ADVERTORIAL|Dennis & Sisis
DAY ROUND TRIP TO DENNIS &
SISIS SEMINAR PROVES INVALUABLE
F
ounded in 1925, Lerwick is
the only outdoor bowling
club in the Shetland Islands, and
after extensive research, Mike
is led to believe that it is the
most northerly outdoor bowling
green in the world. The green at
Lerwick is owned by the council
but the bowling club took over the
maintenance due to cost-cutting,
and while, according to Mike, “it
may have looked good to
passers-by it was an infrequently
cut green and was becoming
impossible to play bowls on.”
“I wanted to attend the Dennis
and SISIS seminar which was
held in conjunction with Bowls
Scotland, as my knowledge of
bowling green maintenance was
limited and the club thought that
discussions with the experts could
only be a benefit to us all,”
he said.
Designed to help club
greenkeepers and volunteers
maintain their bowling greens,
the popular seminars have been
credited for improving the
greens at numerous bowls clubs
throughout the country.
“It was well organised, proved
very helpful and I managed to
seek advice from several experts
about greenkeeping. It was also
good to look at new, lighter
machinery because the council
equipment we were using was
fairly old and heavy and the
majority of our bowling club
volunteers, who do the physicalwork, are pensioners.
“When I gave my report about
the trip to our Committee, the
idea about a new multi-purpose
machine with easily changed
cassettes really appealed to them
and a fund raising programme
was set up with a view to
purchasing a Dennis FT510.
“Ironically, representatives from
the Big Lottery Fund visited
Shetland shortly after the seminar
so I approached them about the
possibility of obtaining funding
for the machine without muchexpectation of a positive response.
However, there was no negativity
at all and I informed the council
and our Committee that I was
going to make an application.
“I was soon informed that we
would be getting the full amount
of money for the new mower and it
arrived a couple of weeks after we
had ordered it.”
The Dennis FT510 is highly
regarded by many who tend to
bowling greens and it is easy to
see why. With a 51cm working
width, the FT510 provides its
user with comfort, flexibility andAfter embarking on a three-day round journey to attend a Dennis and SISIS bowling green
maintenance seminar in Perth, Scotland, Mike Bailey - secretary and treasurer of the Lerwick
Outdoor Bowling Club, feels that the club has benefitted in more ways than one.excellent performance. Available
with five-bladed and ten-bladed
cutting cylinders the machine can
be matched to any situation and
the interchangeable cassettes can
be speedily changed without the
requirement of tools. The range
of 11 different cassettes mean
that one machine can be used for
several key maintenance tasks
including scarifying, verticutting
or brushing. These features
combined with the tool-free click
system of adjusting the height of
cut are all elements which Mike
believes has made life easier for
the volunteers at
Lerwick Bowls Club.
“I had used a Dennis mower at
my previous cricket club, so I
knew that it would be a reliable,
well-made machine.
“The power unit arrived with
cutting, scarifier, and verticutter
cassettes and has worked up to
our high expectations. We hope
to get the best results from our
proposed autumn work. The speed
with which the cassettes can be
changed is a real bonus and the
whole machine is so much lighter
than the one we used previously.”62 BOWLS INTERNATIONAL October 2017 http://www.bowlsinternational.comHowardsonLtdAdvertorial.indd 48 11/10/2017 10:15