Croquet Tournament Results

SUMMARY 2012

DETAILED RESULTS 2012

5 & Under Doubles, 25th - 26th February 2012

This was the first Tournament for 2012 and was held on Saturday 25th and Sunday 26th February. There were seven entries. This event is timed so that the state team can have some game practice in the format they will use in the Eire Cup. All of the state team members were present with the exception of Pete Landrebe as he had been invited to a tournament in Florida - lucky Pete!

Saturday was hot and sticky and by the end of four rounds there were some rather tired competitors. On Sunday there were about four spots of rain but other than that it was perfect.

Most of the games were close battles and there were only two triple peels over the weekend. The final placings were not decided until after the last round was completed.

Many thanks to all the competitors for your assistance and well done to the winners Tim Murphy and Jim Nicholls and runners up Rosie Graham & Alison Sharpe

For all those invisible people who find it hard to offer to manage a CNSW tournament I can tell you that I have had a very pleasant two days - had a walk along the Cooks River for about an hour each morning, got quite a bit of cross stitch done, read a book and the Sunday paper, watched some great croquet and socialized with a really nice group of people.

Jacky McDonald
Manager

3 & Under Singles, 9th - 11th March 2012

Bronze Singles, 15th - 18th March 2012

Despite the weather doing all it could to spoil the tournament the players rose above all the challenges it threw at them. Until almost the end of Day 3 Richard Thomas was unbeaten and looked to be the likely winner . Tony McArthur changed that by beating Richard. This meant Richard Thomas and Geoff Boyce had each won 5 of 6 games with Geoff slightly ahead of Richard on points. The scene was set for the final round, to be played on Day 4, to be the decider. If Geoff lost to Lorna Davies (a strong possibility with Lorna finding her true form which had deserted her in earlier rounds), and/or Richard lost to Peg Jones (who had played very well in earlier rounds) the lead could change hands, and may even open up the possibility of Tony McArthur moving into 2nd, or even 1st, place.

It was not to be. Geoff and Richard each won their matches so even though Tony won his close tussle against Yvonne Webster he remained placed 3rd, with Richard 2nd and Geoff 1st.

A couple of exciting moments are worth a mention. Yvonne Webster, confronted with a ball in Hoop 1 and nothing to play to, did the only thing possible - send her ball as far as possible towards the next hoop. She ran that one too! The best breaks came from Peg Jones, who made a break of 4 only to be outdone by Roger Liles with a break of 5. Roger later outdid himself when he achieved a personal best - a break of 6 in the last match of the tournament.

Here are Heather Smallbone's comments on the tournament:-

It was a pleasure to see such a friendly atmosphere amongst the players, during this tournament. The handicaps ranged from 14-20, with one player only starting to play croquet 12 mths. ago.

There seemed 2 styles of play. Those who were adventurous, and put their croqueted ball forward in an attempt to make breaks, and those who just split balls anywhere, then set up in front of their hoop , without a reception ball. I would have liked to have seen all players be a little more adventurous and use all the balls, instead of just running hoops. Breaks will follow.

The shot of the Tournament, was from Lorna Davies. Playing red and yellow, -- yellow clip on 2 back, red on 5. Lorna playing red, took off from yellow, just to the left of 2 back. Yellow finished up in front of 2 back, whilst red ran its hoop at 5, and finished in a good position to roquet the black or blue ball. If only I had a camera to catch the expression on her face.

My sincere thanks to Robin Potter, Kath Coull and Faye Stove for referring. This is not an easy task, having to watch 4 games, on 3 lawns, and as it turned out almost the hottest days we've had this summer. John Eddes also assisted when needed.

I would also like to thank Susan Howland, from Strathfield C.C. for travelling from Penrith each day to Manage the Tournament.

Susan more than capably handled the job and was of great help to me when on 1 day I was the only referee. Thank you SUSAN.

Heather Smallbone
Referee

With reference to Heather's ‘thank you' to me, I want to point out this was the first tournament I've managed. Until the plea from CNSW for Managers was put out it would not have occurred to me to offer myself. It turned out to be less threatening and far more enjoyable than I expected, which I attribute to the generous mentoring I received from John Eddes. CNSW needs more of us to volunteer. It's a great chance to contribute to the game we all love. Go on - have a go!

