SISIS -

A few years ago Mr. Tommy Seymour of the Larne Bowls club in Northern Ireland, visited the San Francisco Lawn Bowling club.

A retired groundsman, he discussed the slow pace of the greens with Bill Ryan the Greens Committee Chairman and told him that the most beneficial thing the club could do was to obtain a SISIS Auto-Rotorake. He later sent Mr. Ryan a SISIS brochure and the San Francisco club was also contacted by Ian Camp of SISIS Inc.

The San Francisco Lawn Bowling Club then embarked on a fund raising program to purchase the Auto-Rotorake and in early 2002 the machine arrived. It is a sturdy, well built machine and greenskeeper Dennis Wade likes the way it handles and the ease of changing the various reels. The club has been impressed by the excellent service from SISIS Inc and look forward to many years' use from their new de-thatcher.

The San Francisco Lawn Bowling Club is located in Golden Gate Park and is the oldest Municipal lawn bowling club in the USA. It has three greens - the first was built in 1901, the second in 1912 and the third in the mid-twenties. The original club was called The St.Andrews Bowls club and the 1912 green was built for the Golden Gate Women's Bowls Club. The two clubs later merged.

The greens are maintained by the City & County of San Francisco Recreation Dept. On September 30th 2001 the club celebrated its centennial with about 200 people in attendance and all three greens were full for a wonderful day of bowling and festivities.