Croquet Tournament Results

SUMMARY 2019

* detailed results not available

DETAILED RESULTS 2019

AC 3 & Under Singles, 29th - 31st March 2019

GC NSW Men's Singles Championship, 23rd - 24th February 2019

This event was held on 29-31 March 2019. Due to a record number of entries it was necessary to use two venues. We thank Chatswood CC for offering two of their courts at short notice. The event was highly successful largely due to the careful planning and preparation of David Stanton, which made the job of Tournament Manager very easy.

It was encouraging to welcome new faces, including Greg Porter from Ballina and Heath Jackson from Hyde Park, SA.

The competition began with 2 Round Robins, one at Tempe, the other at Chatswood. The top 4 from each block then played in the main (X) knockout to determine positions 1-8.

The rest of the field played in the Y knockout or the Plate.

All games except the Plate were untimed. A proviso was made to enable a 15min time limit if a game was getting bogged down, but this was not needed in this event. Matches were self-refereed.

Play was of an excellent standard and the camaraderie between players off the court was a pleasure to see.

Congratulations to the winner, David Hanbidge and the runner up Peter Freer.

Positions 3-8 were David Woods, Richard Christian, Peter Landrebe, Peter Montague, Jamie Gumbrell and Ralph Richardson.

Rob Elliott (Chatswood) won the Y event and Gareth Denyer won the Plate.

Liz Montague, John Eddes and Rob Elliott
(Tournament Managers)

GC Pennants Divisions 2 and 3, 3rd and 6th May 2019

Photos and report...

GC Selectors 2nd 8, 18th to 20th May 2019

Cheltenham Croquet Club had the pleasure of hosting the NSW GC Selector’s Second Eight tournament during perfect Sydney weather surrounded by lovely gardens of changing autumn colours.

The tournament went for three days with Saturday being the busiest, having three sessions to conquer, however not all competitors were able to complete their third session due to a couple of the games still being played at 1hr and 15 minutes when instruction was given that play would finish in another 15 minutes. The last session of the first day was then to be completed on the second and if needed third day. One game of the third session had to be stopped halfway through due to darkness and failure to adequately see the hoops. The ball positions were marked by measurement, photo and chalk and the game was completed on Sunday after the two sessions for Sunday were complete.

The third day saw all games completed with Pamela Barnwell undefeated and Mary Hughes attaining runner-up position.

A couple of competitors remarked on the number of games to be played and by the end of the last session fatigue was beginning to show in some players.

David Capple from Cheltenham, a last-minute inclusion, enjoyed the experience and managed to win one match.

The lawns were in pristine condition with thanks for the hard work of our groundsmen and the players were very complimentary re same.

It was good to have the support of an extra referee (Richard Hughes) on the day and Cheltenham was able to provide members to score the hoops for each game along with two spouses so no mistakes could be made or disagreements re hoops.

Rosemary Freeman
Tournament Referee/Manager

GC Selectors 1st 8, 18th to 20th May 2019

GC Open Singles Championship, 21st to 24th June 2019

AC Fransted Trophy, 6th to 8th August 2019

The Fransted Trophy (AC Handicap) was played at Tempe. The clear winner was Don Wright, a new member of Cooks River Croquet Club, who went through undefeated. Runner-up was Ted Woodley who lost only one game.

David Stanton

GC Division 1 Singles, 19th to 21st August 2019

AC 5 & Under Doubles, 9th - 10th March 2019

Following block play, final matches were played as best of 3 games, with the block game counting as the first game.

AC Platinum Singles, 27th - 28th April 2019

AC Gold Singles, 29th April - 2nd May 2019

AC Silver Singles, 7th - 10th May 2019

AC Bronze Singles, 29th April - 2nd May 2019

AC Men's Singles, 24th - 26th May 2019

AC Pennants, 23rd - 25th July 2019

AC Beryl Chambers State Handicap, 7th - 10th June 2019

AC Division 2 Doubles & Singles, 12th - 16th June 2019

AC ACA Bronze Medal, 5th - 6th October 2019

The Canberra Croquet Club (Canberra CC) hosted the 2019 CNSW AC Bronze Medal event. The 2 day event was held on 5-6 October 2019. It was the first time in at least the last 20 years that the event has been played outside of Sydney – and while that may not be quite as dramatic as playing an AFL Grand Final away from the MCG, the move was generally well received by the participants.

Stephen Richards was Tournament Manager and Tournament Referee, however, all players with current referee or umpire accreditation were invited to take on the role of referees-on-call through the event.

Canberra CC provided complementary morning and afternoon teas for players. Players made arrangements to self-cater for lunch.

The event was played in cool but sunny conditions on some reasonably paced lawns that were of similar pace to the lawns at Tempe. There was a very strong field with the top 7 ranked players in NSW and the winner of the CNSW AC Selectors’ First 8 making up the field.

