BallReviews
General Category => Miscellaneous => Topic started by: DrBwlr15 on June 08, 2018, 12:56:33 PM
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I currently live in the Portland Oregon area and the bowling scene here is pretty good but i really don't have anything to compare it to. Here in Portland, you can find a tournament every weekend. If's its not in the Portland area, you can make the 2.5 hour drive to Seattle or the 4 to 5 hour drive to Southern Oregon. There's always something going on... I'm thinking about moving to either Florida, Nevada (Vegas area) or Arizona (Phoenix area) For those who live in those areas, how is the bowling scene?
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Phoenix area is actually pretty good imo. Some real good bowlers come out of the area and you can get guys like Josh Blanchard to give you lessons easy enough (seen him a few times giving lessons). The east valley where I live tends to be dominated by Bowlmor lanes (Brunswick, AMF, Bowlero) but honestly I'm ok with that because league card gets you cheap games in any of them plus have one flat fee for 3 games each day all summer. From what I see there are many tournaments but I am not a good enough bowler to speak to them. Giving you more the rec bowler perspective but in general plenty of leagues (even unsanctioned woot) and alleys in the area.
(edit: forgot to mention like the rest of Phoenix pretty much everything was built post air conditioning so mostly newer synthetics and as I mention more of a corporate bowling alley feel though the people working them are nice.)
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Ohio - pretty solid. Good amount of alley's up and running. Many still rocking wood lanes. Tournament scene could improve some but it is there.
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I live in NKY and do some bowling in Cincinnati and we're doing well.
My Tuesday sport league in Cincinnati has like 26 or so teams....
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florida is not as hot as it used to be, but tournaments can be found. www.bowlflorida.com I do a few of their events--they are mainly in the central florida area...there is also the elite bowlers tour, which I like their events as well.--they are mainly in the Tampa bay area.
Brad
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I currently live in the Portland Oregon area and the bowling scene here is pretty good but i really don't have anything to compare it to. Here in Portland, you can find a tournament every weekend. If's its not in the Portland area, you can make the 2.5 hour drive to Seattle or the 4 to 5 hour drive to Southern Oregon. There's always something going on... I'm thinking about moving to either Florida, Nevada (Vegas area) or Arizona (Phoenix area) For those who live in those areas, how is the bowling scene?
I live in NW area of Los Angeles, but spend time in Las Vegas bowling tournaments throughout the year, and hang out with friends during their leagues. It's amazing how big bowling is in Vegas. I'd be surprised if there is another area in the country where the league action is as strong.
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Ohio - pretty solid. Good amount of alley's up and running. Many still rocking wood lanes. Tournament scene could improve some but it is there.
Yea still a ton of alleys in NEO, even with some closures over the years. Additionally, it’s worth noting that there’s several very good, family-owned, non-chain bowling alleys up here that really treat their league bowlers and regulars well. Leagues in most houses around here are doing well, and some of the better houses even draw solid second shifts.
As for the tournament scene, I find NEO goes in waves. Lots to bowl in the spring and fall, mostly just sweepers in the summer and winter. There are several groups running sweepers/small tournaments up here, but unfortunately it tends to have a cannibalizing effect - all the sweepers compete with each other and end up smaller than they should be. We lack a singular sweeper organization that draws a traveling group, like ABT or MSBS.
I will say, I think Ohio does “big†tournaments better than most. There are big tournaments that fill fields for entire weekends and draw travelers for any level of bowler, from the DLS and Inter-city for handicap to the State Masters and Cleveland Kickoff got scratch and even all the way up to the Proprietors Cup series for the very high-level scratch bowlers.
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Having spent the last 10+ years moving around the country I believe you would find it difficult to find somewhere with a better scene then the Seattle to Portland area. There are multiple things to bowl in that area every weekend it seems and they have so many different formats. The bowling is actually a reason for me to miss living there.
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I winter in the Phoenix area, and it would be tough to beat for tournament action. Strike Force Tour runs something every weekend with good payouts, and a handicap format that is fair to scratch bowlers as well. As mentioned earlier, Bowlmor does dominate ownership of the 25-30 centers, but several independents including Glenfair, East Mesa, plus several in the Sun City area give you lots of options.
The area really sprawls over about 50 miles from Apache Junction to Goodyear, but areas like Chandler are nice and put you within 30 minutes of a lot of bowling.
