Dennis and SISIS have successfully kick-started their 2017 series of bowls maintenance seminars, after the first two were recently held at Attenborough Bowls Club in Nottingham and the Ye Olde Knowle Bowls Club in Birmingham. 

The popular seminars, which are designed to educate greenkeepers on how to maintain and look after bowling greens, have been credited for improving the greens at numerous bowls clubs throughout the country. Combining insightful seminars and practical tips, a number of industry experts take to the stage to discuss a wide range of key topics.

As a key event for those who are tasked with maintaining bowling greens, over 150 delegates made their way to the two seminars.

Following a warm welcome from Jason Briggs, area sales manager for Dennis and SISIS, seminar delegates heard from Alan Lewis, a leading sports turf consultant, who offered guidance on the maintenance of a bowling green. In his presentation Alan discussed best practice including tips on brushing, scarifying, spraying, verticutting, aerating, watering and also revealed how certain renovations can significantly improve green speed.

Alex McDermott from Vitax Amenity and Paul Moreton from Germinal offered valuable insights into how to select the correct seed and fertiliser for a green. Phil Brown, president of the British Crown Green Bowling Association (BCGBA) then provided an update on the recent developments in the world of crown green bowls.

Delegates then stepped on to the green to hear from Andy Walker, field support manager for Dennis and SISIS, on how to get the best performance from a mower, before a complimentary lunch was served.

Lunchtime proved, as always, to be a great networking opportunity as delegates got the chance to meet and greet one another as well as talk to seminar sponsors Germinal, Midlands Grounds Machinery, Platts Harris and Vitax Amenity.

After lunch delegates then made their way into the spring sunshine where an on-green demonstration commenced. The demonstration not only provided a perfect opportunity to see some of the sport’s best maintenance equipment in action but experts from Dennis and SISIS, Midlands Grounds Machinery and Alan Lewis offered some fantastic tips on how to prepare and maintain bowling greens.

The seminars concluded with the hugely popular Turf Clinic Q&A session, which allowed the delegates to ask advice about their own projects or any issues that they may have had.

Keith Freakley, from Wycliffe Bowls Club in Leicestershire, was one of the many attendees who reported a successful seminar: “If you are a greenkeeper then you can’t wish for a better day out in coming to one of these Dennis and SISIS seminars. You learn a lot about renovation, maintenance, different types of machinery, greenkeeping, fertilisers and everything else which you really want to know to help you on a green.”

Peter Cross from Buckingham Bowls Club agreed: “I came along today to see if there was any information I could pick up and it’s been very informative. I would recommend this kind of event to any greenkeeper and even to bowlers. Every little helps and I don’t care how many times you come to one of these – you are always going to learn something new. It has been absolutely superb.”

www.dennisuk.com/www.sisis.com.