Eddie Bryant, general manager at the 300 Club in Green Lake, shows the inner workings of one of 12 string pin-setting machines at the bowling center.
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Bowling pins at Club 300 in Green Lake are connected to paracord as part of a string pinsetter system that is less expensive to maintain and operate than traditional pin-setting machines. However, the U.S. Bowling Congress has not yet recognized string pinsetters for use for sanctioned league and tournament play.
The strings attached to the pins are barely visible to Jayden Mendoza, 5, who came to the 300 Club in Green Lake last week to bowl with his family.
Eddie Bryant, general manager at the 300 Club, shows how tension on strings can be adjusted. Bryant said tangles are uncommon and easier to fix than a jammed pin in a traditional pin setting machine.
The former Green Lake Lanes has undergone a more than $1 million renovation and expansion that includes new lanes, string pinsetters, comfortable seating, new touch screen scoring and gaming screens, and a name change to the 300 Club.
The 300 Club in Green Lake had for decades been a typical small-town bowling alley until a more than $1 million transformation in 2021.
The 300 Club bowling center has done away with old-school black balls and has only a stock of colorful balls for customers to use.
Orly Rivera, a manager at the 300 Club, talks about his TikTok video of the string pinsetters that has gone viral and has received more than 15 million views.
Isabelle Loberg, 11, and her brother, August, 5, play an arcade game during an after-school visit to the 300 Club in Green Lake. The bowling center has a diverse lineup that besides the arcade includes meeting and party rooms, an outdoor patio, food and a sports bar.
Photos: Bowling in Wisconsin
Bowling
The strings attached to the pins are barely visible to Jayden Mendoza, 5, who came to the 300 Club in Green Lake last week to bowl with his family.
Bowling
The former Green Lake Lanes has undergone a more than $1 million renovation and expansion that includes new lanes, string pinsetters, comfortable seating, new touch screen scoring and gaming screens, and a name change to the 300 Club.
Bowling
Eddie Bryant, general manager at the 300 Club, shows how tension on strings can be adjusted. Bryant said tangles are uncommon and easier to fix than a jammed pin in a traditional pin setting machine.
20220127_06_StringpinBowling_0235_AJA-01282022120904
String pinsetters are used to set the pins at The 300 Club bowling alley in Green Lake, Wis., Thursday, Jan. 27, 2022. AMBER ARNOLD, STATE JOURNAL
Bowling
The 300 Club in Green Lake had for decades been a typical small-town bowling alley until a more than $1 million transformation in 2021.
Bowling
The 300 Club bowling center has done away with old-school black balls and has only a stock of colorful balls for customers to use.
20220127_12_StringpinBowling_0567_AJA-01282022120904
The bar area at The 300 Club in Green Lake, Wis., Thursday, Jan. 27, 2022. AMBER ARNOLD, STATE JOURNAL
Bowling
Eddie Bryant, general manager at the 300 Club in Green Lake, shows the inner workings of one of 12 string pin-setting machines at the bowling center.
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Eddie Bryant, general manager at The 300 Club, displays a pin at the bowling alley that uses string pinsetter technology to set the pins in Green Lake, Wis., Thursday, Jan. 27, 2022. AMBER ARNOLD, STATE JOURNAL
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Eddie Bryant, general manager at The 300 Club, shows how they use string pinsetters to set the pins at the bowling alley in Green Lake, Wis., Thursday, Jan. 27, 2022. AMBER ARNOLD, STATE JOURNAL
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Orly Rivera, right, manager, talks about his TikTok video of the string pinsetters used at The 300 Club bowling alley in Green Lake, Wis., Thursday, Jan. 27, 2022. AMBER ARNOLD, STATE JOURNAL
Bowling
Orly Rivera, a manager at the 300 Club, talks about his TikTok video of the string pinsetters that has gone viral and has received more than 15 million views.
Bowling
Isabelle Loberg, 11, and her brother, August, 5, play an arcade game during an after-school visit to the 300 Club in Green Lake. The bowling center has a diverse lineup that besides the arcade includes meeting and party rooms, an outdoor patio, food and a sports bar.
Bowling
Bowling pins at Club 300 in Green Lake are connected to paracord as part of a string pinsetter system that is less expensive to maintain and operate than traditional pin-setting machines. However, the U.S. Bowling Congress has not yet recognized string pinsetters for use for sanctioned league and tournament play.
