Keith won the crown when she outplayed the promising Mandy Boyd (Johnsonville) 21-10 in a one-sided final.
It was the first national title for the small Leeston club that has only 14 female bowlers in its ranks.
Keith has a long background in indoor bowls and was a national champion with the small bowls.
She displayed the same accuracy on the draw with the big bowls as she had with the small indoor bowls.
Keith, who lives and works in Ashburton, has a strong family connection with the outdoor game. Her father, Sandy, introduced her to bowls and was a member of a Canterbury country four which got to the last stages of the national championships in Auckland in 1985.
Keith, the sister of Taieri club bowler and Bowls Dunedin representative Alistair Keith, reached the semifinals of the singles at the national championships in Dunedin last year.
She got on top of Boyd from the start and her accurate draw bowls shut the promising youngster out of the game.
Keith had an unerring ability to reach the jack and this shook the confidence of Boyd who was not accurate enough with her drives.
The early psychological advantage was snapped up by Keith with an early four she picked out of a crowded head.
It has been a good year for Keith, who won her first centre title earlier in the season.
Keith has won a trip to represent New Zealand at an international tournament at Cyprus later in the season.
Boyd played some top bowls herself, but her game suffered from too many missed drives.
Boyd and her older sister, Angela, also finished runner-up in the women's pairs when they were beaten 20-12 by the experienced composite pair of Black Jack Genevieve Baildon and Jan Shirley.
Baildon, who won a gold medal in the four at the Asia-Pacific championships in Adelaide last month, knew when to apply the pressure to upset the less experienced bowlers.
It was the first national open title for both Baildon and Shirley.
Nelson bowler Peter Hodson (Stoke) was another who used his indoor bowls experience to win his first New Zealand title in the men's singles.
He dominated Neil Fisher (Howick) with his accurate draw bowls to comfortably win the game 21-16.
It was a busy day for Hodson who had to play three games in an intense day of semifinals and finals.
It began with the pairs semifinals when he skipped the Stoke pairs team with partner James Pugh past Steve Beel and Shane Pascoe (composite) to move into the final. With the game tied 14-14 before the final end, Hodson drew beautifully to hold four.
Beel missed his drive and the Stoke team won 18-14.
In the other semifinal, Blake Signal (skip) and Alvin Gardiner (composite) were in top form, as they breezed past the father-and-son team of Jamie (skip) and Neville Hill (Avondale) 20-9.
Signal and Gardiner continued their top form in the final, when they outplayed the Stoke combination 22-12.
Bowls nationals
The champions
Men's singles: Peter Hodson (Stoke) 21, Neil Fisher (Howick) 16.
Women's singles: Sandra Keith (Leeston) 21, Mandy Boyd (Johnsonville) 10.
Men's pairs: Alvin Gardiner, Blake Signal (Composite) 22, James Pugh, Peter Hodson (Stoke) 12.
Women's pairs: Jan Shirley, Genevieve Baildon (Composite) 20, Angela and Mandy Boyd (Composite) 12.
