Bowling pro shop in Affton weathers sport’s highs and lows

In the back of Ray Orf's Bowling and Trophies, owner Rich Orf — a second-generation professional bowler — serves as a one-person assembly line. Almost every bowling ball that leaves the Affton shop has been measured and marked, drilled and shined by Orf. He grew up helping at the Gravois Ro…

ST. LOUIS COUNTY — In the back of Ray Orf's Bowling and Trophies, owner Rich Orf — a second-generation professional bowler — serves as a one-person assembly line.

Almost every bowling ball that leaves the Affton shop has been measured and marked, drilled and shined by Orf.

"After a hard day at the office, you can feel it," he says. "It's not an easy business."

Orf, 58, grew up helping at the Gravois Road store that his dad, a Professional Bowling Association champion, opened in 1976. Back then, scores of blue-collar bowlers frequented alleys from North Oaks Bowl in Northwoods to Red Bird Lanes on the edge of South City. Sage advice and custom fittings at the pro shops that dotted the region turned casual bowlers into consistent ones, and consistent bowlers into competitive ones.

"They’re the heart and soul of the industry," said Chad Murphy, executive director of the United States Bowling Congress, the sport's national governing body, based in Arlington, Texas.

Owner Rich Orf drills a hole in a bowling ball on Thursday, May 11, 2023, at Ray Orf's Bowling & Trophy Shop in Affton. Rich Orf took over the business from his father, Ray Orf. The shop is one of the few standalone pro bowling shops in the St. Louis region.

But things have changed at the once-bustling bowling alley. Other diversions — laser tag, climbing gyms, a surfeit of streaming services — have staked their claims on people's free time. In 1976, Ray Orf's inaugural year, there were 12,000 bowling facilities across the country. Today, there are fewer than half that. North Oaks is now a dialysis clinic; Red Bird, a Walgreens.

Fewer bowlers need fewer bowling balls — or bowling shoes or bowling bags. Pro shops also shut down, or moved inside chain bowling alleys. Ray Orf's is one of just two stand-alones left in the area, surviving on a reputation for expertise and a "service, service, service" ethic instilled by Ray himself, his son said.

Dave Welch of south St. Louis County bought his first bowling ball there, more than a half-century ago, with money he had saved up from his birthday and Christmas.

Since then, "they’ve always been my go-to place," said Welch, 63.

Ray Orf, who died in 2018, dominated the midcentury bowling scene along with luminaries such as Florissant resident Dick Weber. In 1972, Orf made headlines for bowling an 890 series — a spare followed by 35 strikes — breaking a record that had held for more than three decades.

Orf is "just one of those names you know about," said Melanie Barney of west St. Louis County.

Barney competed in bowling when she was a teenager and introduced it to her son, Mason. She brought the 14-year-old to the store after school on a recent Tuesday to celebrate his successful freshman season at Parkway West.

A few years before the pandemic, after a slide that lasted a couple of decades, interest in bowling began to tick up again.

"There are a lot of opportunities for kids in high school to get college scholarships," said Bob Wagner, who opened Cave Springs Pro Shop in St. Peters, the area's other independent supply store, 20 years ago.

His son, who runs Cave Springs with him, bowled on scholarship at Missouri Baptist University.

League bowling is also rebounding — though nowhere near its peak — with a 4% increase in the number of participants this year over last, according to the U.S. Bowling Congress.

And there are new options for casual frame-throwers. Today's lanes are more likely to be part of a menu of offerings inside broad-appeal entertainment centers, such as B-Roll, which made its debut this month at a movie theater complex in Creve Coeur.

Chris Jung discusses bowling ball maintenance with customer Sherry Griggs on Thursday, May 11, 2023, at Ray Orf's Bowling & Trophy Shop in Affton. Jung described himself as a "right-hand man" in the family-run business, who has been working at the bowling shop for 43 years.

Dan Edgerton, 60, started bowling in junior leagues as a 10-year-old in Detroit. He got back into it after moving to Maryville 30 years ago. He's a golfer, too, but with bowling "you never get rained out," he said.

League bowling is a time commitment many people don't want to make, Edgerton believes, but he sees more birthday parties and happy hours at the lanes than he did when he was growing up.

"It doesn't matter if your average is 50 or 240," he said. "Everyone gets two turns."

The "growth plate" for the sport remains the same as always, said Murphy, of the Bowling Congress: family ties.

The Orfs are in their third generation. Rich's daughter, Mary, competes for Wichita State, which took the national collegiate title two years ago. His son, Andrew, attended McKendree University on a bowling scholarship and does machine maintenance at Shrewsbury Lanes. The 24-year-old already knows he wants to take over the store when his dad retires.

Jaylen Whitfield of Florissant also followed his father into the sport. Whitfield, 20, bowls in leagues a couple of nights a week and rates himself a "decent" competitor — though he's not really in it for the pin count.

"Bowling is like therapy," he said.

He owns eight balls and lugs at least five with him every time he plays so he can choose the best one to manage a lane's oil patterns, hit the pocket or pick up a split — the kind of specificity that calls for a pro shop like Orf's.

The type of cover on the ball dictates how much friction it generates. A weight block inside the ball, shaped a little like a lightbulb or a lopsided soft-serve cone, influences how much the ball turns and curves.

Whitfield stopped in on a recent Tuesday at Ray Orf's for a refurbished ball to add to his fleet: "It's like buying a good used car," he said.

Dozens of balls are displayed inside the shop, like a shiny selection of giant-sized jawbreakers. In the back, Orf keeps hundreds more. Basic black has become passé. Most balls are swirls of midnight blue and magenta, juniper and gold. Some pop with pink or gleam with glitter.

Orf chats with Whitfield about his throwing habits, his scores and his aspirations. Then he measures Whitfield's fingers, jotting the size, grip and span on a notepad. In his workshop, Orf draws the meridians with a ruler and a grease pencil. At the drill press, he chooses a carbide-tipped bit and clamps the ball with a jig.

The machine growls to life. The bit burrows in; a cloud of resin and filler billows out. Most of the detritus is quickly captured by a vacuum hose Orf holds in his left hand as he drills with his right. What escapes dapples the tile floor like confetti.

He sands off any rough edges and buffs the navy-and-maroon ball until it winks in the light. The final stop is a spin in a polishing machine called the Lustre King.

"A good ball can last a lifetime," Orf says.

Owner Rich Orf inspects a bowling ball after drilling holes in it Thursday, May 11, 2023, at Ray Orf's Bowling & Trophy Shop in Affton.

New balls run from less than $100 to about $275, plus $60 for drilling. Whitfield buys the reconditioned ball for $161.60, a total Orf works out on a handheld calculator. The receipt is written on carbon paper.

Just before closing time, Pam Holland of Jefferson County stops in with her son, Pearce. They had never heard of Ray Orf's but showed up on the recommendation of a clerk at Dick's Sporting Goods when they couldn't find bowling shoes — his mom's 21st birthday gift to him — at the chain store.

"We’ll come back," Pam Holland tells Orf as she pays for the shoes.

"We’ll be here," Orf says.

Post-Dispatch business reporters bring you insights into the latest news in the St. Louis business community.

Colleen Schrappen is a reporter at the Post-Dispatch.

In the back of Ray Orf's Bowling and Trophies, owner Rich Orf — a second-generation professional bowler — serves as a one-person assembly line…