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People take their turn during a game of bowling at Dream Lanes bowling alley on Atlas Court in Madison. Amber Arnold -- State Journal (Published 8/31/14)
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Sara McKittrick, of Omro, watches the ball her son, Trenton, 3, left, just bowled with family members Lainy Hampton, 4, Mya Hampton, 7, and Grace Breidel, 4, at Schwoegler Park Towne Lanes in Madison, Wis., Thursday, November 26, 2015. This year marks the 45th year that the family has gone bowling on Thanksgiving. AMBER ARNOLD -- State Journal
bowling main
Robin Goldberg, owner of Dream Lanes, has been in the bowling business most of his life. While participation has been in decline for decades, Goldberg sees a future for operators who are able to keep up with the changing times.
Vintage Bowling Tour-main A1
Remy Nelan, 12, left, and Chance Leisgang, 11, set pins behind the two lanes of the bowling alley in the lower level of the Fort Atkinson Club in Fort Atkinson. The club, one of the few establishments in the state with human pin-setters, was one of four stops on a recent tour of vintage lanes organized by the Bowling Centers Association of Wisconsin.
Vintage Bowling Tour-secondary A1
Some of the 11 bowlers who took part in a tour of vintage lanes organized by the Bowling Centers Association of Wisconsin prepare to board a bus after a stop at Ley's Bark River Lanes in the Jefferson County hamlet of Rome. Wisconsin is home to 84 bowling centers with between two and six lanes, the most of any state in the country.
Vintage Bowling Tour-main jump
Michael James of West Allis throws a ball on one of two bowling lanes in the lower level of the Fort Atkinson Club. The lanes are flooded with natural light from windows that give bowlers scenic views of the adjacent Rock River. The club, which opened in 1913, underwent a $2.5 million renovation a few years ago. The bowling lanes were restored this year at a cost of about $20,000.
Vintage Bowling Tour-jump
Bowling balls and shoes carried in a vintage case from the 1970s were among the items brought by Dale LaMora of Milwaukee during a visit to Ley's Bark River Lanes in Rome. LaMora works at Highland Lanes in Miwaukee, an eight-lane bowling center established in 1960, and was among 11 people that took part in a tour of four small bowling centers in Jefferson and Dodge counties. "I didn't bowl very well, but I had fun," LaMora, 39, said after the tour.
Vintage Bowling Tour-Iron Ridge
Bowling has been a part of the entertainment in the Dodge County village of Iron Ridge since 1886, when an alley was built in the American House Hotel, which burned a year later. What is now Strikes, Spares & Spirits has been the community's bowling center for over 100 years, with the first two lanes built in the basement. Here, Chris Head of Milwaukee throws a ball down one the alley's four lanes, now located in the back of the building on the main floor.
Vintage Bowling Tour-Rome
Paula Anschutz of Bailey's Harbor, who operates Sister Bay Bowl with her mother Penny Anschutz, looks over a score sheet highlighting seven counts during a visit to Ley's Bark River Lanes in Rome. Anschutz was among those on an 11.5-hour tour last Sunday of vintage bowling centers.
Vintage Bowling Tour-Fort
Roger Dalkin of Greenfield, right, celebrates after picking up a spare during a visit to the lower level bowling lanes of the Fort Atkinson Club in Fort Atkinson. Dalkin, 67, is the former CEO of the U.S. Bowling Congress and a former collegiate champion. He bowls once a week and took part in a tour of vintage bowling centers last week organized by the Bowling Centers Association of Wisconsin.
Vintage Bowling Tour-Palmyra
Following a day-long tour of vintage bowling alleys, Penny Anschutz of Bailey's Harbor exits Palmyra Bowl in the Jefferson County village of Palmyra. The four-lane bowling center was founded in the 1920s but had been closed for 10 years before reopening in 2015.
Vintage Bowling Tour
Chris Head of Milwaukee prepares to throw a ball down one of the four lanes at Palmyra Bowl. The alleys, in the basement of a restaurant in the village's downtown, reopened in 2015 after being closed for 10 years.
Vintage Bowling Tour
David Bennett makes a morning visit to Strikes, Spares & Spirits in Iron Ridge during a tour of four vintage bowling lanes.
Vintage Bowling Tour
Paula Anschutz of Bailey's Harbor explores the pin-setting machines at Palmyra Bowl in Palmyra. Anschutz operates the six-lane Sister Bay Bowl in Door County.