Susan Howland
Manager

NSW GC Championships - Mens Open Singles, 30th March - 2nd April 2012

NSW GC Championships - Womens Open Singles, 3rd - 4th April 2012

This was played at Tempe on 3rd & 4th April. There were only six competitors and it was organised as a Double Round Robin - six games on the first day and four on the second. The weather was very kind and the company great.

Thank you to Ron Johnstone for refereeing and thank also to Katherine Love for providing VERY tasty biscuits.

Barb Piggott was the winner - only losing one game and Pam Gentle was the runner up. Congratulations to both of you!

One change of Handicap - me. I went from a 3 to a 4. My own fault - I doubt that I will play and manage at the same time again.

Jacky McDonald

Division 2 GC Doubles, 19th - 20th April 2012

Nowra Croquet Club generously gave up their lawns to enable CNSW to conduct the Division 2 Doubles and Singles Championships from the 19th - 23rd April. CNSW thanks all Club members who contributed to the success of the competition.

Eight teams began the doubles under overcast skies and in drizzly conditions on Thursday 19th. Some parts of NSW had received up to 200mm of rain on the Wednesday but the Nowra lawns were slightly damp but dried out completely during the day. Team members came from throughout the state, Forster, Taree, Wollongong, Jamberoo, Maitland, Sutherland and Young.

The competition was a double round robin meaning each team played 14 matches in total. After the first round the Nowra team of Wayne Worrall and David Turvey led on net hoops from Maitland pair Robyn Compton and John Pace each with 5 wins from 7 matches. Snapping at their heels were Peter Coles(Forster)/Lyn Dimech (Taree), Marg Long(Jamberoo)/Margaret Sawers(Nowra) and another Nowra pair Brenton Chivers/ Pat Poynter all with 4 wins. The competition was set for an exciting finish.

A poor first round by Tony McArthur (Sutherland and Sandy Coutts (Forster) spurred them on winning their first 4 round two matches putting into a winning position as the leaders were stumbling. The Young Ladies Edna Kelly and Shirley Close also began strongly in round 2. But coming into round 14 only 3 teams were still winning chances and these were the 3 leaders from round 1. Wollongong pair Lenora Everton and Joan Christopher edged out Worrall and Turvey leaving two. Compton/Pace fell in over Kelly/Close finishing on 10 wins net 6 while Chivers/Poynter finished strongly but with only 9 wins but 20 net were one win short for the overall title. Compton/Pace player in six 7/6 matches winning 5 and showing the benefits of competition experience.

The winners were John Pace & Robyn Compton, and the runners-up were Brenton Chivers & Pat Poynter. Both the winners and the runners-up played consistent and smart croquet over the 14 rounds.

Division 2 GC Singles, 21st - 23rd April 2012

The Croquet New South Wales Golf Croquet singles championship was contested at Nowra Croquet club over the weekend.

The tournament managed by Rudy Katona (Nowra) and John Eddes(CNSW) was a huge success, enjoyed by players from Maitland, Forster, Taree, Young, Sutherland, RSGC, Milton Ulladulla, Jamberoo, Southern Highlands, Nowra and the new West Street Nowra Club.

The members’ of the Nowra club did a sterling job preparing the lawns, making sandwiches and cakes, and generally looking after the visitors who thoroughly enjoyed the weekend and were all impressed with the new croquet complex at Nowra

This tournament was a first for Nowra as we have only had our lawns at Bomaderry since February 2009 and the new amenities building was completed in June 2012.

The winner of the competition was Peter Coles from Forster, the runner up was John Gilhooly from Milton Ulladulla

Division 3 GC Doubles, 19th - 23rd April 2012

Hosted by Jamberoo Croquet Club Inc.

Players came from Forster (1), Sutherland (4), Wollongong (4), Southern Highlands (4) to join 12 Jamberoo members to contest these events in the friendly, relaxed environment of the south coast. The heavy rain on the Wednesday night caused a late start for the doubles, but this did not deter the enthusiastic players, many of whom had not previously participated in a tournament.

Fortunately the rain eased enough for the lawns to drain and, the games commenced at about 9:30 am. Initially the lawns were heavy with the balls throwing 'rooster tails' in many areas but they gradually improved during the day, despite some further light rain, and so there was no further delay to play.

Friday, Saturday and Sunday were great for playing croquet and, although there were some very tired players at the end of each day, they enjoyed the competition. The weather again let us down for the singles semi-finals and final on Monday and so they were played in light rain - but, at least, the lawns were good!

