Croquet Tournament Results

SUMMARY 2008

DETAILED RESULTS 2008

Silver Doubles, 11th - 15th February 2008

The Silver Doubles was the first CNSW event of the year for 2008.

There were only 4 entries in this competition so it was played as a double round robin.

The matches were all played in the true spirit of the game with some of the players making nice breaks.

Many thanks to Mary Fernance for volunteering to act as Tournament Referee.

Many thanks also to all players for their cooperation in setting up and clearing lawns before and after play each day.

The Winners are:
ROS JOHNSTONE and DAVID MOODY. CONGRATULATIONS ! !

And after a closely contested finish the Runnersup are:
JACKY McDONALD and ROBYN WALLACE

Rita Johnson
Manager

3 and Under Singles, 16th - 17th February 2008

The first competition for the "big boys" was held on 16th and 17th February at Mackey Park, Tempe. There were ten competitors and for a change the metropolitan players outnumbered the country contingent 6 - 4. Players were divided in to two blocks of five with those having a bye encouraged to have a ‘friendly’ game against the equivalent number in the other block.

Play commenced at 7.30 on the Saturday (well that was the scheduled time but the manager forgot to turn the hot water on to allow for the obligatory cuppa). Four rounds were played which made for a fairly long day as the last game finished about 6pm. Unfortunately Rosemary Graham had to withdraw because of illness. On the Sunday competition started more or less on time with the final round.

There were a few surprises in the results. In Block A Mike Jenner was undefeated to finish first and Alan Walsh was second. Both of these players provided the only triple peels. The winner of B Block was Martyn Prins, also undefeated, and Alison Sharpe was second. These four played the semifinals and as well there were play offs between the equivalent finishing positions in each block.

Well done to all players and also to Martyn whose handicap has changed to 2.5

Gold Doubles, 19th - 21st February 2008

Rookies and Novices, 25th February - 1st March 2008

There were 5 entrants in this competition - 2 of these players - D Simonds [Hunters Hill] and Gayle Adams [Marrickville] playing in their first CNSW event.

All players entered into the true spirit of the game and said they enjoyed playing in the competition and the companionship of their opponents.

As the competition progressed you could see improvement in their games.

Congratulations must go to all the players especially the winner: John Campey [Epping] and the runnerup: Warren Yates [Cammeray].

Rita Johnson
Manager

Silver Singles, 4th - 6th March 2008

The Silver Singles was held at Tempe on 4th - 6th March. Only six entries and I was the only female. Me with five blokes!! What a pity we weren’t a LOT younger! The clubs represented were Chatswood, Coogee, Sutherland, Milton Ulladulla and National Park (well actually take your pick)

The croquet was scratchy with only two peg outs in the three days but everyone seemed to have at least one good game that they were pleased with. I think we all walked away with the realisation that we have skills that need to be practised

Everyone won at least one game and the results were as follows:-

1. Jacky McDonald - 5 wins (handicap reduced to 8)
2. David Moody - 3 wins
3. Alfred James - 2 wins
4. Ron Humpherson - 2 wins
5. Harry Taylor - 2 wins
6. Jim Elston - 1 win

We were lucky with the weather as the forecasters got it wrong and it was hot and sticky. The courts were well grassed but ran true. Some comments were made that they were slow but I think that with the recent drought we have become used to much faster lawns.

Many thanks to Margot, Kath, Patricia and John for refereeing.

Jacky McDonald

5 and Under Doubles, 15th - 16th March 2008

Fransted Trophy, 20th - 24th March 2008

There were 16 entries in this handicap competition - played in 2 blocks of 8.

It was pleasing to see players on high handicaps suing their bisques wisely and consequently had some very close matches.

Each block was very tightly contested with many games being won by only 1 point.

All players enjoyed the tournament and the camaraderie of all participants.

Block A winner John Fransen, runner up Lorraine LeBlang.
Block B winner Neil Hardie, runner up John Eddes.

The final between Neil Hardie and John Fransen was very well played with 4 long breaks . Neil eventually outplayed his worthy opponent and won the match 26-22

Thanks to the Tournament Referee - Mary Fernance - and the referees who gave willingly of their time on this holiday weekend to help make this event so successful.

