I bowl at an older house with newer syn lanes.  The owner of the house bowls 4 to 5 times a week and does all the setup on the lanes. He changed oil at the first of the year to an oil that is supposed to hold up better and not carry down. With this oil he changed the pattern to a longer one with more oil up the middle. It was alot better setup for everyone but him, so he decided to change it again and walled it up the 10 boards so his ball would roll sooner and get some backend reaction which he did not have after the first of year. Myself and others feel like that is cheating and want to know if there is anything we can do about the owner setting up the lanes to help him when he bowls league on these lanes.  Thanks everyone

Hurricane 1

The owner of one house I bowl in is a solid 220 average lefty and he gets accused on a nightly basis of walling up the shot for himself and not for the righties- yet the high average in the house (234) is from a righty. The main house I bowl in, the owner came from a candlepin background so it's a new discovery from him to wonder why ten pin bowlers need oil on a week to week basis.

Is it fair for an owner to set up a shot that he can hit? No. But as long as it meets ABC regulations (at least 3 units gutter to gutter) there is nothing that can be done to change it.

Matt

Is the shot shutting everyone but the owner out?

No? Well, than you can adjust, too.

I used to bowl in a house where the owner liked to play 5 board. Guess where the shot was? I could beat my brains out trying to play 10, or I could adjust and play 5. I adjusted.

Now - if you don't want to add a new dimension to your game and learn how to play different conditions, don't bowl there. That's always a choice!