Sharlene Subbi (Jamberoo) and Elaine Coles (Forster) won the doubles with Dot Moroney and Gerry Hassett (both Jamberoo) being the runners up. The same 4 players were in the semi finals of the singles with Sharlene Subbi beating Gerry Hassett in a hard fought final which went to 3 games.

Overall we had 12 doubles teams and 17 singles players , participating in 138 games of Golf Croquet over the 5 days.

The event would not have been possible without the support of many of our members who provided food, helped set-up the equipment, scored the games. Special thanks go to the Tournament Referee, Roger Evans, and his hard-working team of Pat Moroney, Ian Subbi, Chris Christopher, Rin Draisma, Barbara Scott, Margot Johnson and Elaine Coles.

Brenda Evans
Tournament Manager

Division 3 GC Singles, 19th - 23rd April 2012

Hosted by Jamberoo Croquet Club Inc.

(report with Doubles above)

Gold Doubles, 27th - 29th April 2012

NSW GC Championships - Open Doubles, 4th - 6th May 2012

10 pairs entered for this event which was played as a double round robin providing 18 games in 3 days. With 6 teams containing members of the State team it appeared to be a very strong and even field. And so it turned out to be.

But the initial surprise success came from one of the other teams, Jack Cohen and Kim Morrison from Sydney Club who beat two of the top two five teams in their first two matches. Jack and Kim faded a bit after that for a while, but finished strongly winning 9 of their last 11 games to finish fourth with 12 wins.

Early on Joe Dimech and Jim Hicks appeared unbeatable winning their first 11 games straight and being well in front, but somehow they only won 2 of their remaining games to finish third with 13 wins.

With Joe and Jim losing games, Peter Smith and John Compton took the lead but lost the occasional game to keep the closest team, Mike Jenner and Nick Macoun, in with a chance. Mike and Nick won only 6 of their first 9 games but came home strongly winning 7 out of the next 8. Going in to the final game of the event against Peter & John, Mike and Nick needed to win by 4 hoops to take the competition. They won the game but only 7-6, so both teams ended on 14 wins and the title going to John and Peter on a countback of net hoops, 46 to 42. So after 18 games and nearly 200 points in each teams games only 4 points separated the two teams. Mike Jenner demonstrated great skill in jump shots, none more so that at hoop 13 in the final game when he jumped over partner ball to clear an opponents ball only inches beyond the partner ball - perfect height, distance and direction were required and delivered to ultimately win the hoop.

All teams won games and all appeared to enjoy the tournament which was played throughout in excellent weather for croquet.

With such a high standard of golf croquet being played it was a pity there were not more spectators to see some of the finer points of strategy and stroke making. Spectators are always welcome at CNSW events, whether at Tempe or elsewhere, and players can learn by observing what is happening.

Unfortunately there was no manager but a number of people chipped in and helped, particularly Robyn Compton and John Eddes. Thyra Neilson also assisted, Nick Macoun was prominent in setting the lawns up and other players helped out when they had time available. Thanks to all those that contributed in any way.

John Eddes

NSW AC Handicap - Beryl Chambers Memorial Trophy, Finals 8th - 11th June 2012

This competition was conducted in the usual format with regional events leading up to the final at Tempe. About 50 players from 14 clubs contested events in 7 regions, with 11 players earning their place in the finals, 7 from Sydney and 5 from the country. Participation in the country was down on recent years and it would be good to see more country clubs getting involved next year.

The final had 2 initial blocks playing a round robin with further blocks then being established with the top players in the main block and the others in the consolation block.

Block A was won by Bob Green who was undefeated and the others to proceed into the final were Barbara McDonald and John Read. Block B was won by Mac Thomson with Ted Salter also going into the final.

Unfortunately the weather which had been rainy turned very nasty on the last day, the Monday. At one stage lawn 1 was covered in water from one boundary to the other. This resulted in the last round of the consolation block being abandoned with Jim Elston in the lead. As the lawns drained some games were played in the main block and some were postponed until the following Friday.

The overall result was not determined until the last game played. Bob Green who was undefeated in the initial block lost both games in the main block to finish fourth. Barbara McDonald and Ted Salter went into the last game both with 5 wins and Ted was victorious to win the event and Mac Thomson finished runner up on a count back from Barbara.

This event takes a CNSW event to country areas and in this sense it was very successful again, but there is room for more players and more clubs to get involved. The standard of play in the final was at times very good and at others inexperience at using bisques showed through. Most games were won by the low handicap player as the players with bisques did not get full value from their bisques. I think more clubs need to include handicap games in their programs to give players the experience at this type of play.

