Hammer Bowling is a company involved in the manufacture and sale of
bowling
Bowling is a target sport and recreational activity in which a player rolls a ball toward pins (in pin bowling) or another target (in target bowling). The term ''bowling'' usually refers to pin bowling (most commonly ten-pin bowling), though ...
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
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 ...
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 series. Visionary Bowling Products are manufactured in St. Louis, MO.
Some of the more famous Faball era Hammer products are the Blue Hammer, Red Hammer, Burgundy Hammer, Black Hammer, The Nail and the Reaper series. Some of the more famous post-Faball era Hammer lines include the Blade series, Vicious series, Diesel series, Hawg series, No Mercy Series, Vibe series, Black Widow Series, Jigsaw series, the Raw Hammer, Hammer Hardcore and Taboo series. Hammer sponsors several
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 profess ...
, including PBA champions
Bill O'Neill,
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 ...
,
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.
...
and Mike Wolfe, as well as
PWBA champions and Team USA members
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– ...
and
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 Juni ...
.
Hammer products were manufactured in Ebonite's
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 b ...
plant from 2002 through November, 2019. On November 15, 2019, Ebonite International and all of its brands were subsequently purchased by
Brunswick Bowling Products, LLC.
References
External links
Company homepage
Ten-pin bowling equipment manufacturers
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