Rita Johnson
Manager

Bronze Singles, 31st March - 4th April 2008

Senior Citizens Week, 7th - 10th April 2008

8 clubs only represented at the Senior Citizens event. This was a handicap event with a base handicap of 5.

The players with high handicaps posed a challenge to the lower handicap players and had some very good wins some results being 26 - 0.

Bob Gingold representing Canberra Club played exceptionally well having breaks of 11 and 12 in 1 match without using bisques resulting in a win of 26 - 0.

Valerie Vickers representing Cheltenham Club playing in her first CNSW competition enjoyed the experience and is keen to compete in further CNSW events.

Valerie has obviously studied the Laws Book and was able to challenge the Referee on a point of law and that the Referee agreed that she was correct - if only players new or old were as knowlegeable of the laws after only 6 months play.

The overall winner was Mike Hughes representing Cammeray Club and the runnerup was Bob Gingold representing Canberra Club.

Thanks again to Mary Fernance and her band of merry workers [referees] who all did a splendid job.

Rita Johnson
Manager

NSW Golf Croquet Championship - Open Doubles, 12th - 14th April 2008

NSW Golf Croquet Championship - Open Singles, 14th - 17th April 2008

The numbers in the golf croquet competitions are steadily improving as well as the standard of play. After 12 pairs in the NSW Doubles we had 22 enter the Singles. Competitors were from Coogee, Mosman, Manly, Cammeray, Forster, Canberra (1), Taree, Wollongong (2), Maitland, Sutherland and National Park (4).

Competitors were divided into two blocks. The games were untimed and all went very smoothly so much so that instead of taking three days to finish the blocks all 110 games were completed in two days. First and second from each block went through to the semi finals on Thursday and those results were as follows:-

Semi Finals:
Tony Hall defeated John Levick 7/6, 6/7, 7/4
Peter Landrebe defeated Barry Wells 7/5, 4/7, 7/2

Final:
Peter Landrebe defeated Tony Hall 7/5, 5/7, 7/4

The weather was variable and we all had plenty of practice taking wet weather gear on and off. Congratulations to all players for the spirit in which all games were played.

Many thanks to Lyn Dooley for managing the competition, to John Eddes for manipulating the draw, to Martyn Prins for his computer assistance and to Bill Haines for refereeing.

Jacky McDonald
(a not so successful competitor)

Premier Pennants, 27th April 2008

Gold Singles, 5th - 9th May 2008

Platinum Singles, 16th - 18th May 2008

There were 7 entrants in this competition played at Tempe.

There was generally a very high standard of play in this event with Alan Walsh completing a triple peel in his match against Alan Honey.

Mike Hughes won all his matches to become the overall winner with Alan Walsh as runnerup

NSW Golf Croquet Championship - Womens Open Singles, 19th - 23rd May 2008

Win Dickinson Memorial Event, 24th - 28th May 2008

NSW Golf Croquet Championship - Mens Open Singles, 31st May - 4th June 2008

There were 12 players entered in this competition - competitors were from Maitland [3], Newcastle National Park [2] Wollongong [1], Sutherland [2], Canberra [2], Mosman [1], Forster [1] but unfortunately John Coates from Forster club had a very bad fall prior to commencement of the tournament causing extensive head injuries and is in a very serious condition in Newcastle’s John Hunter Hospital. We wish John a speedy recovery and hope he will be able to return to playing croquet in the near future.

The games were untimed so some of the games took a long time to reach a decision. Some matches were so long that one of the matches from Saturday’s draw had to be postponed to an early start on Sunday and a match on Sunday had to be pegged down also with an early start on the Monday .

Congratulations to all players for their excellent play and cooperation throughout this tournament.

Rita Johnson
Manager

NSW State Handicap - Beryl Chambers Memorial Trophy, Finals 6th - 9th June 2008

First of all congratulations must go to the following players having reached the Finals in this event:

John Eddes [Sutherland], Bruce Edwards, Ben Freasier [Canberra], Barbara McDonald [Cammeray], David Probert, David Simmonds [Jamberoo], John Read [Orange City], Brian Smith [Eastwood], Ray Vize [Forster].