John Eddes
Manager

Platinum Singles, 25th - 26th May 2012

NSW AC Championships - Womens Open Singles, 1st - 3rd June 2012

NSW AC Championships - Mens Open Singles, 1st - 4th June 2012

The NSW Men's Open was held at the Mosman Croquet Club in Sydney. The format was single round robin with the top 4 in the block going in to the semifinals.

Alan Walsh continued his good Worlds form by going through undefeated.

Peter Landrebe managed 4 tripling games but failed to take croquet against Alan.

The battle for third place was between Ken Edwards, Martyn Prins and Kenn Boal (visiting from Rich River). Torrential rain on Day 2 caused pooling - even on Mosman's fast-draining lawns. A crucial pass roll to hoop 6 by Martyn ran into heavy seas and caused an end of turn and a peg-down. Resuming early on Day 3 in better weather, Martyn hit the 20-yarder and went to the peg, leaving 4 balls on. Ken gained control with his backward ball and was on a finishing turn, but missed the front pegout after time had gone. This - his second win - meant that Kenn Boal missed the cut, Ken came 4th and Martyn 3rd.

In the first semi, Peter beat Martyn 26TP-1.

In the second semi, there was an exciting arm wrestle between Ken and Alan. Alan had pegged Ken out when Ken was on peg and 3b, and he on peg and 6, with 20 minutes on the clock. He ran to 3b whilst Ken ran 1 hoop to 4b and left Alan with a ball at the end of A-baulk, partner ball near C2, and Ken's ball 4y north of 4b.

With a few minutes to go Alan chose to shoot at the C2 ball, which after 38 yards of travel he hit in the centre - to loud applause. His next shot was a thin takeoff along the B-baulk to get the rush on Ken's ball down to 3b. According to a downcast Alan the shot showed zero or negative pull - and went out. Ken wins 22-20.

In the final Ken ran 9, Peter ran 9 while turning down a TPO, each party missed 3 yard roquets, with Peter finally prevailing 26-13 to win his 6th title.

The Mosman Club looked a picture throughout the tournament, and full credit and thanks go to Mary and Robert Gibson and their tireless assistants. And they do it all again in a week when they host the Patron's Trophy.

Martyn Prins

Division 1 GC Pennants - Finals, 21st June 2012

2012 saw, for the first time, six ( 6 ) Division One Golf Croquet Pennants teams. The problem was they were geographically challenging. So, we developed a new format of play for the six teams - Maitland Black, Maitland White, Mosman, Sutherland, Illawarra (which was a combination of players from Jamberoo and Wollongong) and Canberra.

Initially the two Maitland teams played each other, the two Sydney based teams played each other and Illawarra and Sutherland met at Jamberoo for their match. The six teams then met at CNSW Headquarters (Tempe) for a 3 day event on Tuesday 17, Wednesday 18 and Thursday 19 July. Day 1 saw Maitland Black and Maitland White do battle against both Mosman and Sutherland. On Day 2 the Maitland teams played against both Illawarra and Canberra and on Day 3 Mosman and Sutherland played against both Illawarra and Canberra.

The concept worked well and interesting tussles ensued. The spectators who came from Cheltenham, RSGC and Jamberoo to watch good croquet enjoyed their day and went away very satisfied with the quality of Golf Croquet being played. Thank you for coming to support croquet.

Thanks also to the ten (10) willing referees, some of whom officiated on each of the three days - your support and expertise is greatly appreciated by the players and by the organiser.

Now I suppose you’d like the final outcome. Maitland White won 4 of their 5 matches to take the title. This year is the 4th consecutive year that a Maitland team has been the Division 1 GC Pennants Premiers.

The race for runner up was hotly contested by Canberra, Mosman and Sutherland (each with 3 wins out of their 5 matches) - and it was Canberra who came second on the overall net results.

Congratulations to all teams and their players. It was great to see such a high level of competition and commitment to Golf Croquet Pennants.

Thanks everyone for making Division 1 GC Pennants such an outstanding success and we look forward to more clubs stepping up in 2013. There are so many players around the state who could combine (as Illawarra did) to form competitive teams. Such is the strength of play in Golf Croquet at this time.

Robyn Compton
GC Pennants Organiser

In the following results M = Matches, G = Games, H = Hoops.

