Rule number #1. Never go to a league night without a dry lane bowling ball!!!!!

The lanes in the house at which I bowl, Holiday Bowl in Albuquerque,NM, have been extremely oily the last four weeks. Flooded. So, in my infinite wisdom, I decided to include in my arsenal for the night my GP2, Robo Rule, Machine (just in case the lanes were a little less oily) and, I took my Rule, plus a spare ball (Columbia Blue Dot). (I have an ebonite four ball with an extra single bag with it.) First warm up with my Robo Rule - bowling from about 20 over 10 - whoosh....way left. Oil pattern was strange. There was lots of oil on my bowling ball in the return. All the oil stretching across the middle of the lane...dry in front, very dry in back. Very little oil running down the middle to ride. About 15 feet of oil stretching from gutter to gutter in the middle. Trouble. Lots of trouble. I managed a 212 in the first game with my Machine, bowling from about 37 over 15 out to 8 or less and back in. Then in started breaking even more and....I couldn't move any further to the left. We were on lanes 1 and 2 and there's a wall there! By the middle of the second game I was rolling over 25 (from 40) and it was still breaking too much. Down to 180. In the third game I just wound up and threw the ball as hard as I could, keeping my hand as flat as I could. Still broke past the head pin. I wasn't alone. Another bowler on my team started with the One, then the big one, then to the crossfire, then the a V2 sanded, finally ended with his pink spare ball.

Never leave home without a dry lane ball....in my case, my Desert Heat. Heed my warning!

Chuck (with Desert Heat back in the bag!)

So true... always expect the unexpected in league. Myself, I always bag a heavy oiler and a dry lanes ball (a Reaction Rip with 5 1/2" pin from PAP or even my pancake Red Pearl Urethane Hammer when I expect TRUE trouble) when I go to league, even if I have to haul a total of 5 or 6 balls around. I fell into the dry lanes trap once, and it was horrible...

Good advice (*nod*)
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Thanks for the information, Drrev2000.  A question for you ... is the shot you've been seeing unplayable or just harder than the old "short oil" you mentioned?  If it's a hard but playable shot, it might be exactly where I want to bowl league.  As for the management, you're not the first to mention the unfriendly attitude towards league play in that center.  As a matter of fact, a few weeks ago, a man who works there said almost the exact same thing to me about open play and birthdays being the preferred business under the new management.  That's too bad, especially with all the work they put into the center last year.

Oh, sorry for the hijack, cnimsk ... How's this ... Yep, gotta have a dry lane ball at all times anywhere you go in the Albuquerque area.

Deb

Thanks to both of you for the information regarding Holiday.  We bowled summer league there last year, and even with all the construction issues, we had a great time.  We're looking forward to getting back into that house for the summer.  Since I'm a rev-challenged left-hander who likes to play outside, it sounds like I might enjoy the current shot there.  We're also bowling a summer league at Tenpins, so it should be an interesting summer.  After bowling winters at Starlight since we got into bowling a few years ago, we'll probably be checking out other leagues around the city for this coming fall.

Oh, I'm bowling state team as a sub on May 7th at some ungodly early hour, and my husband and I are bowling doubles and singles on May 13 at 3 p.m.  If you're around, be sure to say hi.

Deb