About Us - Club History

On October 7, 1901 the St. Andrew's Society, a Scottish fraternal organization, formed a lawn bowling club in San Francisco. John McLaren, then Superintendent of Golden Gate Park, laid out a "green" in the west corner of the recreation grounds near Sharon Meadow.

Commenting at the time, McLaren said, "This pleasant sport has been held in high repute in the British Isles and its introduction on this coast would be beneficial both to young and old alike as it combines an exercise with the pleasures of amusement. The ground for its site has been graded, loamed and manured, and it is in a square about 150 feet each way. Plantations have been formed on its margins giving it a secluded air". A game was bowled on the spot on October 18, 1901 using wooden bowls brought from Scotland by several members of the organizing group.

At first, the Club was called the San Francisco Scottish Bowling Club. A permanent green (now Green #1) was built on the original site and opened in 1901. Many enjoyable games were played on it until - April 18, 1906 - when the earthquake and fire destroyed much of the City. The earthquake heaved the green and the Army, under the command of General Funston, used it as a corral for a troop of cavalry. The troops were quartered in nearby Sharon Meadow. The green was not fully restored until April 1907.

From its beginning in the City, the sport attracted a number of women who sometimes played along with the Club's gentlemen members and, on September 17, 1912, the Women's Golden Gate Lawn Bowling Club was organized. Since one green was inadequate, the Parks Commission laid down another, Green #2, which opened for play on July 19, 1913. Contemporary maps of Golden GateParkdesignated the area as the "Women's Lawn Bowling Green."

In 1914-15, the members of each club contributed $500 which was turned over to the resourceful John McLaren for the construction of a one-story wooden, Edwardian-style club house, which became known as the "House that Jack built." The Clubhouse and three greens are now registered as San Francisco City Landmark #181. Green #3 was constructed in 1928 and a State Tournament was played on the greens in 1929. The Club's name was changed to the San Francisco Lawn Bowling Club in 1931 and 48 years later, the Women's Golden Gate Lawn Bowling Club merged with the SFLBC.

SFLBC also shares some City history, starting with such well-known San Franciscans as the previously mentioned John McLaren, who was the Club's first vice-president. Y.C. Lawson Jr. was its first president and James "Sunny Jim" Rolph, the club's first Treasurer, later became a colorful, progressive Mayor of San Francisco and Governor of the State of California. Mrs. Gabriel Moulin, of the City's famed photographic studio, was an early member of the women's club, along with other prominent residents of the City.

The San Francisco Lawn Bowling Club is the oldest public club in the country and boasts the first municipal lawn bowling green opened in the United States. It's the oldest club on the west coast. The Club elected its first woman president, Catherine Remedios, in 2000.

With a current membership of 130+, SFLBC is a member of the Pacific Inter-Mountain Division (PIMD) of the US Lawn Bowls Association, which also has other divisions and clubs throughout the United States.

Members of the Club may participate in bowls events world wide and in past years have won national honors, with one member winning a gold medal as a world champion. SFLBC, the PIMD and individual Bay Area Clubs all conduct tournament competitions throughout the year and on an almost weekly basis on weekends through the spring and summer.