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Hammer Bowling
Hammer Bowling is a company involved in the manufacture and sale of bowling balls and bowling-related accessories. Faball Enterprises was formed in 1978 by Johnny Wonders and Earl Widman. In 1981, they created the second urethane ball in the market, and Hammer was born. Hammer was the first to put a logo on the side of the ball. After a PBA player was featured in a tournament telecast using the ball with its visible claw hammer logo, sales exploded. The Hammer brand was also the first to produce a urethane two-piece ball. In 1996, Faball Enterprises licensed the Hammer product name to Faball USA. This company maintained the brand name until Hammer products were acquired by Ebonite International on February 8, 2002. After the sale of its Hammer line to Ebonite, the Faball team went on to create a new line of equipment under the name of Visionary Bowling Products. They currently produce several lines of equipment including the popular Ogre series, the New Breed series and Gladiator ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ten-pin Bowling
Ten-pin bowling is a type of bowling in which a bowler rolls a bowling ball down a wood or synthetic lane toward ten pins positioned evenly in four rows in an equilateral triangle. The objective is to knock down all ten pins on the first roll of the ball (a strike), or failing that, on the second roll (a spare). An approximately long ''approach'' area used by the bowler to impart speed and apply rotation to the ball ends in a ''foul line''. The , lane is bordered along its length by ''gutters'' (''channels'') that collect errant balls. The lane's long and narrow shape limits straight-line ball paths to angles that are smaller than optimum angles for achieving strikes; accordingly, bowlers impart side rotation to ''hook'' (curve) the ball into the pins to increase the likelihood of striking. Oil is applied to approximately the first two-thirds of the lane's length to allow a "skid" area for the ball before it encounters friction and hooks. The oil is applied in different leng ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Professional Bowlers Association
The Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) is the major sanctioning body for the sport of professional ten-pin bowling in the United States. Headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, the PBA membership consists of over 3,000 members worldwide. Members include "pro shop" owners and workers, teaching professionals and bowlers who compete in the various events put on by the Association. The PBA also oversees competition between professional bowlers via the following tours: * PBA Tour – An annual calendar of events, currently running from January to December each year. * PBA Regional Tour – Allows PBA members and qualifying amateurs to compete in weekend events. The Tour consists of seven regions: Central, East, Midwest, Northwest, South, Southwest, and West. * PBA50/60 Tours – Originally the PBA Senior Tour, it was split in 2013 and now based on age. Set up like the PBA Tour, but allowing PBA members aged 50 years and older, and after the 2013 rebranding, a different tour for membe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ebonite International
Ebonite International was a parent company that oversaw the manufacture of bowling balls and bowling equipment. Their headquarters and primary manufacturing facility was located in Hopkinsville, Kentucky before closing on November 15, 2019. The manufacturing plant now houses the CtD Education Center, owned by Ronald Hickland, Jr., a former Ebonite ball core designer. Expansion in 2007 In addition to Ebonite-branded bowling balls, Ebonite International has also owned the Hammer-branded line of balls since 2002. In February 2007, Ebonite announced that it had acquired one of the industry's leading manufacturers, Columbia Industries. Since the acquisition, they have produced that company's signature Columbia 300 line of balls. That acquisition also resulted in Ebonite gaining control of Dynothane Inc., which produced the Dyno-Thane brand, and Track International, which produces the popular line of Track bowling balls. Dynothane and Track had been owned by Columbia, and were transfer ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
PBA Tour
The PBA Tour is the major professional tour for ten-pin bowling, operated by the Professional Bowlers Association. Headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, over 3,000 members worldwide make up the PBA. While most of the PBA members are Regional professionals, a small percentage of the bowling membership competes at the national and international level, forming the PBA Tour. (PBA.com lists 75 bowlers that have national touring pro status as of the start of the 2023 season.) Founded in 1958, the PBA Tour has been in continuous operation since the inaugural 1959 season. Each year, the PBA Tour puts on a series of events for PBA members. Most events are held across the United States, with the PBA co-sponsoring selected international events as part of the World Bowling Tour (WBT). In addition, the PBA Tour co-hosts the Round1 Japan Cup along with the Japan Professional Bowling Association (JPBA). Also, select American members compete against their European counterparts in the Weber Cup. Qu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bill O'Neill (bowler)
William O'Neill (born October 21, 1981) is a right-handed professional ten-pin bowler who competes on the PBA Tour in North America. A resident of Langhorne, Pennsylvania, his nickname on tour is "The Real Deal". O'Neill has won 13 PBA Tour titles, including two major championships at the 2009–10 U.S. Open and the 2020 PBA Players Championship. O'Neill was the first person to be a two time World Champion after winning the WTBA singles titles (gold medals) in 2010 and 2013. Bill is a pro staff member for Hammer Bowling, Dexter shoes and Vise Grips. Amateur career O'Neill bowled collegiately for Saginaw Valley State University where he was a member of Sigma Pi fraternity. He earned first-team All American honors all four years he competed. He was named Bowling Writers Association of America's Collegiate Bowler of the Year in 2001, 2003 and 2004. He was also honored as the Most Valuable Player by the National Collegiate Bowling Coaches Association in 2003 and 2004. In t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tom Daugherty
