Frank Keogh honoured at Safety Bay
Safety Bay Bowling Club have honoured one of their greats with a ceremony at the opening of their new green. Guests from the City of Rockingham attended along with some eighty or ninety club members. Master of ceremonies, Robert Stanley, introduced Club President, Chris Owen, who spoke glowingly of the efforts of the contractors and of the many members who had put their hand up to complete the job
Robert then called on life member, John Biglin, to speak of the efforts of life member, Frank Keogh. John said that Frank first took up bowling when living in Mandurah. He mainly played social bowls in those days as he then owned one of Mandurah’s caravan parks, which took up a good bit of Frank’s time.
He moved back to the metro area, and joined the Carlisle Bowling Club in 1976. He immediately made his presence felt by winning the singles and went back to back by winning the event again in 1977.
Frank’s success escalated rapidly from there. He was invited to become a member of the State Squad and was invited to compete in the prestigious West Coast Classic in 1978. This event boasted the best players from across Australia. Frank’s confidence must have taken a bit of a hit when he saw those that he had been drawn to play against in the initial sectional play. I will run thru the achievements of those that Frank was to play.
First: Des Moran from South Australia. His achievements were:
- State singles champion – 1966
- State champion of champions – 1967, 1971, 1974, 1975, 1976.
- State champion pairs _ 1957, 1968.
- State triples champion – 1969
- State fours champion – 1956, 1971, 1975
- Adelaide Masters singles – 1975
- NSW Ampol City Masters – 1977
- West Coast Classic Fours – 1977
Frank won his game against Des Moran 26 -16
Next was Barrie Baxter from Papua New guinea and his achievements –
- He won PNA masters singles – 1970
- Represented PNA at Commonwealth games – Edinbrough – 1970
- Runner-up PNG Pairs – 1971
- Representative PNG at world championships at Worthing in England in 1972
- Winner championship Fours –PNG – 1973
- Representative for PNG at Commonwealth Games – Christchurch – 1974
- Winner Brisbane Metropolitan Pairs championship – 1975
- R’Up East Cessnock NSW Invitation Masters Singles – 1977
- Winner Australian national singles championship – 1977
Frank carried on and beat Barrie Baxter 25 -19
And last, but not least was Joe Rodin. Joe was a WA state team member and was the current WA state singles champion. Joe went on to represent WA at state level for some years to come. Joe beat Frank 25 -23 – by just two shots. Joe Rodin went on to reach the semi- final, having also beaten Moran and Baxter with the event eventually being won by WA player Bert Sharp who then went on to represent Australia in the commonwealth Games in Brisane in 1984. During his last year at Carlisle, Frank was runner-up in the Champion of Club Champion singles of WA when he lost a nail-biter in the final. In a thirty one up game, with the lead changing hands often, towards the end of the game, Frank led 30-29 only to see his opponent score two on that last end to end his dream. You will now see the level of competition that Frank moved in before arriving at Safety Bay
And so Frank began an illustrious career at Safety Bay. He led a team that got equal third in the state fours in 1989-90 and got runner-up in the state pairs in 1995-96. Then about 1997, he played in a team from Safety Bay that won the prestigious Bedford Bowl, one of the top WA events of the time. As well, the pennant team that Frank played in, in the early 2000’s were the second best performed team in the premier division that year. Frank’s achievements, since arriving at the club in 1978, are exemplified by the fact that he has his name on, no less than 32 club championships. That in itself is extraordinary.
This story so far has been on Frank’s success as a bowler, but there is so much more to Frank Keogh than his bowling ability. From the day he joined our Safety Bay Bowling Club he started to look for ways he could help. Very soon he was involved with the greens and ended up becoming chair person of the greens committee. He has been involved with the greens for a large percentage of his time here at Safety Bay. But that was only the start. He also became chairman of the coaching. He did a stint as chairman of umpires. Frank was on selection a few times. He filled the role as the club delegate for some twelve years. He has served on the match committee many times and is currently in that organisation. Also, Frank has been an active member, since inception, of the club’s Community Bowling program, which has run very successfully for some thirteen years.
As well as all of this, Frank took on the role as a director for the Blind Bowlers Association and offered his services to our David Goddard for some seven years. This job, to say the least, was extremely demanding, having to take him to regular practises at the Perth & Tatts Bowling Club as well as seeing to his every need, such as shopping, getting him out of bed, fed and dressed and get him to various venues both locally and interstate. He helped David win three gold medals at inter-state level and David was a team member in 2011, when the WA team received the award for “Team of the Year”. To say the least, this job was just so demanding! To further assist the blind bowlers, Frank started an extensive collection system of cool drink and beer cans. Hard work, done to further assist this organisation. Certainly a huge effort and a highlight of the man’s dedication to the job at hand. But there’s even more. Frank organised the ladies pennant wind-up dinners. And would you believe, he did that for some twenty five years. Frank, as you would all know, has deservedly received life membership to our club.
At this stage, Rockingham’s Lord Mayor spoke at length of the success of the Safety Bay Bowling Club and of the fine efforts of Frank Keogh. Then he announced the official opening of the club’s new green and that it was to be named “The Frank Keogh Green”. The Mayor, Frank, Club President, Chris Owen, and John Biglin each bowled a couple of bowls to complete the official opening.
Afternoon tea was then enjoyed by official visitors and the large gathering of members.
Article by John Biglin, Bowls Safety Bay