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Roger Dalkin of Greenfield, Wis., exits the beveled glass doors of the Fort Atkinson Club in Fort Atkinson, Wis., following a bowling outing at the historic venue Sunday, Oct. 29, 2017. The club was one of four stops on a tour of vintage lanes organized by the Bowling Centers Association of Wisconsin. JOHN HART, STATE JOURNAL
Vintage Bowling 07-10312017175001
High bowler scores are displayed on a sign at Strikes, Spares & Spirits in Iron Ridge, Wis. Sunday, Oct. 29, 2017. The business was one of four stops on a tour of vintage lanes organized by the Bowling Centers Association of Wisconsin. Waiting his turn to throw is Roger Dalkin of Greendale, Wis. JOHN HART, STATE JOURNAL
Vintage Bowling Tour
Remy Nelan, 12, clears a bowler's standing pins behind one of the two lanes of the bowling alley in the lower level of the Fort Atkinson Club in Fort Atkinson.
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During a stop at Ley's Bark River Lanes in Rome, Wis. Yvonne Bennett, executive director of the Bowling Centers Association of Wisconsin, prepares score sheets for participants in a tour of vintage bowling lanes she organized Sunday, Oct. 29, 2017. JOHN HART, STATE JOURNAL
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Remy Nelan, 12, left, and Chance Leisgang, 11, set pins behind the two lanes of the bowling alley in the lower level of the Fort Atkinson Club in Fort Atkinson, Wis., Sunday, Oct. 29, 2017. The club was one of four stops on a tour of vintage lanes organized by the Bowling Centers Association of Wisconsin. JOHN HART, STATE JOURNAL
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Renovation work progresses in the sanctuary of the Sugar River United Methodist Church in Verona, Wis. Friday, Nov. 4, 2016. Housed in a former bowling alley, the church is currently finishing the second of three planned phases of restoration. JOHN HART -- State Journal
Bowling takes a hit
Iran Williams works on removing flood-damaged flooring at Schwoegler's Park Towne Lanes in Madison. Besides new flooring and furniture, the bowling alley's 36 lanes will also need to be replaced.
Bowling takes a hit
The restaurant and bar are expected to reopen Sept. 4 at Schwoegler's Park Towne Lanes in Madison, but crews spent last week removing damaged flooring and lanes from the bowling area of the business. New lanes should be ready for play by mid-November.
Bowling takes a hit
Bowling pins that last week floated in floodwater came to rest far from the pinsetters at the other end of the lanes at Schwoegler's Park Towne Lanes, 444 Grand Canyon Drive.
Bowling takes a hit
Carter Smith, owner of Schwoegler's Park Towne Lanes, surveys the damage and demolition work now underway after floodwaters covered the bowling center's 36 lanes last week. Damage could approach $1 million.
Right Bauer owners
Erica Beckman and Martin McNally are two of the five partners in Right Bauer Brewing, 239 E. Main St. in Sun Prairie. The 2,000-square-foot brewpub has a three-barrel brewing system, serves up smoked meats and has tables made from some of the bowling lanes that were removed from Schwoegler's Park Towne Lanes in Madison after the bowling center was flooded in August.
Bowling takes a hit
Main Street Lanes in Cross Plains.
Bowling takes a hit
Mike Hamstra, who works at Main Street Lanes in Cross Plains, replaces a bucket Thursday used to collect water dripping from the ceiling of the four-lane facility. The leak, and a small amount of water in the basement, was the extent of the damage to the bowling alley and bar. Other facilities haven't been as lucky this summer.
Bowling takes a hit
Jonathan Abing, right, stands in water in the basement of his Black Earth Lanes on Thursday as Ken Meigs, another business owner in the village, looks on. Abing's basement had filled nearly to the ceiling last week with floodwater, which destroyed compressors for his refrigeration systems, beer cooler and much of his food and liquor inventory. The bowling alley above escaped damage.
Bowling takes a hit
Jonathan Abing looks over the eight lanes of his Black Earth Lanes bowling center last week. The bowling and bar operation on the first floor were not touched by floodwaters, but the basement filled with water, damaging equipment and inventory need to run the business.
Barry Adams covers regional news for the Wisconsin State Journal. Send him ideas for On Wisconsin at 608-252-6148 or by email at badams@madison.com.
