Kelly Campbell
Kelly Campbell performed much like his fellow inductee, Glen Grow. When he was in his prime, there weren’t many people who could keep up.
.It all began for Kelly when he was approaching his 10th birthday. His father thought it’d be nice if his son took up bowling. It certainly was. Kelly took to bowling immediately, and even took a job at Bob-Hi Lanes with Ray Scoglund so he could bowl even more.
Kelly made his initial mark on the area when he was in youth bowling. He held the individual series record for over a decade in the Muskegon area, and was also the first junior bowler to average more than 200 for a season in the 1976. Just two years later, Kelly was the only bowler to top the 200 average for the season at 205 - the nearest average to him was 198.
That same 1977-78 season, Kelly threw the highest series in the area, a title he also lay claim to in 1980 and 1983. He had the high average in the area in ’78 and ‘80, as well.
One of the more dominant statistics of Kelly’s bowling career - he had four of the ten 700 series bowled in the Muskegon area during the 1977-78 season.
Tournaments were a specialty of Kelly’s. He took the 1980 city doubles title with partner Bernie Ockaski, a moment he considers his proudest in bowling. In addition, he captured the actual all-events title in 1981 and 1983. At the state level, Kelly was just as dominant, capturing the Bonanza Michigan Majors title in 1978 and 1979. During 1978, Kelly also finished 31st in singles and 55th in all-events in the national tournament, held in Louisville that year. In 1981, Kelly finished 2nd in doubles at the state tournament with Bernie Ockaski, and his Subler Builders team finished 5th.
Kelly’s talent didn’t go unnoticed, either. He was a member of the PBA from 1980 to 1982.
When all is said and done, Kelly’s career high numbers look something like this: six 300 games, three 299 games, and two 298 games; a high series of 796, and a high average of 223. Hall of fame worthy numbers, indeed.
In more recent years, Kelly has found himself on the service end of bowling, thanks in large part to his friend, Darlene Pontius (daughter of Hall-of-Famer Thelma Woodruff). Kelly is currently on the Board of Directors of the GMUSBCBA, and works at Ravenna Bowl.
With numbers like Kelly’s, it’s no surprise that he’s being inducted into the Greater Muskegon Bowling Hall of Fame.
Congratulations, Kelly!