Str ... ike: Bowling Center offers fun at low cost

  • Published
  • By Nick DeCicco
  • 60th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs
TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --  Charlie Alonga spent years bowling with two fingers.

He had never mastered getting the desired spin on the ball using the recommended three digits, so he stuck with his preferred method.

But it put a lot of pain on his wrist.

"You can play only so many games with two fingers," the Navy man's son said with a laugh.

But all of that changed after a session with Rob Collins.

A recent arrival from Charleston Air Force Base, S.C., Travis Bowling Center's operations and bowling coordinator hosted his first lesson earlier this month. Mr. Alonga and his friend, Dennis Flanary, a Reserve Officer Training Corps cadet from Sacramento State University, were among those being taught.

After a few hours with his new teacher, Mr. Alonga said he's bowling the proper way.
"After I went to Rob's course, I stopped doing [the two-finger thing]," he said. "I got a little worse for a little while, but now, each time I come, I get a little better."

Mr. Alonga and Cadet Flanary are among the many whom help make Travis' bowling center one of the biggest in the Air Force.

"We have the highest number of lines bowled in any of the bowling centers across the Air Force," said Lou D'Eramo, facility manager.

Lines are calculated as the number of individuals playing a game -- if two people are playing a game together, that counts as two lines.

The success of The Strike Zone, the center's snack bar, parallels the stellar number of lines, Mr. D'Eramo said.

The snack bar offers more than 100 items, including a breakfast menu, sandwiches, zucchini sticks, soups, numerous deep-fried foods and daily specials.

"It's extremely busy during the day and during the evenings, when we have leagues bowling," he said.

More than 300 pin-punishers participate in the center's 12 leagues. For these bowlers, there are higher expectations from the sport and those playing it.

"It's a social hour and it's also a sporting event for them," Mr. D'Eramo said. "They're a little more competitive. They want things done just like golfers: when you're out there golfing, they don't want anyone making noise and they just want it a certain way."

Mr. D'Eramo noted that there are some who have bowled in the center's Friday night league for 30 years.

For the average bowler, such as Mr. Alonga or Cadet Flanary, the price to play is relatively inexpensive. The center charges $3 per line at its most expensive, although varying deals and times - such as Wednesday afternoons from 3 to 5 p.m., where $8 gets you an unlimited number of games - can make some games effectively free.

Mr. Collins thinks such prices are quite a bargain.

"You can't find those prices in our closest competitors. Anywhere," he says. "Trust me when I tell you that these people out there right now that are paying $2 dollars a game are getting a really good deal."

Mr. Collins' class accepts beginners and experienced bowlers. The course is on the first Monday of the month from 10 to 11 a.m.

For more information, visit www.60thservices.com or call 437-4737.