A true international sportsman with experience playing first league rugby, soccer, cricket and golf, Merton Isaacman is quick to say “my passion is Lawn Bowls.”

The Irvine resident is more than passionate about lawn bowling - he’s great at it. Since taking up the sport, Isaacman has crafted a lawn bowling resume absolutely jammed with championships and honors. A United States national team member every year since 1992, Isaacman’s accomplishments include U.S. championships in Singles (four times) and Pairs (five times); gold medals at the American National Open in Singles in 1999, Pairs in 1998 and 2003, and Triples in 2004. At the 2001 Asia-Pacific Championships in Australia, Isaacman took the bronze in the Singles to become the first and only American to win a medal in an international Singles event. He also scored a bronze medal in Pairs during that competition. Isaacman returned to Australia in 2003 to take a silver medal in the Asia-Pacific Singles competition.

Isaacman has held court in the California State Championships regularly since 1988, winning the gold in the Fours (four times) and Triples (seven times). He’s also taken the top medal at the U.S. Championships’ Southwest Division qualifying tourneys in the Singles (four) and Pairs (five).

Isaacman has been a member of the quadrennial United States Maccabiah team since 1989 - a total of five times.

Moving from South Africa to the United States in 1977, Isaacman made a brief stop in Houston en route to Irvine, where he has been settled for 20 years. Away from his career as a real estate developer and general contractor, Isaacman is a co-founder of the Beth Jacob Orthodox Synagogue. He is the sitting president of the Southwest Lawn Bowls Association, a past-secretary of both the National and Southern California Lawn Bowls Association.