To say Frances Whyte was a character would be an understatement. 

Her highly combative demeanour – along with her natural skill, and ability to read the playing surface – made Frances one of Scotland’s greatest ever players, who was often, rather politely, described as ‘formidable’ by opponents and team-mates alike. 

With her never-say-die attitude, Frances was also tactically astute, and was famous for being able to play under pressure, qualities that helped Scotland secure multiple world and Commonwealth Games titles in the 1980’s and 1990’s. 

Always a demanding but fair skip, she struck gold at World Bowls three times, winning the fours in 1985 with Annette Evans, Elizabeth Christie and fellow Hall of Famer Sarah Gourlay. In the demanding round-robin format they beat hometown favourites Australia skipped by Hall of Famer Dorothy Roche by a single point. 

Frances was at the pinnacle of her powers in the 1990s. At the home 1992 World Bowls Outdoor Championships played at Ayr in Scotland, Frances was a key member of the dominant Taylor Trophy winning team. There were gold medals in the triples skipping Janice Maxwell and Hall of Famer Joyce Lindores, and another as number three in the fours skipped by Senga McCrone. 

The crowning glory was combining well with Sarah Gourlay to win the Commonwealth Games pairs title in 1994 beating South Africa’s Jo Peacock and Lyn Dwyer 32-18 in the final. 

The professionalism and emphasis on teamwork always shone through in Frances and there is no doubt that she was a cornerstone of Scotland’s women’s teams across several championship cycles. 

Commonwealth Games 

1994 (Pairs Gold) 

World Bowls 

1985 (Fours Gold), 1992 (Triples Gold), (Fours Gold) 

Atlantic 

1993 (Fours Gold), 1995 (Fours Gold)