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Don't move to New Mexico, the bowling scene is quite disappointing here.
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I still live part time in Vegas and have been since moving there in 1998. the scene here is huge, and has been for ages. That's going from having the TOC at the Showboat, then Castaways to the mini and international Eliminator, the True Amateur Challenge (now TAT tournaments), BVL, the Military tournaments, Senior Masters, all of the other USBC and PBA tournaments, Collegiate tournaments, and then the leagues. It really says a lot when you have a 70 lane house for league and every lane is packed.
And that's not even taking into account the arena at South Point. Vegas has had a great scene, but not only that, as you have to include the entire Southern Nevada USBC area, and include Laughlin and Mesquite (Virgin River).
Funny you should mention Portland, as we are still considering the move up there. Good to know the scene is active there, but I do have a question: do any of the colleges up there still have a Collegiate program? The last collegiate team I remember from that area was Washington State, but that was 25 years ago.
BL.
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I currently live in the Portland Oregon area and the bowling scene here is pretty good but i really don't have anything to compare it to. Here in Portland, you can find a tournament every weekend. If's its not in the Portland area, you can make the 2.5 hour drive to Seattle or the 4 to 5 hour drive to Southern Oregon. There's always something going on... I'm thinking about moving to either Florida, Nevada (Vegas area) or Arizona (Phoenix area) For those who live in those areas, how is the bowling scene?
I live in NW area of Los Angeles, but spend time in Las Vegas bowling tournaments throughout the year, and hang out with friends during their leagues. It's amazing how big bowling is in Vegas. I'd be surprised if there is another area in the country where the league action is as strong.
Living in Northern Arizona, go to Vegas every so often. It's BIG on bowling for sure. But then again, so is Reno. And with Reno you get water sports (Lake Tahoe) and piney woods. Some nice alleys down in the Phoenix area but hard to fit in with the locals it seems, but boy does it ever get warm (triple digits) from mid March till 1 November. Lived in Portland for a while, but wasn't following the bowling scene then. Pretty pricey living there these days from what I gather from friends up there. High TAX rate's too. Lots of wet weather to cool things off though. Florida? I need mountains in my life so wouldn't consider that state, although I admit I don't know much about that state, although I have visited there in the past. They get monsoon rains, hurricanes and it DOES rain there quite a bit, but is warm (and damp).
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I currently live in the Portland Oregon area and the bowling scene here is pretty good but i really don't have anything to compare it to. Here in Portland, you can find a tournament every weekend. If's its not in the Portland area, you can make the 2.5 hour drive to Seattle or the 4 to 5 hour drive to Southern Oregon. There's always something going on... I'm thinking about moving to either Florida, Nevada (Vegas area) or Arizona (Phoenix area) For those who live in those areas, how is the bowling scene?
I live in NW area of Los Angeles, but spend time in Las Vegas bowling tournaments throughout the year, and hang out with friends during their leagues. It's amazing how big bowling is in Vegas. I'd be surprised if there is another area in the country where the league action is as strong.
Living in Northern Arizona, go to Vegas every so often. It's BIG on bowling for sure. But then again, so is Reno. And with Reno you get water sports (Lake Tahoe) and piney woods. Some nice alleys down in the Phoenix area but hard to fit in with the locals it seems, but boy does it ever get warm (triple digits) from mid March till 1 November. Lived in Portland for a while, but wasn't following the bowling scene then. Pretty pricey living there these days from what I gather from friends up there. High TAX rate's too. Lots of wet weather to cool things off though. Florida? I need mountains in my life so wouldn't consider that state, although I admit I don't know much about that state, although I have visited there in the past. They get monsoon rains, hurricanes and it DOES rain there quite a bit, but is warm (and damp).
Yeah I assume you know it but if you choose to live in Phoenix or Vegas either one plan on spending lots of time indoors (good time to bowl lol) in the summer like you would in Alaska in the winter. Two seasons basically, nice (hoodie is my winter jacket) and hell fire and you spend the non summer 8 to 9 months for doing stuff outside. Prices in both are much better than California but from what I understand housing is starting to trend up somewhat because of California refugees.
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In SE AZ, Cochise County, there is only one operating center and that is located on a military installation, Ft Huachuca, so if you are not eligible for a pass on a military installation, you won't be able to bowl.
