DCHP-3

five-pin bowling

DCHP-2 (Oct 2016)

Spelling variants:
fivepin bowling, five pin bowling, 5 pin bowling, 5-pin bowling

1n. Sports, also used attributively, e.g. five-pin tournament

a type of bowling played with five instead of ten pins (see Video, see Images 1 & 2).

Type: 1. Origin Five-pin bowling was devised by Thomas F. (Tommy) Ryan at the Toronto Bowling Club in 1909 as a less strenuous version of the game using ten pins (see History of 5-pin bowling reference). The pins and the ball are smaller than those used in 10-pin bowling. Popularity increased quickly (see the 1914 and 1957 quotations), with the first Canadian championships held in 1953. Today, the game is offered at most bowling alleys across the country.
See also Gage-1, s.v. "fivepin", ITP Nelson, s.v. "fivepin", COD-2, s.v. "five-pin bowling", which is marked "Cdn".
Often shortened to five-pin.

Quotations

1914
The new quarters of the Toronto Bowling Club in the Bond Building at Temperance and Sheppard streets will be opened to-morrow night [...]. A five-pin tournament will follow.
1929
A successful five pin bowling season was concluded at a banquet held in the Georgian Restaurant [...]
1950
All-star UBC bowling team carried out a four way intercollegiate five pin tournament without ever leaving the university area.
1957
An estimated 1,000,000 Canadian players are engaged in fivepin bowling as this truly native Canadian game gets into full swing on some 7,000 alleys across the country.
1963
He [the bowler] does not, for instance, have to knock over a certain pin to count, as is the case in five pins.
1978
However, the club's badminton, five-pin bowling and winter tennis programs are in full operation, despite the shortage of locker space.
1996
[HEADLINE] Our bowling boggled Steve Martin: Calgary's fivepin lanes just left him spinning
2004
Chaplin, who is described as a social butterfly by Yukon Special Olympics (YSO) executive director Serge Michaud, competed in five-pin bowling at the summer Games last year in Prince Albert, SK, but he's never been to the winter Games or to P.E.I.
2015
In 1961, businessman and sports promoter Thomas F. Ryan, who's credited with inventing five-pin bowling in 1909, died in Toronto at age 89. After introducing 10-pin bowling to Canada, Ryan introduced the smaller ball and pins following complaints from his clientele about arm strain.
2n. Sports

five-pinner, someone who plays five-pin bowling.

Type: 1. Origin See meaning 1.

Quotations

1913
In team rolling R.G. McLean's have the most games to date, getting a trio of counts around the 900 mark in their previous week's engagement, therefore, with the first five teams in this race only within a game or two of one another the league should make almost as exciting a finish to their first series as the five-pinners.
1945
FIVE-PINNERS GET EARLY TOURNAMENT First five-pin tournament of the coming bowling season opens Saturday afternoon [...]
1964
I don't know whether or not you've noticed, but there's a minor revolution taking place in Calgary bowling circles. The five pinners, once complete rulers of the local picture, are facing a real challenge from the ten pinners and with good reason.
1978
By contrast, the five-pinners carry only their shoes, using any management ball that rolls up the chute to them. Tenpinners are gracious about five-pinners, the way Miss Canada is kind to plain girls. Fivepins is a Canadian game, but tenpinners are in competition with bowlers in Japan and Panama and London.
1988
The Ontario Fivepin Bowlers Association is attempting to reach any members of the families of three legendary five-pinners of the 1920s, recently named to the sport's Hall of Fame.
1996
The men's 10-pin final is scheduled to air on Christmas Day with the 5- pinners swinging into action Jan. 1.
2012
Big thanks goes out to Brandon's Thunderbird Bowl and Neepawa's Evan's Lanes for hosting some of the best five-pinners in the province.

References

  • Gage-1
  • ITP Nelson
  • Five-pin bowling
    Video
  • History of 5-pin bowling
    Text
  • COD-2

Images

Image 1: <i>Five-pin bowling</i>. Photo: Edmonton 5 Pin Bowlers’ Association (used by kind permission)

Image 1: Five-pin bowling. Photo: Edmonton 5 Pin Bowlers’ Association (used by kind permission)


        
        
        
        
        
                 Image 2: <i>Five-pin bowling</i> for children. Note that the ball is usually played with only one hand like a 10-pin bowling ball (Adapted from Wikimedia Commons. Photo: D. Norman)

Image 2: Five-pin bowling for children. Note that the ball is usually played with only one hand like a 10-pin bowling ball (Adapted from Wikimedia Commons. Photo: D. Norman)