1840 - First Indoor Lanes Built
(Manhattan, NY)
1880 - Two fingered-grip introduced
1895 - The American Bowling Congress
Organized
1899 - Flat gutters lowered to 2" deep
1901 - 1st ABC National Tournament
1902 - Minimum pin weight: 3lbs 2oz
1905 - First hard rubber ball developed
Maximum ball weight set at 16lbs
1907 - Flat gutters lowered to 3.5"
1908 - First (ABC reconized) 300 game
1909 - Minumum pin weight: 3lbs 0oz
Resurfacing required every 12mo's
1913 - First 300 in the ABC National
Tournament
1914 - Mineralite ball introduced
(Brunswick)
1916 - 1st WIBC National Tournament
1922 - Minimum pin weight: 2lbs 12oz
1928 - Flat gutters: quater round required
on each side
1930 - First female 300 game
1932 - Air conditioning comes to bowling
1933 - Minimum pin weight: 3lbs 0oz,
Base of pin changed
1936 - Ned Day First to use 3 finger ball
1938 - Synthetic coatings developed
(Lacquer)
1943 - Fiber-pin base approved
1947 - First televised bowling match (CBS)
1948 - Laminated pins developed
1950 - 3 piece laminated pins introduced:
Minimum pin weight: 2lbs 14oz
1951 - Pin base change mandated:
2.25" to 2" diameter
First automated pin
setter installed (AMF)
1956 - Smaller pin base required
1959 - Introduction of the first
polyester balls (Columbia)
1960 - First foul detector approved
1962 - First synthetic pin approved
(Magna pin)
1963 - Minimum pin weight: 3lbs 2oz
1968 - First WIBC 800 series
1972 - Even lane conditions mandated
(Gutter to Gutter)
With over 1,200 sq. ft. of display and a total of 4,000 total sq. ft., Tom Kelleys Bowling Pro Shop is one of the largest and finest pro shops in America. Over 250 different bowling balls and over 200 different bags are on display and in stock. We stock one of the largest inventories of bowling equipment in the country with all major brands and styles of shoes and a large inventory of bowling accessories. We stock all major brands of balls, bags, and shoes including Columbia, Ebonite, Storm, Brunswick, Hammer, Track, KR/NFL Bags,Dexter shoes.
Tom Kelley Sr. and Tom Kelley Jr. have first hand knowledge of the equipment they sell. Tom Sr. started drilling balls in 1958 while Tom Jr. started in 1980, both are IBPSIA (International Bowling Pro Shop & Instructors Association) charter members.
The ability to match the bowler with the ball, drill pattern, and lane condition was learned on the lanes with years of experience. Standard drill patterns are adjusted to match the lane condition and the bowlers ball speed, revolutions, and axis rotation.
Tom Sr. has 5 state and many city championships. In 1974, he was one of the members of the team who won the ABC National Tournament. In 1975, he represented the United States in the Tournament of the Americas and in 1983, he finished 2nd place in the first International Tournament. A senior PBA member, Tom Sr. placed 7th on the Senior Tour at the old Showboat Lanes in Las Vegas.
Tom Kelley Jr. has bowled over 30 sanctioned 300 games, and over 10 sanctioned 800 series. He has 2 state Championships and many local tournament wins. In 1988, Tom Jr. won the Nebraska US Open. In 1991, in Toledo, Ohio, he became the first Nebraska bowler to roll 300 game in an ABC National Tournament. In 1993 he won the PBA Regional Championship in Lincoln, Nebraska. That same year he finished 2nd in the Super Hoinke Tournament in Cincinnati, Ohio winning a prize of $50,000. In 1993, Tom Jr. was on the team who won the ABC Team Challenge in Forth Worth, Texas. In 1995, he won the Super Honkie Classic Sweeper with the winning prize of $9,000. Tom Kelley Jr. holds the record for the second highest stairstep in the history of the U.S.B.C. 276 ,277 , 278 for a 831 series.
Both Tom Jr. and Tom Sr. were on the team which finished 3rd in the ABC National Tournament in Reno, Nevada in 2001, just one pin from a 3-way tie for the Championship.Both were on the team that set the new State Tournament Scratch Team Record of 3638. Also State tournament championships Sr 6 now and Jr. 5.
Both Tom Jr. and Tom Sr. have an ongoing interest in all the new techniques and stay on top of the bowling game. Their interest in bowling goes far beyond the mechanics of the game. Both are also inductees of the Omaha Bowling Hall of Fame and State Hall of Fame.