Tom Daugherty (born February 22, 1975) is a right-handed American professional ten-pin bowler residing in Riverview, Florida. He is a member of the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA), having joined in 2001. He is one of the few PBA bowlers to successfully use the one-handed no-thumb delivery. Although Daugherty has won four PBA Tour titles (including one major) and 20 PBA Regional titles, he is perhaps best known for rolling a nationally-televised 100 game at the 2011 PBA Tournament of Champions, the lowest score ever bowled in a televised PBA event. Nicknamed "Rebel", Daugherty has accumulated 21 career 300 games in PBA events. He is a pro staff member for Hammer bowling balls, Dexter shoes, and Turbo Inserts. PBA career Daugherty became a PBA member in 2001, and started bowling regularly on the PBA Tour in the 2003–04 season. After three seasons of little success as a full time Tour bowler, he returned to bowling mostly in PBA Regional Tour events for the next six s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shawn Maldonado
Shawn Maldonado (born 1986) is an American right-handed professional ten-pin bowler from Houston, Texas, who joined the Professional Bowlers Association in 2013. He owns two national PBA Tour titles, and has also won 15 PBA Regional Tour titles. Maldonado uses a two-handed shovel-style delivery. Unusual for this style, he originally put his thumb in the ball. However, he converted to a no-thumb delivery in October 2020. Maldonado is a national pro staff member for Hammer Bowling, after previously being sponsored by Storm. He is also sponsored by VISE Grips. Personal life Maldonado was born in 1986 in Houston, Texas. He started bowling at the age of two. His parents used to bowl on a league three or more nights a week, so he was introduced to bowling at a very young age. Similar to Jason Belmonte's starting story, the bowling balls were too heavy for him to lift with one hand on his own, so he learned to use two hands to bowl, and used a thirteen-step approach. Maldonado is ma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Professional Women's Bowling Association
The Professional Women's Bowling Association (PWBA) organizes and oversees a series of annual tournaments for the top competitive women ten-pin bowlers. The series is often referred to as the "women's tour" of bowling. The PWBA was formed in 1960 but ceased operations in 2003. The PWBA Tour was re-launched in 2015 by the United States Bowling Congress (USBC) and Bowling Proprietors’ Association of America (BPAA) with a three-year funding commitment. In addition, through a new partnership with the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA), the PBA began conducting PWBA Regional (women-only) events and PWBA members are now allowed to bowl all PBA events. History The PWBA was formed in 1960 by a group of professional women bowlers. After the organization struggled, some of the players left the PWBA in 1974 to form the Ladies' Professional Bowlers Association (LPBA). The two merged again in 1978, forming the Women's Professional Bowlers Association (WPBA). When the WPBA dissolved i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shannon O'Keefe
Shannon O'Keefe (née Rondeau, born January 27, 1979) is an American professional bowler and bowling coach now living in Shiloh, Illinois, who has competed in the United States and internationally. She is an 18-time member of Team USA (2005–present) and an eight-time World Champion (Individual titles in Singles in 2007 and All-Events in 2013, also the 2013 Doubles, 2011 and 2017 Trios, and 2011 and 2015 Teams at the World Championships; plus the gold medal in Singles at 2022 World Games in Birmingham, AL). She also won the 54th QubicaAMF World Cup in 2018 in Las Vegas. Shannon also won the 2019 Doubles gold medal at the Pan American Games in Peru. O'Keefe has 15 titles on the PWBA Tour, including three major championships, and is a three-time PWBA Player of the Year (2018, 2019 and 2022). Since 2014, she has also been the women's bowling coach at McKendree University. Her teams have won two NCAA Women's Bowling National Championships. After a long association with Hammer B ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shannon Pluhowsky
Shannon Pluhowsky is an American left-handed ten-pin bowler who competes in the Professional Women's Bowling Association (PWBA) and internationally. Pluhowsky is a 21-time member of Team USA (2001–2021), and a former four-time member of Junior Team USA (2000–2003). Pluhowsky has six professional championships, including major wins at the 2006 USBC Queens in Reno, Nevada, the 2014 BPAA Women's All-Star in Rockford, Illinois, and the 2021 PWBA Tour Championship in Reno, Nevada. Early life and college career Pluhowsky was born on August 8, 1982 in Dayton, Ohio. Before her successful professional career she had a successful amateur and college career. When she was younger she was a three-time Junior Gold Champion and a USOC World Bowler of the Year in 2004. She bowled at the University of Nebraska under coach Bill Straub who is credited for Pluhowsky's impeccable left-handed form. She sports a big push-away and a straight and loose swing with a textbook finishing position. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hopkinsville, Kentucky
Hopkinsville is a home rule-class city in and the county seat of Christian County, Kentucky, United States. The population at the 2010 census was 31,577. History Early years The area of present-day Hopkinsville was initially claimed in 1796 by Bartholomew Wood as part of a grant for his service in the American Revolution. He and his wife Martha Ann moved from Jonesborough, Tennessee, first to a cabin near present-day W. Seventh and Bethel streets; then to a second cabin near present-day 9th and Virginia streets; and finally to a third home near 14th and Campbell. Following the creation of Christian County the same year, the Woods donated of land and a half interest in their Old Rock Spring to form its seat of government in 1797. By 1798, a log courthouse, jail, and "stray pen" had been built; the next year, John Campbell and Samuel Means laid out the streets for "Christian Court House". The community tried to rename itself "Elizabeth" after the Woods' eldest daughter, but a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Brunswick Bowling & Billiards
Brunswick Bowling & Billiards was the business segment of Brunswick Corporation that historically encompassed the following three divisions: * #Billiards, Billiards was the company's original product line. The segment expanded to include other table games such as table tennis, air hockey, and foosball. The billiard operations were placed in the fitness equipment division, which was spun-off into Life Fitness in 2019. In 2022, the Brunswick Billiards line was sold to Escalade Sports * #Equipment and products, Bowling equipment and products, which Brunswick began manufacturing in the 1880s. The bowling equipment line was sold to BlueArc Capital Management in 2015, which continues to use the Brunswick name among other brands. * #Bowling centers, Bowling centers, which Brunswick began to directly operate in the mid 1960s. In 2014 they were sold to Bowlero Corporation, which phased out the Brunswick name by 2020. Billiards The billiards division was established in 1845 and was Brunswick ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
