Hammer Bowling is a company involved in the manufacture and sale of
bowling
Bowling is a Throwing sports#Target sports, target sport and recreational activity in which a player rolls a bowling ball, ball toward Bowling pin, pins (in pin bowling) or another target (in target bowling). Most references to ''bowling'' are ...
balls and bowling-related accessories.
History
Faball Enterprises was formed in 1978 by Johnny Wonders and Earl Widman. In 1981, they created the second urethane ball in the market, and Hammer was born. Hammer was the first to put a logo on the side of the ball. After a
PBA player was featured in a tournament telecast using the ball with its visible claw hammer logo, sales exploded. The Hammer brand was also the first to produce a urethane two-piece ball. In 1996, Faball Enterprises licensed the Hammer product name to Faball USA. This company maintained the brand name until Hammer products were acquired by
Ebonite International
Ebonite International was a parent company that oversaw the manufacture of bowling balls and bowling equipment. Their headquarters and primary manufacturing facility was located in Hopkinsville, Kentucky before closing on November 15, 2019.
The m ...
on February 8, 2002.
After the sale of its Hammer line to Ebonite, the Faball team went on to create a new line of equipment under the name of Visionary Bowling Products. They currently produce several lines of equipment including the popular Ogre series, the New Breed series and Gladiator series. Visionary Bowling Products are manufactured in St. Louis, MO.
Some of the more famous Faball era Hammer products are the Blue Hammer, Red Hammer, Burgundy Hammer, Black Hammer, The Nail and the Reaper series. Some of the more famous post-Faball era Hammer lines included the Blade series, Vicious series, Diesel series, Hawg series, No Mercy Series, Vibe series, Black Widow Series, Jigsaw series, the Raw Hammer, Hammer Hardcore and Taboo series. In the present, the Black Widow, Vibe and Raw series all still exist. Newer popular models include the Effect, Envy and Hazmat series, as well as the Purple Pearl Urethane and NU Blue models.
Hammer products were manufactured in Ebonite's
Hopkinsville, Kentucky
Hopkinsville is a list of cities in Kentucky, home rule-class city in and the county seat of Christian County, Kentucky, United States. The population at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census was 31,180.
History
Early years
The area of p ...
plant from 2002 through November, 2019. On November 15, 2019, Ebonite International and all of its brands were purchased by
Brunswick Bowling Products, LLC.
Hammer sponsored players
Hammer sponsors several
PBA Tour
The PBA Tour is the major professional tour for tenpin bowling, operated by the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA). Headquartered in Mechanicsville, Virginia, over 3,000 members worldwide make up the PBA. While most of the PBA members are Reg ...
and
PWBA Tour players. Below is a list of selected professionals as of June 1, 2024.
*
Deo Benard
Deo Benard (born December 24, 2003) is an American professional ten-pin bowler who competes as a member of the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA). At age 20, Benard won the 2024 PBA WSOB XV Cheetah Championship, defeating top seed and multip ...
*
Tom Daugherty
Tom Daugherty (born February 22, 1975) is a right-handed American professional ten-pin bowler residing in Riverview, Florida. He is a member of the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA), having joined in 2001. He is one of a very few PBA bo ...
*
Tomas Käyhkö
*
Marshall Kent
*
David Krol
*
Shawn Maldonado
Shawn Maldonado (born 1986) is an American right-handed professional ten-pin bowler from Houston, Texas, who joined the Professional Bowlers Association in 2013. He owns two national PBA Tour titles, and has also won 17 PBA Regional Tour titles.
...
*
Bill O'Neill
*
Shannon Pluhowsky
Shannon Pluhowsky (born August 8, 1982) is an American left-handed ten-pin bowler who competes in the Professional Women's Bowling Association (PWBA) and internationally. Pluhowsky is a 22-time member of Team USA (2001–2021, 2024), and a form ...
* Lauren Russo
*
Robert Smith
References
External links
Company homepage
Ten-pin bowling equipment manufacturers
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