25 years... my first 700 series was a 788... (in 2000), lucky night with my STORM thunder road. my next 700 came 15 years later (2 years ago) and did 4 of them, finished the season with 200 average!.

early on this year was struggling with my new ball started with average of 170 for the 1st 10 weeks...decided to go deep in my closet, took out my Ebonite Stricking Motion and magic...

this year during the local association tournament, a 299! man i was nervous on that last shot, Brooklyn and all... 2 weeks later during league play, 300, 269, 202! the lanes broke down quickly and could not keep up for the 800... finished the season with a 196 avg... and out team finished 1st place in the league!

now i have a nice ring!

can't wait for this season to start!

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Yep... been a bowler for more years that I will readily admit to. Ran a center for a few years, still wrench at one part-time these days. Still roll leagues, not so much into tournaments anymore since it largely devolved into who carts around the largest arsenal of balls. Tho I will look at the occasional Pro-Am depending on who is showing up for it. Never been a spectacular bowler, but good enough to be competitive on occasion and still have fun at it.

If I'm going to drop that much coin, it will be for a different kind of 'pin'.

I used to go there when I couldn't sleep in the middle of the night/early morning and roll a couple of games to clear my head.

Sad when they finally switched over to synthetic lanes.
Pretty much every alley (that's still standing) in SoCal has them nowadays. Just the sign of the times.

Kinda like switching over to reactive resin from using urethane most of your adult life. You just adapt and eventually find your "groove" again.

As for equipment,
I guess I'm the oddball that still likes using Lane #1 but should really try some of the newer stuff.
Current arsenal: Buzzbomb, Agent Orange, Big Curve.
Spare: Blue Diamond and an Ebonite Skull. (Sucker for Mystery Men...)

It's nice to see so many pinball loving bowlers on here btw!

Average is still floating around 203.

Well if you're old enough you had to switch from rubber to plastic, then urethane, then reactive resin

I bowled a 266 in league once. I thought the game was going nowhere when first frame was a 5 10 split. I picked it up and went 8 strikes in a row. Definitely a heart pounding experience. If I ever scored a 300 I'd drop my drawers and beat it right there.

Haha, yeah. I guess that's true. Hence why I specifically added the "adult" tidbit to my bowling timeline.

Don't get me wrong though.
I would've loved to have battled Dick Weber in his prime throwing some classic frozen rope.
Although, I seem to bowl (and dress) more like Guppy Troup these days.

We should hit up the ol' Kona Lanes soon!
Oh, wait...

At least we can visit part of the sign in Cincinnati.

Just practicing for an hour during open bowling, but I did manage to get my new high score, 234.
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I spend a lot of time in bowling alleys, but don't play much. My son, 18, is a dedicated bowler. He bowled in a ProAm earlier this year and got paired with Pete Weber in game one. He held his own, within 12 pins of Pete. But on game two, Pete moved down a pair of lanes. My son and Pete were shooting for perfect games. On the last ball, Pete nailed a 300. My son went over to Pete and said, "Congrats on the 300." And Pete, without looking at my son's scoring monitor, said, "Now go get yours." My son thought it was so cool that Pete was paying attention to his game. But my son left the 10 pin: 299. Still, it was a great moment. Awesome to have the crowd congratulating your kid.

I always thought bowling was something you did only because they didn't have any pinball machines in the bowling alley.

Ran into this pinball and bowling fan at Gutter LIC

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Is it true that there is no record of a perfect game ever in duckpin?

Boooooo!

I believe that is accurate.

Awesome ring!!!!
I have witnessed a couple 300 games, but i never came close . My best during league 267 with a 679 srries.

I agree with the post above that states it got easier to score bigger in the mid 90's
My average jumped from 170-180's to 200's with the newer balls and synthetic lanes.
Nothing like bowling on real wood though!!
I've shot 12 in a row several times but..... never in the same game
I've shot 3 279's
Always that frickin 9th frame that kills me every time, I remember the whole bowling alley was watching, it was a little nerve-wracking!!!!

I used to bowl as a youth, all through high school
and then again from 30-40's
Been a little while since I bowled now, maybe 5 to 7 years now

I bowled two 300s on the comfortable and yielding house shot, many 279s, 289s etc and easily averaged over 200. Now I am only bowling on sport shots. I am at about 160. The difference is astounding. If you want to find out if you can really bowl or not, you need to bowl some games on a sport shot. Then reality will set in

Anyone still doing the bowling thing? I can't believe I posted this about 5 years ago. Although, there was zero bowling for me for an extended time during the pandemic. In that time, I have worked up from 160 to 170 average on the sport shot LOL. I have hopes to push it toward 180 but man is it tough.