In Tucson, which is 80 miles from where I live, there have been a couple of centers closing in the past ten years. Golden Pin Lanes which has hosted many PBA tournaments in the past, recently sent out a letter:
Dear Golden Pin bowlers and community,
In 1974, I purchased Golden Pin Lanes. As an avid bowler myself, I enjoyed watching others experience the pure joy that comes from competing and interacting with friends. We even added another 16 lanes in 1978 due to the immense popularity of our business. We have always prided ourselves on offering competitive pricing to our leagues, hosting state championships, professional tournaments, and our active involvement in the community and junior bowling.
Fast forward to today, and it’s a different time in my life. I’ve dedicated 40+ years of my life to investing and overseeing the operations of Golden Pin Lanes. It’s time for me to explore the next chapter of my life, and that has necessitated the sale of the building. I truly have enjoyed owning Golden Pin Lanes and I hope that our wonderful and loyal customers and dedicated employees understand a decision like this is extremely difficult, and there’s no perfect execution.
The sale of the building has invited many rumors. Local competitors will try to use this sale to their gain. Newspapers will use incorrect and misleading information to stir up controversy. And many without the intimate details of the deal will spread incorrect information. I’d like to clarify some important details so that the truth is out there. First of all, this sale was solely my decision and isn’t a forced sale due to a poor financial performance. Second of all, despite the sale occurring shortly, the transfer will not be immediate. Golden Pin Lanes will be leasing back the bowl from the County for a period of one year following the closing of the transaction. This means Golden Pin Lanes WILL be in business until at least June of 2019. And, it will be business as usual. We will continue to service our dedicated and valued league and open bowlers. The entire bowl including the lanes and snack bar will be open and we will continue to employ our wonderful employees. The yearlong period allows for a smoother transition for our customers and employees to allow for alternate arrangements to be made.
I truly have enjoyed my time owning Golden Pin Lanes. It has been my absolute pleasure to be a part of the Tucson bowling community. Thank you to all who have made this such a blessed journey.
Owner
Don Allan
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Not good here in north Ala. We did have four alleys a few years back. One closed due to the death of the owner, another burned down and one alley just sold and is being converted to another use. We are left with one AMF house which is not in good shape. Only other possibilities are a 24 lane house in a nearby town (about 15 miles) and on a military base which is not open to everyone. Not too good for a city of nearly 200,000 and growing.
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I still live part time in Vegas and have been since moving there in 1998. the scene here is huge, and has been for ages. That's going from having the TOC at the Showboat, then Castaways to the mini and international Eliminator, the True Amateur Challenge (now TAT tournaments), BVL, the Military tournaments, Senior Masters, all of the other USBC and PBA tournaments, Collegiate tournaments, and then the leagues. It really says a lot when you have a 70 lane house for league and every lane is packed.
And that's not even taking into account the arena at South Point. Vegas has had a great scene, but not only that, as you have to include the entire Southern Nevada USBC area, and include Laughlin and Mesquite (Virgin River).
Funny you should mention Portland, as we are still considering the move up there. Good to know the scene is active there, but I do have a question: do any of the colleges up there still have a Collegiate program? The last collegiate team I remember from that area was Washington State, but that was 25 years ago.
BL.
I think the only college that has a bowling team is Portland St but from what Ive heard, they sometimes don't get enough bowlers to fill a team and they don''t give out any scholarships.. Oregon St use to have a team but they don't anymore..
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Washington State had a team until fairly recently. Not sure whether they still do. Years ago they had a very strong program, winning a national championship in 1980, and falling just short around 1992, beating a powerful Wichita State team with Chris Barnes.
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Michigan has been really good. Midwest Scratch Bowling Series (scratchbowling.com) has a sweeper most every day of the week and larger tournaments on the weekends. The Michigan Masters, SSO, 10k Memorial tournament had 448 entries in Grand Rapids. It was a little sad to see this weekend though for the MSBS we had a 3k guarantee for first and only had around 90 entries (with reentries) for $120. With that much guarantee and lower entry, would have liked to have seen well over 150 entries. There were a ton a great bowlers in the state that didn't show.
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At least 10 houses in the Omaha area, though several have closed within the last 10 years. During the spring, you can usually find about one tournament a weekend. One scratch league (annual draft), travel league, and a robust youth bowling environment. You can see high school finals on TV here. There is a local bowling newspaper (Nebraska Bowler). Three pro shops that I know of...
