In the early 1970s, due to a surge in bowling ball technology, the equipment specification department at the American Bowling Congress tested the hardness of bowling balls.

Included in that technology was the development of four different types of bowling ball technology, plastic, urethane, reactive resin and particle proactive.

Using Shore D, an existing scale that was set up originally for hard rubbers, it was determined that the footprint (the surface width of the ball touching the lane) of bowling balls above 72 hardness were very consistent. But once the hardness dropped below 72, the footprint began to increase.

Admittedly, the technology used at the time was essentially a ball rolling over carbon paper, but it was distinct, and I believe held up in court.

Once this new specification was put into place any ball less than 72 was not allowed. Balls like the SD-62 became illegal. Balls that were soaked in MEK or other softening chemicals were tested at tournaments. If they were too low, they were not allowed.

At some point over the years, as ball technology continued to advance, this check became less important - to the point that it was essentially removed from all events.

If you've ever seen the flare rings of oil on a bowling ball, you've seen the footprint I am talking about. Now imagine those rings being twice as wide on the ball. The footprint is doubled and the amount of oil removed by a flaring ball would double. This would have a dramatic effect on the pattern integrity and the pattern would not hold up as well as designed.

Since USBC recently implemented a new oil absorption specification, they are obviously looking to make sure the pattern holds up as long as possible. Couple this with the return of urethane and you can see that there is going to be an issue. It is therefore imperative that they uphold the hardness specification. A rule with no enforcement is, in many ways, worse than no rule at all.

In a lot of ways the Purple Hammer hardness issue is not a big deal at all. It is not a high performance resin ball with a large RG differential yielding a ton of flare.

If this were to go unchecked, however, imagine a high flaring resin ball with twice the footprint. Now imagine several on every pair. The change in the pattern would be drastically faster.

Now I admit I don't know what hardness value it would take for the footprint to double. This would be good information for us to have. Does it double at 68? 60? 20? What is the percentage increase between 72 to 68 to 62? It must be more than a couple of percent, but how much? To me that becomes critical.

So, moving forward, there are a few things to look at and realize.

Currently, if a manufacturer changes its manufacturing location, they need to resubmit samples for approval (i.e. if Brunswick would like to continue the manufacturing of existing Ebonite products, they will have to resubmit samples for approval).

It initially appeared that certain batches (serial numbers) were the ones affected, but USBC posted a preliminary report on the testing at the U.S. Open that states it is not a specific batch or set of batches.

If it is related to the amount of games or age of the urethane ball, it sounds like a statistical test to determine a starting hardness that will make sure it does not drop below 72 should/could be a new manufacturing specification for urethane balls (assuming that value if feasible and physically possible).

Perhaps some of you feel it is necessary to check all balls at all tournaments such as the USBC Open Championships. Just note that there were only two balls out of hundreds at the TOC that tested low. This is less than 1 percent.

Enforcement through the manufacturing process should be more than capable of verifying that virtually all balls stay within the limits. Inevitably, over the years there will be an instance or two that require additional testing and follow up like this.

It is important that this is handled and the rules are upheld. Otherwise we will lose the integrity that we have.

We now see that many local, regional and professional bowlers are going back to urethane. It's interesting to see what the trend brings as the sport of bowling travels down the road.

Ed's Outlook

Australia's Jason Belmonte no longer will have to answer questions about when he's going to win the U.S. Open or what it would mean to have the iconic green jacket as part of his wardrobe.

The 36-year-old two-hander finally was able to add a U.S. Open title to his resume last Sunday at Sun Valley Lanes with a 226-201 win against top seed Anthony Simonsen of Little Elm, Texas.

The championship round of the prestigious event was broadcast live on FOX, and, in addition to the coveted outerwear, Belmonte took home a $30,000 top prize.

Belmonte, the five-time and reigning Professional Bowlers Association Player of the Year, previously made the stepladder at the U.S. Open on three occasions, finishing third in 2012, second in 2013 and fourth in 2019.

The meeting Sunday was a rematch of the title tilt at the 2019 PBA Players Championship, where Simonsen defeated Belmonte to become the youngest competitor with two major titles. At the same time, he denied Belmonte his record 11th major win, which came a month later at the PBA World Championship.

Bowling Tip

By Mike Luongo

Bowling has reached a real fork in the road. Never has the gap between league bowler and the elite professional bowler been larger.

Some league bowlers routinely average 230-plus on lane conditions that are engineered by bowling centers to allow recreational bowlers to get maximum pleasure from their league experience by carrying inflated averages that mean absolutely nothing in the real bowling world.

The USBC does absolutely nothing to preserve the integrity of the game, they only minimally regulate bowling balls and allow bowling centers to put out conditions that are so forgiving that honor scores are really a thing of the past as they are so common today for league bowlers.

