White Oak Duckpin Lanes

Great place for a family outing! You walk in and there are plenty of folks — young and old — having a good time simply enjoying a few games of duckpin bowling. There isn’t loud music or flashing lights and you get to keep score. The staff is friendly and the price is affordable. Worth the trip to White Oak.

This needs to be addressed that this is place only had super small bowling balls that does not have any holes to put your fingers in. The price I feel is a little too much considering that the place is pretty old and it’s really designed for little kids. We had 4 people and the price was 10 each. I’ve been to real bowling allies that are 12. We like going bowling but that dosnt mean we know how to keep score. They just give you a paper and pencil and it’s up to you to know how to keep score. Overall I wouldn’t go back.

I’m torn between 3 – 4 stars. Duckpin bowling is an activity appropriate for all ages. Since the balls and pins are smaller, it’s great for kids, and you get three balls instead of the usual two. The atmosphere is very old fashioned, including the way you keep score. All of the other bowling alleys that I’ve been to have computers that keep score for you. At this place, they hand you a paper score sheet, an instruction sheet, and they have pencils for your use at each lane.
They have lots of lanes to use so there’s usually no wait, despite this being a popular past time in the area.
The facilities itself seem clean but the bowling balls are filthy. After an hour or so of bowling, my hands were black with dirt.
For a party of two, we paid $ 19 each for shoes and three games (approximately an hour of play). These prices seemed kind of steep to me, especially considering the lack of technology– next time if I want to go bowling here, I will go for the late night cosmic bowling. It’s a fun atmosphere, cheaper, and you can bowl longer for less.

In high school I was on the varsity bowling team, so the opportunity to lob balls down a lane is a happy pastime for me. A friend suggested White Oak Duckpin Lanes for a group outing and off we went. On a Saturday there were a ton of children’s parties going on so there were few open lanes. As we got later on Saturday, we also ran into the issue of teams for their evening league showing up. Despite that we got in 3 – 4 games while we were there.
Given that most people haven’t experienced duckpin it would have been super helpful if the consults on each lane were updated and digitalized. If you aren’t familiar with the rules of duckpin (3 balls per frame) and the scoring process, it can be frustrating and difficult.

Good place for my colleagues and I to have our «summer picnic». It turns out people don’t like to cook and sign up for soda or plates or something, so the coordinators decided to try something different and near our office and selected duckpin bowling.
For those unaccustomed, as I was, the ball is smaller with no holes. The pins are smaller. The alley is OLD school. You have to manually reset each frame and can push a button to clear deadwood. On top of that, scoring is done by paper and pencil so it’s good (or not) to have someone in the know.
Bumpers help tremendously as spinning the ball isn’t an option and the smaller bowling ball goes where it wants however it wants.
Pizza here is fantastic! Served hot and doughy. I think everyone had a good time and for $ 11 (pair of shoes and two games of bowling) and another $ 5 for a couple slices of pizza.

Had a great time with our 3 year old here last week. Excellent place to introduce kids to bowling. I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it for adults or serious bowlers as it’s not ‘normal’ bowling and it’s pretty antiquated… but is perfect for kids. They do take credit cards, but only have one CC machine shared by the restaurant and the shoe rental.

Love it here. I feel like I’m taking a step into the past, to my elementary school days, whenever I come. You have to keep your own score, there is a snack bar with cheap beer and pretzel bites, nachos, etc. Small arcade room and TVs are located behind the bowling area. I never even heard of «duckpin» bowling until I came here.
The ball is the size of a slightly, larger skeeball and the pins appear to be half the size of regular bowling pins (but I could be wrong on that). You get three balls per frame (as opposed to two in regular bowling).
A great and inexpensive time for all ages and occasions.

Worse place ever looks like something out of the 60s so out of date tried to get a beer lady asked for id looked at it and said it wasn’t me after a quiz of my id like dob and address was finally able to drink

Went there first time and will never go there again. I went there bowling for an hour with my girlfriend, the lady on the front counter keep checking on us, which i dont know why. It was not enjoyable when someone is spying on you.

Great vintage bowling. The place is untouched since was built, basically. Like stepping back in time for unique duck pin bowling with small 4 inch balls

I stopped in not realizing or knowing what duckpin bowling was but ended up having a blast! Not only was it more challenging to bowl with smaller sized balls, but I also enjoyed the retro-​ness of having to keep score the old fashion way… by hand! A definite MUST for any fans of bowling. I did not have any food from the concession stand, but they have do have a bar and beer on tap.

I took my middle and high school Sunday schoolers here this past Sunday after service since it was not too far from our church and some of the other teachers said that it was a good place to use as a bonding activity. The kids had an awesome time and we booked the party room for some pizza and soda. The pizza was not up to par on my foodie scale but the kids were starving after an hour of bowling and mingling so they did not complain. I have been to a lot snazzier bowling alleys but for the day with my kids it was alright and they had a great time so I am satisfied. I don’t plan to go back there unless the kids want to for another outing. I think the place needs a ton of updates and definitely better food.

I love that this place is so retro. Duckpin is great for young kids because the balls are small and easy for them to handle. The staff is also very friendly. I hope that this place lasts for many years to come.

Had fun taking my kids here for the 1^st time, especially since this is the place where their Dad played when he was a kid! The staff was super nice a thoughtful. The loss of a star was because the snack bar was SUPER slow, where the lady working there must have been there since this place opened over 50 years ago!

