AMF Bowling Australia is the group of over 40 AMF Bowling Centres in Australia and New Zealand operated by Ardent Leisure. Ardent also operates five Kingpin bowling lounges that have what Ardent calls an "upmarket hip format."
AMF Bowling Australia originated as the Australian part of the bowling division of American Machine and Foundry (AMF). AMF began a joint venture to manufacture pinspotters in Australia in 1959 in view of the growing popularity of ten-pin bowling in the country at the time. By 1964 1,600 bowling lanes existed in Australia, but the popularity of the sport had begun to decline.
In 1985 a group of private investors in Richmond, Virginia, USA purchased the bowling division of American Machine and Foundry to form AMF Bowling Companies, Inc. (later known as AMF Bowling Worldwide). The company then bought two major Australian bowling chains to revive interest in bowling. AMF Australia expanded from 16 bowling centres to 30 by 1987, and to over 40 by 2004.
AMF Bowling Worldwide sold the Australian division of to Macquarie Leisure Trust (now known as Ardent Leisure) in February 2005 as part of AMF's strategy at the time to re-focus on its U.S. bowling business.