The lawns were cut to 4.6mm and were considered to be of a good pace by the players. Players were alerted to a lack of grass in corner 4 of lawn 1, and a deep-set sprinkler hole on lawn 2 and were advised they could take relief in these areas if the lawn surface was likely to materially effect any shot. Players did not report any need to take relief from these areas.

8 players competed in the event. CNSW prepared the draw in accordance with its requirements for this event. All matches were untimed and no time limits were imposed on any matches.

Matches commenced at 8am on each day, with 4 rounds played on 5 October and 3 rounds played on 6 October. Due to failing light on 5 October, one match was pegged down at approx. 6.25pm and required approximately 1 hour of additional play on the morning of 6 October to be completed. Play concluded at approximately 6.10pm on 6 October.

For the future, Canberra CC would suggest the event is scheduled to be played after the commencement of summer daylight saving. This year, summer daylight saving commenced on 6 October. The additional hour of daylight on the first day’s play would have likely enabled all 4th round games to be completed on that day, and allowed for the earlier competition of matches on day 2 (and earlier departure for Sydney based players returning home that evening.

Event results were posted on the Croquet Scores website. Peter Landrebe (5 wins; +43 hoops won the event. Jim Nicholls (5 wins; +25 hoops) was second. CNSW certificates and winner and runner-up medallions were provided to Peter and Jim at the conclusion of the event.

Player feedback was requested on the success or otherwise of the Bronze Medal event being hosted outside of Sydney. Given that 4 of the players resided in or nearby the southern tablelands regions, there was a positive response to the relocation from those players. Sydney-based players also spoke positively of the event being played outside of Sydney noting they rarely have to travels for major CNSW events. It is suggested CNSW continue to consider allocating this event to clubs outside of Sydney where a majority of players are from regional areas close to the potential host club.

Finally, Canberra CC would like to thank CNSW for the opportunity to host the 2019 Bronze Medal event. It provided Canberra CC with the opportunity to showcase high quality AC play to its members - up to 20 club members attended as spectators through the event. The experience also adds to the knowledge base Canberra CC now has for hosting CNSW events which may encourage the club to bid for further events in future years.

Stephen Richards
Canberra CC

AC Open Singles, 2nd - 5th November 2019

Alan Walsh beat Stephen Richards in the best-of-3 final, Alison Sharpe beat Rob Elliott in the "Y" event, and Kathleen Colclough beat Ralph Richardson in the Plate.

David Hanbidge withdrew after the first day due to family illness. Gareth Denyer elected not to play in the "Y" event, preferring to go to work on Tuesday.

AC Bronze Handicap Singles, 13th November 2019

This event was played at Tempe on Wednesday 13 November, with a field of 4 players. One of the players had been playing AC for only a few months, and another had only started playing croquet in 2019. The event was held as a single round robin of 2-hour 18-point full bisque games, with a base handicap of 10. Bisques available to each player were reduced in accordance with Schedule 1 of the Laws of Association Croquet, and the games were played as set out in Law 44(b)(1), which has all clips starting on hoop 5.

All players agreed to play 3 games on one day in order that we could get the event played.

All games were played in good spirit, and quite a few of the bisques available were used wisely. The aim of Full Bisque play is to make it easier for both players to get in and make a break, and all players achieved breaks of 3 or more hoops. Two games were pegged out, and another was won with 17 points. The event was a good learning experience for all players, none of whom had previously played an 18-point game starting at hoop 5.

Unsurprisingly, the two experienced AC players won their first two games before meeting in the last round. Fidye Westgarth (Mosman) prevailed over Lucy Rees (Cammeray) 11-6 to win the event. In the other round 3 game Lorraine Hatfield (Sutherland) pegged out against Kate Elliott (Cooks River) to secure 3rd place.

David Stanton
Tournament Manager

Photo

AC Gold and Silver Handicap Singles, 18th - 20th November 2019

The NSW combined Gold & Silver Handicap AC Singles were played at Tempe from 18 to 20 November, with 7 players competing under conditions of full bisques with a base of 5 in a single round-robin tournament.

The Gold winner was Gerard Barry of Chatswood Croquet Club, with Ted Woodley of Chatswood Runner-up.

The Silver winner was Don Wright of Cooks River with Werner Kos of Coogee runner-up.

All players were victors in at least one game.

The format with full bisque from a base of 5 seemed to work well for players and observers, allowing the games to flow more freely and inspiring more adventurous play. Tournament manager David Stanton said the format could be expected to attract more entrants next year, and possibly a return to separate tournaments for gold and silver level players.

Referees were David Stanton, Bob Green, Pat Gilchrist, Heather Smallbone, Ron Humpherson and Maria Morton.

Pat Gilchrist

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