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The tournament scene in Vegas is horrible. In every casino with a bowling center on any weekend you'll probably have enough competitive players to field a decent tournament, but due to so much else to do in town, you'll see get a mix of the world beaters and the league bowlers that want to bowl a sport shot for cheap on the weekends. The scratch tournaments have LOL-bad prize funds until you get to the big national level ones. I was shocked at how "dead" the competitive bowling scene is in my 5 years there.
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Northern California(really central California, but the idiots in LA think everything else is "Northern California), especially the SF/San Jose/Sacramento area has a thriving bowling community. There are tournaments pretty much every weekend and there is a decent amount of talent in the area.
Some houses don't have a scratch league, but many do.
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At least 10 houses in the Omaha area, though several have closed within the last 10 years. During the spring, you can usually find about one tournament a weekend. One scratch league (annual draft), travel league, and a robust youth bowling environment. You can see high school finals on TV here. There is a local bowling newspaper (Nebraska Bowler). Three pro shops that I know of...
I was just going to mention Omaha, as that's my hometown. With Scott Sedlak closing Kelley's Hilltop (he was a year behind me in high school), that still leaves more alleys in the entire Omaha metro area than all of Sacramento and its suburbs. Plus with UNL 60 miles away, Midland 30 miles away, and UNO wanting to start up another program, there's plenty of life there.
The Omaha World Herald (local newspaper) just put together a photo of the timeline of the Crossroads shopping mall, from inception to current status, and one of the photos they have is from 1955, where there is nothing but a dirt lot across the street with a small building there, for West Lanes Bowlatorium. The mall hadn't been built yet, but that bowling alley is still there.
At its peak, there were 22 alleys open in the metro area, and that includes the 2 in Council Bluffs. I can only count 10 that have closed and that's going back to when I was a kid, with the earliest of them closing in 1991: Ames, King Louie's Rose Bowl, Kelley's Hilltop, Leisure Lanes, Sky Lanes, Wildcat, Cougar, Gateway, Gretna, and one in Council Bluffs that was on Broadway. Valley View (now Thunderbowl) is still there.
Plus with those 3 big pro shops (all run by PBA members, one of which was in my graduating class and bowled youth and collegiates with), then add in Erin McCarthy (who just won her first PWBA title after representing the US at the QubicaAMF World Cup) there's a HUGE scene in Omaha. Always has been.
BL.
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;D Yes, by all means, DrBwlr15, maybe you better consider moving to Omaha. ???
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;D Yes, by all means, DrBwlr15, maybe you better consider moving to Omaha. ???
Whats the tournament scene like in Omaha? Do they have any scratch leagues or tournaments?
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Looks like the New England area with NEBA and the Michigan area with MSBS are the two hotbeds for tournament bowling.. Its too bad I have no desire to live in either area...
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Looks like the New England area with NEBA and the Michigan area with MSBS are the two hotbeds for tournament bowling.. Its too bad I have no desire to live in either area...
That's because we kinda get over the whole playing in the snow thing rather quickly and turn to bowling haha.
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;D Yes, by all means, DrBwlr15, maybe you better consider moving to Omaha. ???
Whats the tournament scene like in Omaha? Do they have any scratch leagues or tournaments?
Sandhills Tournament is held twice a year at various houses; difficult flat pattern that still plays different from house to house. A couple weekends of qualifying then a final cut on the last Sunday, then stair-step, I think (if I made it that far, I'd know, eh?)
Leopard Challenge is another scratch, flat pattern held in June.
I only know of the one scratch league where 3 man teams are drafted by the top 32 averages every year. Largest payoffs I've ever seen in a league.
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Grew up in southwestern Iowa and recently spent some time in Omaha. Nice area. Quiet, clean, fairly cheap, good education, great place to raise family. Weather can be a bit brutal out there on the plains and doesn't have a big city feel if that is what you are into. Horses for courses. Will say straight up the education system in Arizona is trash (barely acceptable in some of the richer districts like Tempe, Chandler, etc at least). Also its 111 out as I write this (but also hasn't snowed here since the Great Depression). Good to know everything you can before deciding. I love the southwest and my desert but its not for everyone for sure. Both are good choices for bowling though.
