Columbus Bowling Center co-owner Brent Phillips is working hard to make sure bowling is a memorable experience for everyone in the community.
“We want to make this a cool and fun place for the entire family to hang out,” he said. “We have bowlers from ages 3 to 90. Bowling is not as big as it was 25 years ago, but people are starting to come back to bowling within the last 10 years.”
That includes people who’ve bowled before, but have only done it through a game console.
“Some young people discovered bowling through video games and have only recently started coming to a bowling alley,” Phillips said.
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The game of bowling has remained the same throughout generations, but the presentation of the game has changed dramatically within the past few weeks at CBC because of the installation of a Pulse scoring system.
“Our last scoring system was installed in 1996,” Phillips said. “It was cutting-edge then, but it became harder to find parts for it. It became hard to maintain, and we felt strongly about upgrading it. We’re hoping for an awesome response to it.”
The afternoon of July 12 was a historic one for CBC when the new scoring system was unveiled to a group of young Parks and Recreation kids. Bumpers were placed into the lanes so the bowlers could test out the new system.
To use a video game analogy, this had all the excitement of kids playing on the Nintendo Switch for the first time after using the Nintendo 64 for the past 20 years. The jump from 64-bit to HD graphics is jarring, and it transforms the experience of bowling in Columbus. People can even share their scores to social media and download avatars to use while bowling.
“We just finished bowling our first game on the new system 40 minutes ago,” CBC manager Chris Davis said on July 12. “You look out at the bowling lanes, and the kids are clearly having a blast. They’re seeing high definition graphics on the flat-screen TVs now instead of just the score. It’s the bells and whistles that will keep us competing with other entertainment options like paintball and laser tag.”
Statistics show that attracting the younger demographics will be a huge key to bowling’s future.
Only 25 percent of the nation’s bowlers in 2018 have been between the ages of 18 and 49. Davis hopes that cosmic bowling can continue its popularity and help bowling grow locally.
“It’s basically bowling under a black light,” Davis said. “During the summer, people can do it from 6 to 11 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. It’s a good idea to call ahead and reserve a lane.”
The new scoring system is the biggest step that Phillips has taken toward modernizing the bowling center since he and his wife purchased it from his uncle four years ago. The system can recognize the faces of bowlers, but Phillips knows it’s even more important that he knows the faces of his customers. Around 700 people participate in bowling leagues 32 weeks per year, and about 300 play cosmic bowling each weekend.
“People who come here regularly are like family,” Phillips said. “We want everybody to be a part of our family. We’re not done investing in the bowling alley yet. We still want to improve the parking lot and the outside of the building.”