This event was played in mostly unsettled weather but this did not deter the players from displaying some excellent play.

All players enjoyed their games which were played in a very good spirits

The players with bisques used them constructively to make breaks and as a result most of the games were pegged out.

The overall winner is Bruce Edwards and the runnerup is Ben Freasier both from Canberra Club.

Rita Johnson
Manager

(other regional results not submitted)

NSW Championships - Womens Open Singles, 13th - 16th June 2008

Champion of Club Champions, 20th - 22nd and 28th - 29th June 2008

The Champion of Champions was held over two weekends in June. There were fourteen club champions entered and it was one of the strongest fields in recent times. Country and metropolitan clubs were both well represented with eight country clubs and six Sydney clubs.

The block rounds commenced on Friday morning and finished on Sunday morning before the quarter finals were held as the best of three. Congratulations to Ken Edwards and Alison Sharpe who were both undefeated in the block Rounds.

The quarter final results were:

Ken Edwards (Mosman) defeated Nick Macoun (Killara) 26/2, 26/9

Alison Sharpe (Chatswood) defeated John Eddes (Sutherland) 21/16, 26/11

Tim Murphy (Canberra) defeated John Levick (National Park) 26/20, 26/15

Alan Honey (Queanbeyan) defeated Alix Verge (Royal Sydney Golf Club) 26/14, 26/23

The semi finals had wins to Tim Murphy 26/6, 26TP/1 over Ken Edwards and in a hard fought match Alison Sharpe beat Alan Honey 21/26, 26/11, 26/1.

The first game of the final between Tim and Alison fluctuated both ways with errors determining play. Alison made a break to 4 back, Tim hit in and commenced a triple peel on Alison’s ball only to over roll the approach to 3 back and miss the hoop having peeled Alison through 4 back. Alison hit in and attempted a double peel on her own ball but stuck the peelee ball in rover trying a straight rover peel. Tim completed the game with 2 breaks to win 26 to 22.

The second game was similarly tight. Tim made a very controlled break to 4 back, Alison hit the lift but broke down at 2 back with a missed hoop shot, Tim hit in and attempted a triple peel but broke down at 4 back with a short hoop approach. Alison hit in and went to peg. After some very tactical play by both players Tim went to peg and pegged Alison out and followed with a final break to finish the game 26 to 21.

This is one tournament that two of the competitors will never forget. Alison Sharpe and Alix Verge both completed their first triple peel in singles competition. Well done to both !! Other triple peels were completed by Tim Murphy (2 plus 1 TPO) and John Levick.

The standard of play was very good throughout the tournament with most players roqueting well, making long breaks and most games being pegged out.

Jacky McDonald & John Eddes
Managers

NSW Championships - Mens Open Singles, 11th - 14th July 2008

This was held over a four day extended weekend from July 11 to July 14. A very strong field of 13 players played in a single round robin block, playing 12 games in the 4 days. It was pleasing to have two interstate players enter; Kevin Beard and Simon Watkins from Victoria.

The lawns were a little more testing than recent events and although there was a lot of good play with tight controlled breaks the standard of play overall was not quite as high with mistakes being more frequent. However Peter Landrebe excelled completing 8 triple peels in his 12 games , with other triples being done by Tim Murphy (one) and Kevin Beard (two).

The block play rounds produced many very close finishes and some upsets. Against Martyn Prins, Simon Watkins hit a very long roquet after time to win by a point. Simon also pegged out his second ball from near the third corner to beat John Levick also after time. Mike Hughes ran a 28 yard 4 back hoop when aiming for the ball next to the hoop to beat Kevin Beard in golden point extra time. Tim Murphy pegged out one of his balls against Peter Landrebe with the other ball on peg and Peter on 4 back and 1 and time running out but with very good play Peter took his 4 back ball to peg, then played a 2 ball break through 3 hoops until picking up Tims ball from corner four and finishing with a 3 ball break to win 26-25.

The final result was a win to Peter Landrebe with 11 wins; Simon Watkins was runner up with 10 wins. After a slow start, Kevin Beard finished third from Tim Murphy on a count back, both with 8 wins. Martyn Prins played well to finish fifth, well ahead of his ranking at the commencement. Alan Honey and Mike Hughes were also pleased with their results in such a good field.