After almost 14 years of living in Maryland, I finally went duckpin bowling. I loved it! As someone who has issues with the heavier and far more awkward balls in regular bowling (let’s just say that I had a date with the chiropractor soon after having my last bowling outing), I greatly appreciated the smaller and lighter balls.
Be forewarned that this is very popular activity. A friend and I went on a cold Presidents’ Day, and we had to wait about 45 minutes for a lane. And it seemed that we were the only ones there without little kids. A super cheap activity it is not — $ 4 to rent shoes, plus $ 5 a game per person. Since it was only two of us, each game did not take all that much time, so going to a movie would have been a cheaper activity on a per minutes basis. But this was fun and SO Maryland. :-)

Throwback to the Eisenhower era. The salmon colored chairs, jukebox, and pencil & paper scoreboard (there is an overhead projector with a toggle switch that never works) makes me think there might be a bunker nearby.
Come on a Friday night with friends from the city. There’s fro-​yo next door.

A great place for kids and adults alike!
Duck pin bowling is a Maryland staple. Like crabcakes, the Orioles and jousting (it’s the official sport of Maryland). However, much like the Orioles chances at ever reaching the postseason, duck pin lanes are a dying breed. My old favorite in Glen Burnie burned to the ground, and there is still the one on Fort Smallwood Road in Pasadena. But, coupled with White Oak, those are really all that remain in the area.
This is the perfect place to go with kids, because the balls are lighter and they are forced to do mathematical problems. Don’t expect the fancy electronic scoring here, everything must be done manually, including the resetting of the lanes. You have to be able to count and add, otherwise, you are going to fail miserably.
White Oak is situated underground in a strip mall, and indeed, the place looks like a dive should. Whether you go with friends, or bring along the kids, it is an enjoyable experience because it is relatively cheap and they have some good bar/​bowling alley food. Mmmm, french fries with gravy…
It can get crowded on weekend nights, so maybe go during the afternoon when the place isn’t too busy. And always remember to bring a designated counter, because you’ll need someone to add while the rest of the group is hammered.
Basic Rules to remember:
1. You get 3 balls per frame.
2. If you get a strike, you count your first two balls in the next frame plus 10.
3. If you get a spare, you count the first ball in the next frame plus 10.
4. If you get all 10 down with your third ball, you don’t get anything extra.
5. It’s not about throwing it as hard as you can, you have to be precise in aiming. tougher than regular bowling.

Duck Pin Bowling, anyone? Does anyone even know what that is?

Being from around the way, I haven’t been Duck Pin Bowling since the early 1980’s. Talk about reliving your childhood. I didn’t even know that it still existed. This place certainly looks like it hasn’t changed in 40 years. It’s housed in the basement of a strip mall and like Lisa R. said: Everything is manual. You have to keep score with a pencil and hit the «DeadWood» button when you have pins laying in your way after almost every throw. «You have DeadWood» is a funny thing to say to someone.
Nevertheless, This is just good clean family fun. You can pull up the gutter rails and no matter what; No gutter balls. Kids can do just as well as adults. The balls only weigh 3.5 lbs. Plus it’s Cheap! Two of us played three games in 90 minutes and it was only $ 36, including the shoe rental. Good Times…
I love it! Go Duck Pin Bowling at least once in your life.

My father (Pitbull D.) would be proud, his little girl finally experienced the sport that is Duck Pin Bowling. Not only are the dwarfed pins incredibly cute, but the hole-​free ball is easy to handle even for a little kid (or adults with freakishly small imp hands like myself). Everything at this location is manual, you have to keep score by hand (you get 3! Tries to knock down all the pins, 3 I tell you!), and payment for games is done via the honor system.
That said, I never would have found this place tucked away in a shopping center if my Maryland (ew!) tour guide hadn’t shown me exactly where it is. Once I got over the fact that this place was in Maryland, I was surrounded by old school awesomeness.
Speaking of old school — In my 27 years of life, I’ve never seen a bowling alley where you not only had to keep score by hand, but that even had the projector with a screen above the lane to show score (something else I’ve never seen, unless you count the Simpsons episode where Homer buys Marge a bowling ball with his name on it, she takes up the sport out of spite, and has an awkward romantic moment touching hands with the local bowling alley hunk — which was shown via the projector). I may or may not have reenacted said Simpsons moment with my bowling partner.
Wait, was I reviewing this place? Yes. Forget I said anything about the Simpsons episode, this place is awesome.
Don’t come here to be competitive, come here to enjoy yourself, relish in your horrible score, embarass your date with your corny pop culture references, have a little kids birthday here, and if you’re lucky, you’ll get to hear a few stories about Duck Pin bowling in Manilla from the employees.

White Oak Lanes is a privately owned duckpin bowling center located «underneath» the White Oak shopping center. The owner takes great pride in running a good establishment. Its always clean, well taken care of, and the lanes are immaculate.
This is the LAST duckpin establishment in Montgomery County. The scoring conditions are good and many professional-​caliber bowlers travel from all over the Baltimore-​Washington area to bowl in leagues. They also host the Women’s National Duckpin Association (ladies pro tour) each year.
During open play times, the prices are reasonable, and the establishment is great for birthday parties, complete with a party room.
For lottery and keno players, there is even a room dedicated for them.
Cosmic bowling on Saturday nights is a blast with fun, music, food, drinks, and fair prices. Oh, there’s bowling too.
The snack bar food is delicious and goes beyond typical bowling-​alley fare.