When these same league bowlers go to the USBC Nationals each year, they are routinely deflated when they have to bowl on a lane condition that requires accuracy and repeat ability to yield high scores.

On the other hand, you have the PBA. Each year the Professional Bowlers Association comes up with new and more difficult oil patterns to challenge the game's elite players.

The newest patterns, introduced a couple of years ago, challenge the players to unheard of degrees. From the 32 feet Wolf pattern that reduce the greatest players in the world to using non-aggressive urethane equipment, to the 54 feet Badger pattern that leaves only eight feet of friction past the pattern for the ball to react.

The new patterns have put elite bowlers in the unenviable position of looking like rank amateurs on televised matches that are routinely viewed by league bowlers who have no understanding of the impact of oil patterns on bowling performance.

Something needs to happen at this critical fork in the road for bowling. Either the USBC needs to start regulating oil patterns at the league level, or the PBA needs to start putting out variations of house shots and let the best bowlers in the world carry 260 averages.

As putting out tougher house shots would undoubtedly result in the loss of a large percentage of house bowlers.....the PBA softening up the pro patterns is really the only viable alternative.

Mike Luongo is a Certified IBPSIA Pro Shop Operator, Master Instructor, USBC Silver Level Coach and an Advisor-Special Events Assistant with the Storm and Roto Grip Bowling Ball Company. Have a question, email him at mike.luongo@stormbowling.com.

BOWLING SCORES

BEECHWOOD LANES

Villa Roma Mon. Ladies

Pam Wayne 171,154, Lillian Zieres 171, 182, 170, 523, Lindsey Bauer 156, Lois Erdman 158, 153, 159, Darlene Mantzouratos 172, Elizabeth Huggler 166, Danielle Meyer 174, Rebecca Rhodes 156, 159.

PORT JERVIS BOWL

Thursday Ladies

Carol Flynn 179, 216, 182, 577, Josephine Zych 191, 170, 184, 545, Carmela Montaperto 141, 171, 199, 511, Kim Witkowski 168, 150, 154, 472, Celeste Fitzpatrick 136, 149, 181, 466, Barbara Goetzman 180.

FOX BOWLING CENTER

Wednesday Men's Independent

Scott Wormuth 218, 222, 632, Roger Widmann 212, Jason Scofield 254, Jerry Kulakosky 200, 234, 617, Rob Johnson 226, 229, 619, Bill Gleim 212, 222, 615, Andrew Bullis 260, 234, 689, Al Bullis Sr. 211, 224, 617.

Thursday Night 3

Dan Wormuth 247, 255, 698, Dan Keesler 209, 219, 598, Shane Dirig 215, 225, 221, 661, Ray Cornwell 221, 600.

Friday Couples

Jeremy Wormuth 214, 209, 611, Dan Wormuth 257, 622, Tim Smith 246, 236, 665, Kathy Smith 182, 203, 541, Jen Smith 211, 180, 538, Michelle Wormuth 201, Brianna Meres 181, 196, 182, 559, Scott Ellis 214, 242, 626, Howard Couse Sr. 205, 209, 611.

Sunday Mixed

Rick Mills 203, 205, 585, Don Marino 534, Dick Layton 209, 541.

KIAMESHA LANES

Monday Men's

Individual high averages in this league have Pedro Agapito III at 238.61, Jayrl Scott at 226.04 and Eddie Lake at 219.76.

Individual Monday night scoring had Pedro Agapito III with a 268, 222, 238, 728, David Graham 255, 255, 215, 725, J.J. Wilhelm Jr. 191, 277, 233, 701, Jaryl Scott 242, 222, 213, 677, Robert Feeney Sr. 189, 269, 215, 673, Billy Schubert 248, 215, 205, 668.

Tues. Mixed Firefighter

Eddie Lake 224, 233, 224, 681, Joan Lake 173, 212, 162, 547, Mary Lee Williams 169, 180, 181, 530, Karen Martin 180, 200, 167, 547, Robert Wells 244, Steve Belgiovene 245, 197, 186, 628 and a nice 800 plus series by Kyle Giordano 279, 237, a big 296 and an 812 series.

Friday Mixed

Anne Kaplan 206, 154, 158, 518, Esther Barber145, 213, 190, 548, Keith Smith 216, 253, 211, 680, Charlie Meier 198, 265, 217, 680, Eddie Lake 268, 270, 227, 765, AJ Atkins 234, 223, 215, 672, Pedro Agapito III a 236, 258, 234, 728.

Ed Townsend is a Public Relations Consultant to the Sport of Bowling and brings over 60-years of sports journalism experience in writing and compiling the information for this column. If you have league or tournament information, bowl a 300 game or an 800 series, let Ed know at 845-439-8177, email to edwardctownsend@hotmail.com or fax to 845-205, 4474. View this column and Ed's photos at http://bght.blogspot.com We are also on Facebook and Twitter.