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Grew up in southwestern Iowa and recently spent some time in Omaha. Nice area. Quiet, clean, fairly cheap, good education, great place to raise family. Weather can be a bit brutal out there on the plains and doesn't have a big city feel if that is what you are into. Horses for courses. Will say straight up the education system in Arizona is trash (barely acceptable in some of the richer districts like Tempe, Chandler, etc at least). Also its 111 out as I write this (but also hasn't snowed here since the Great Depression). Good to know everything you can before deciding. I love the southwest and my desert but its not for everyone for sure. Both are good choices for bowling though.
Depending on what part of AZ you live in, it can be low elevation or high elevation desert. I live at just under 5000ft and some other communities are higher, a few people who come to visit or live here have to leave early because of breathing problems with the altitude (imagine must be the same for Denver).
Don't move here because you have pollen allergies - all the people who moved here decades ago brought their favorite plants with them, so with the lack of really cold weather, it is allergy season all year round with the dust, pollen, and mold.
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;D Yes, by all means, DrBwlr15, maybe you better consider moving to Omaha. ???
Whats the tournament scene like in Omaha? Do they have any scratch leagues or tournaments?
Sandhills Tournament is held twice a year at various houses; difficult flat pattern that still plays different from house to house. A couple weekends of qualifying then a final cut on the last Sunday, then stair-step, I think (if I made it that far, I'd know, eh?)
Leopard Challenge is another scratch, flat pattern held in June.
I only know of the one scratch league where 3 man teams are drafted by the top 32 averages every year. Largest payoffs I've ever seen in a league.
I believe West Lanes still has a scratch league on Tuesdays that a lot of those bowling collegiately from UNL even make the drive up for.
Mockingbird has a huge scratch league as well. The Joe Tomsu tournament is a huge drawer of bowlers as well; it's run by Matt Tomsu, who runs one of those 3 big pro shops.
The league Rich Abboud runs is also a huge draw for scratch bowlers, then there's the aforementioned Leopard challenge.
I don't remember if the travel league is still running - if it is, I'll see who's running it. They hit every house in the area at least twice, and that includes Peacekeeper Lanes at Offutt AFB.
The youth programs in the city are huge. And as mentioned, the Metropolitan Sports Foundation runs the competitive high school bowling leagues there, so youth are definitely covered outside of their normal Saturday leagues as well as the Junior Traveling Classic, which is now a Junior Gold qualifier.
BL.
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;D Yes, by all means, DrBwlr15, maybe you better consider moving to Omaha. ???
Whats the tournament scene like in Omaha? Do they have any scratch leagues or tournaments?
Sandhills Tournament is held twice a year at various houses; difficult flat pattern that still plays different from house to house. A couple weekends of qualifying then a final cut on the last Sunday, then stair-step, I think (if I made it that far, I'd know, eh?)
Leopard Challenge is another scratch, flat pattern held in June.
I only know of the one scratch league where 3 man teams are drafted by the top 32 averages every year. Largest payoffs I've ever seen in a league.
I believe West Lanes still has a scratch league on Tuesdays that a lot of those bowling collegiately from UNL even make the drive up for.
Mockingbird has a huge scratch league as well. The Joe Tomsu tournament is a huge drawer of bowlers as well; it's run by Matt Tomsu, who runs one of those 3 big pro shops.
The league Rich Abboud runs is also a huge draw for scratch bowlers, then there's the aforementioned Leopard challenge.
I don't remember if the travel league is still running - if it is, I'll see who's running it. They hit every house in the area at least twice, and that includes Peacekeeper Lanes at Offutt AFB.
The youth programs in the city are huge. And as mentioned, the Metropolitan Sports Foundation runs the competitive high school bowling leagues there, so youth are definitely covered outside of their normal Saturday leagues as well as the Junior Traveling Classic, which is now a Junior Gold qualifier.
BL.
The scratch league at West Lanes is gone (fun while it lasted). The Mockingbird scratch is the draft league mentioned. I don't think Rich's league is still going...have to ask.
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Dallas/Fort Worth has a pretty good bowling scene, not like it was 10yrs ago when i moved here. When USBC moved here all the bowlers moved here and tournaments were pretty stacked and great. Now that USBC has let go of all the good people/bowlers that worked at headquarters, they all moved away and slimmed down the competition.