Not sure if there is a rule for this or not. Second game of doubles, one of the guys in my group had his ball damaged. He uses switch grips, something caught it and the slug cracked/got crushed, so the hole was no longer round. He couldn't get the slug out and he didn't have a spare to use in another ball.
Lucky for him, I had all my tools, so with a bevel knife, a rasp and some sandpaper, it took me about half a game to get the thumb back to "close enough" to round so he could finish out. But if I hadn't been there, would he just have been SOL? Once a ball is checked in, it can't leave the bowling lanes, right? Seems maybe there needs to be an amendment to the rules as this was not his fault, the lanes damaged the ball, he should have been able to take it to a booth to get it fixed.
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It IS next year!