I bowl duckpin.

I just threw 687 in my beer league. Fucked up a 700 series in game two with a bad split. We had a lot of fun!

I need a new ball. Any suggestions?

Probably too many unknown variables to answer that question. How you throw the ball, lane conditions you bowl on, etc. There are tons of good ones out there. I'm not one that has a lot of bowling balls. Most of the sport shot bowlers bring at least 8 every week, and I think they have more than that in reserve. I have basically 2 to work with plus a plastic spare ball.

Mostly I use a Zen. That is considered an excellent all around ball and it has been working pretty good for me. What I do is just ask my pro shop guy what I should get, he knows how I bowl and gives me a good recommendation. We are lucky here, our pro shop is run by the great PBA bowler Barry Asher. He knows bowling.

I love bowling! Although I don't bowl very often anymore, I still like to watch the pros as they make it look so easy.

Wish Pete was still competing.

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Ahh yes bowling! Love it! Nothing better than nailing the pocket with a perfect strike ball and leaving a solid 10 pin!

Global 900?

One year I used to be on 3 leagues one season.

Friday night
Saturday morning
Sunday night

That’s when I was in high school.

Yes 900 Global Zen. Very popular ball. I also have a Drift which is also from 900 global, but that's an older one.

900 Global and Storm make good stuff.

I stopped bowling in 1984 due to an injury. Tried 1 time in '92 with no luck. Fast forward to May 2018, while on my way to Allentown, I found myself duckpin bowling. Needless to say, I was horrible. I tried tenpin again in June 2019 and all was good. So, I'm back to twice a week and have a higher average than I ever did (203 in both leagues). By the way, for anyone that wears bowling jerseys, here is one that I found that may interest you. I saw this and couldn't order it fast enough. I have no affiliation with Coolwick.

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Years ago a co worker of the wife's asked if we wanted to join their league team. We hadn't bowled since our school years (probably 25 years prior). We really really sucked starting out. Our handicap was so high. We ended up winning the league that year. While the other 2 people clearly carried us, the handicaps did make a difference. People were not happy. But in my defense I did bowl some good games later in the season. I think my highest was 275. My problem though was I was never consistent ball to ball. I did watch someone in the league bowl a 300 that year which was cool.

We 'retired' from bowling after that. We show those trophies proudly. lol.

I've bowled off and on since 1969, loved when the bowling lanes had 12-15 pinballs in the 1970's. Highlight of my bowling career was making the 7-10 split in league play in 1995. Got the patch for that accomplishment. I work part time in a small alley now but really dont bowl anymore. I like to work on AMF pinsetters, the old 8230 models

My first date with my wife was moonlight bowling on a Saturday night. She bowled a 278 in her first game and I decided that she was the girl for me. Over the years, she averaged close to 200 and I was 210-220. We were tough to beat. We can’t bowl anymore, but we have our 40th anniversary coming up in one month.

Let me preface that I am a horrible bowler.

But my goal in life (I know sad) is to have a lane in my house.

I do believe it will happen if I continue to work hard but we will see.

That’s been my goal as well. Let me know when you start doing it. Start a thread on pinside and I’ll definitely follow!

Sad news in Laval, QC. Only 33 years old....
https://www.intergameonline.com/coin-op/news/historic-bowling-lane-closing-in-quebec-canada

All I can think of when I saw this thread.

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What movie is that from?

Kingpin. If you've never seen it then you've been "munsoned"

I dropped some CHEDDAR into my gear this year boys. Going for the championship! In the lead after 6 weeks.

Bought an exotic gem. I don't know if I like. The old Green Bay lanes are heavily oiled and the Gem is really meant for later, like games 4,5,6. So I don't know yet.

Bought a DV8 Chill. I really like this one. Pipe it in "hot" right down the second arrow. Lots of strikes.

Frustrations: Two handers missing their marks by 8 boards & still striking. This happens all day on the house pattern I bowl on.

You are lucky to have oil, although I do think that heavier oil benefits the two handers. Even starting on fresh oil I can barely get that straight up 10 shot, which I prefer because it's great when it's working. I usually use my Zen for that. But usually I can't get that to hold and I have to go left. Then I have to start moving left as the games progress but then I switch to the Storm DNA which comes back better from a steep shot. That nasty little bugger really works nice when it's lined up. The other day I smacked out a 10 strike 258 with that one.

I'm now bowling at a center that is basically all seniors, and I think they oil it to favor the most possible bowlers to keep them happy. A good majority of them, many with Zens, play that straight up 10 shot and they love it and do well with it, but they are lower rev players.