Effective immediately, USBC is instituting a tournament rule at all USBC national tournaments prohibiting Purple Hammers manufactured in 2016 and 2017 from being used in these competitions. The tournament rule reads:

Purple Hammer bowling balls manufactured during 2016 or 2017 (identified by serial numbers that start with either a “6” or “7”) are prohibited for use.

USBC has shared this national tournament rule with Hammer’s current owner, Brunswick, and has Brunswick’s support. Brunswick will offer owners of 2016 or 2017 Purple Hammers the option to exchange their balls for a new Purple Hammer that can be used in all tournaments or a product of their choice. This can be done on-site at the 2022 USBC Open Championships or USBC Women’s Championships, or by contacting Brunswick at: consumerproducts@brunswickbowling.com or 800-937-2695.

The Purple Hammer, including the 2016 and 2017 models, remain USBC approved. USBC’s equipment specification manual allows for revocation of ball approval when balls at the time of manufacture demonstrate non-compliance to specification. USBC has no such evidence and is unable to locate enough blank balls from 2016 and 2017 to conduct conclusive testing.

Each USBC competition, whether tournament or league, has the option to adopt USBC’s national tournament rule on the Purple Hammer or other rules related to equipment restrictions.

The official USBC announcement can be found here.