GAME CHANGERS 2014 fire gutted the building across from College of Coastal Georgia beyond repair, and it was subsequently razed. As for her handicap, Denise had an impressive game on a Tuesday night. Her ball rolled and slid into the pins and sent them all spinning and scattering save one, the 2 pin. It sat rocking for a few seconds then fell, and joy abounded on her team as she recorded the strike. The Strike Zone’s Kailey Oldenburg says the leagues bowl for first place from August until April. The season is split with the winners of each half bowling against each other for the championship in August. Oldenburg’s co-worker, Jennifer Kelley, is also the secretary of the league with the duty of collecting the leagues’ fees and paying out the winnings, which can be considerable.
Bowling, a Game for the Ages
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WORDS AND PHOTOS BY TERRY DICKSON
“target bowling.” There is one place for the public to play in Brunswick, the Strike Zone just west of Interstate 95 where Tuesdays and Wednesdays are league nights. Formerly, Tuesday was for open leagues and Wednesday for the men’s league, but after the pandemic began both nights were opened, resulting in a lot of mixed teams. The teams come ready for fun though. Case in point, the Herndon family team who arrive clad in matching shirts reading, “Wallace ‘N Dem.”
Bowling is one of those games for the ages and for all ages. Like many other games, a lot of countries claim to be its birthplace, but archaeologists found evidence it was played by children in ancient Egypt.
Leader Wallace declares, “I’m just here for the beer,” while his wife Denise says, “They need my handicap.” Dan Patrick says once he’s inside, he’s among friends.
Regardless of where it began, it is practiced most avidly in the U.S. where an estimated 70 million of the world’s 100 million play what is called
“We’re one big happy family. We’ve been that way since the Bowlarena burned down,” he says referring to what had been the only lanes before the Strike Zone opened. A November
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Many sports have body styles to fit the competition, but bowlers come in all shapes, sizes, and ages. The league’s tallest bowler, George Mincey, was obviously built for another sport. He played basketball at Brunswick High and was on Brunswick Junior College’s first ever basketball team. Mincey had to quit playing pickup basketball because of an arthritic hip and, recently, Daniel Holton had to re-drill a hole in his bowling ball for him. Holton sells balls at the Strike Zone and drills holes from ½-inch to 1 ½-inch, in them to fit bowlers’ fingers. Now 29, Holton has been bowling since he was 14. “I saw the (Professional Bowling Association) skills challenge on TV. I’d never been bowling before. I told my parents I wanted to try it. We went, and I loved it,” he says. His wife Michelle started in a youth league in Roswell, Georgia. “Bowling can be expensive if you’re not in a league,” she says, noting that is the reason her mother got her into a league. “I was 12. I loved it,” she says. Her bowling skills earned her an athletic scholarship at Lindonwood University in St. Charles, Missouri, a small school that sends a team to nationals nearly every year. The Holtons met when both were