Thanks to the tournament officials who had early starts and late finishes to allow all the games to be played in 4 days including pegged down games finishing in the dark and recommencing in the chilly hours of the mornings.

This large block format which was used for the first time in NSW events was very successful with players appreciating all the games despite the tiring nature of it.

John Eddes
Joint Manager

Golf Croquet Pennants, Finals 25th July and 1st August 2008

This is the second year the Golf Croquet Pennants have been held and the number of teams has grown by 50% giving 7 in Division 1 and 22 in Division 2. During the competition three teams withdrew.

Division1 was played in Sydney and the Hunter areas. The Division 2 groups were Illawarra, Hunter, Sydney North and Sydney South.

All competition was very close with most results being 2 matches to 1. There were a few forfeits for various reasons which lead to 3 - 0 results.

The semi finals and finals were played at Tempe on Friday 1st August. Before that there was a play-off between Sutherland B and Hurstville to determine the winner of Sydney South as they were equal in meets, matches and games. The finals day was very pleasant with most matches in the semi finals going to three games. One could almost feel the tension. Luckily all games were finished before the weather set in.

Thank you most sincerely to the referees - Ingrid Cohen, Madeline Goodman, Bill Haines, John Compton, Margaret Sawers, Pam Gentle, Bev Smith, Wendy Fothergill and Robyn Compton. In Golf Croquet it just makes it so much easier to have a referee on each game.

The results were as follows:-

Division 2

Semi final 1 - Maitland A def Mosman 3 - 0
Semi final 2 - Milton Ulladulla def Sutherland B 2 - 1
Final - Maitland A def Milton Ulladulla 3 - 0

Division 1

Final - Maitland A def Mosman 2 - 1

Congratulations to Maitland for winning both divisions. Thank you to all the clubs involved in the pennants this year. Thank you also to Brenda Evans of Jamberoo who designed the result sheet we all used. The comments coming back are most supportive and I look forward to a bigger and better competition next year. Hopefully more NSW regions will become involved.

Jacky McDonald

Bronze Brooch, 4th August 2008

There were 6 competitors in this event:

4 from Sutherland Club
1 from Mosman Club
1 from Coogee Club

Without the players from Sutherland this competition would have been a non-event

The competition was played from 4 - 6 August 2008 in mostly very pleasant weather.

Lesley Fransen pegged out in 4 of 5 games

At the end of the 4th round Ros Johnstone and Lesley Fransen had each won 4 games so the 5th round proved to be very exciting with Lesley being the eventual winner.

Thank you to these 2 players for an exciting finish with the result being 14/13.

Congratulations to the winner and the runnerup also congratulations to all players who made this such a successful competition.

Rita Johnson
Manager

NSW Championships - Open Doubles, 16th - 18th August 2008

The NSW Open Doubles Championship was held at Mackey Park Tempe on !6th -18th August. Eight pairs entered and it was great to have interstate visitors competing. Liz Fleming partnered Mike Jenner and Graham Scott teamed up with John Eddes. I suppose it was a bit like old home week for Graham. He certainly looks as though life in Murwillumbah agrees with him.

After six rounds of close competition two teams were undefeated, Mike Jenner and Liz Fleming and Peter Landrebe and Rosemary Graham. Pete completed three peels and missed the peg out with Rosie’s ball so that made the score at that stage 25 -0. Mike took his ball round to the peg to make the score 25 – 12. by this time the competitors in the other three games were starting to take more interest in the contest than in their own games. Over the next 40 minutes Rosie had innumerable long shots at the peg while Liz made her way around to the peg and pegged out – score now 25 all. Mike had a shot at the peg and missed and then Rosie made a long roquet and pegged out. Both pairs need congratulations.

Thank you to Sylvia Schipp for refereeing. I think she was called on to the court more times in that last games than for the rest of the weekend.

Jacky McDonald
Manager

NSW Championships - Open Singles, 19th - 24th August 2008

NSW Golf Croquet Handicap Doubles, 25th - 27th August 2008

NSW Golf Croquet Handicap Singles, 27th - 31st August 2008