Keith Dumphy is back again this year with the great group Facebook page he runs for the United States Bowling Congress Open Championships.
The page this year is 2022 OC - Las Vegas (Keith D.) — the name changes each year. Dumphy, who works for a private civil engineering firm in Florida, has no ties to USBC and runs the group and page as a hobby.
The comprehensive page offers pretty much everything anyone could want to know about the tournament and the host city, from documents covering all facets of the tournament, to links to resources like restaurant pages for the host city, to hotel and shuttle information, to articles about the tournament.
And while the COVID-19 pandemic doesn’t have near the impact on the Open Championships as it did in 2021, Dumphy has kept on top of all the developments as they happen. More than once he has messaged me about some development before I had heard about it.
Dumphy retired from running the page after the 2017 tournament in Las Vegas, but eventually took the page back over even though he didn’t bowl in Syracuse in 2018.
The Florida right-hander, who is bowling the tournament April 22 at 2 p.m. and April 23 at 10:30 a.m., appeared on a recent episode of The Bowler’s Show. His appearance starts at about the 20-minute mark.
To get accepted to join the group you must be referred by a friend in the group, or provide your USBC number and answer whether you are bowling the 2022 Open Championships. Dumphy said the measures are to keep out spammers and scammers.
Dumphy’s group has 4,845 members, but he plans to limit it next year to those who have made donations that he passes on to youth bowling in his community. He currently has raised $2,000 from 74 donations.
Be aware that he does not hesitate to remove people who violate his policies, which I have found to mostly be a good thing. He allows plenty of debate — so long as it doesn’t cross the line into personal attacks and ridiculous negativity. He also exerts a welcome heavy hand in removing posts that aren’t on topic.
Dumphy notes that there is a wealth of information in the Files, Photos/Albums and Announcement, which includes links to Live Scoring, Individual Results, Leaderboards and Program/Sample Coupon Book. There is a photo album for the side tournaments with flyers, rules and maps.
This story is my way of saying thanks to Keith for his tireless volunteer efforts.