Division 2 GC Pennants - Finals, 21st June 2012

Back in April 2012, 16 teams from Div 2 and 17 teams from Div 3 began their quest for supremacy in Golf Croquet Pennants. It was great to see the level of interest and commitment from all clubs and their participating members.

Division 2 comprised teams from EDSACC, Urunga, Maitland, Milton Ulladulla, Nowra, Jamberoo, Wollongong, Eastwood, Epping, Killara, Manly, Mosman, Port Hacking, Sutherland, Sydney and Blue Mountains.

After the regional rounds four (4) teams met at CNSW Headquarters (Tempe) on Thursday 21 June for the semifinals and final. These teams were Maitland, Mosman, Sydney and Nowra.

The semifinals were: Nowra vs Mosman with Mosman the victor, and, Maitland vs Sydney with Sydney the winner.

So, the Final was ; Sydney vs Mosman - with Sydney winning the doubles and one of the singles matches.

Congratulations to all teams, particularly the final four and of course to the successful Sydney team who defended their 2011 crown.

Special thanks to the six (6) referees who officiated at each of the Div 2 and Div 3 Finals Days. Their commitment, interest and expertise was greatly appreciated by the players and especially by me. Great Work Everyone. See you in 2013.

Robyn Compton
GC Pennants Organiser

Division 3 GC Pennants - Finals, 28th June 2012

Back in April 2012, 16 teams from Div 2 and 17 teams from Div 3 began their quest for supremacy in Golf Croquet Pennants. It was great to see the level of interest and commitment from all clubs and their participating members.

Division 3 had teams representing Wollongong, Southern Highlands, Milton Ulladulla, Jamberoo (2 teams), Canberra, Hurstville, Sutherland, RSGC, Killara, Eastwood, Mosman, Manly, EDSACC, Maitland, Branxton and Myall Park.

On Thursday 28 June the semifinalists Milton Ulladulla, Hurstville, Mosman and Maitland met at Tempe for a day full of interesting and competitive croquet.

In the semifinals Milton Ulladulla defeated Hurstville and Maitland defeated Mosman.

The afternoon of finals was, as expected, full of tension and interesting croquet.

Maitland emerged as Div 3 GC Pennants winners over Milton Ulladulla, winning one of the singles and the doubles (both in 3 hard fought games).

Congratulations to all Div 3 players and to those who were part of the finals series.

Special thanks to the six (6) referees who officiated at each of the Div 2 and Div 3 Finals Days. Their commitment, interest and expertise was greatly appreciated by the players and especially by me. Great Work Everyone. See you in 2013.

Robyn Compton
GC Pennants Organiser

ACA GC Bronze Medal, 6th - 9th July 2012

Gold Singles, during 27th April - 1st May 2012

This event was a double round robin between Greg Deakin, David Surridge and David Stanton. David Stanton was undefeated, Greg and David Surridge won one game each, and David Surridge was runner-up on net points.

Gold Brooch, 13th - 16th July 2012

Silver Brooch, 13th - 16th July 2012

The CNSW Silver Brooch Tournament for 2012 was held at Killara Croquet Club. There were six competitors who played a round robin competition in magnificent warm and sunny weather.

Ron Humpherson and Michael Strickland came from Mosman Club, Annette Due Preez from Manly and Barbara McDonald from Cammeray, Trevor Smith from Warrawee and Greg Deakin played at his home turf.

All competitors put in a solid performance, and there were no upsets with referees or queries about rules. It all took place in a friendly atmosphere over four days, and we saw some amazing roquets.

Four games were taken to a peg out - two by Trevor Smith and one each by Ron Humpherson and Greg Deakin.

The Winner was Greg Deakin with Barbara McDonald Runner Up.

Patricia Goldrick
Tournament Manager

GC Champion of Champions, 28th - 30th July 2012

This event was blessed with excellent weather. It was great to see some new faces at Tempe and most players were representing their club for the first time in the GC Champion of Champions.

The standard of play was very high and the competition very close. In the final round [round 13] 4 of the 6 matches had a bearing on which players would contest the semi-finals.

The semi finalists were Wayne Evison [Nowra] with 10 wins, John Compton [Maitland] with 9 wins, Nick Macoun [Killara] with 9 wins, and Tim Murphy [Canberra] with 8 wins.

Roger Evans with 8 wins missed out on a countback and Ros Johnstone with 7 wins lost her last match to miss out on the countback.

Many thanks to Robyn Compton and her band of referees for doing a sterling job. The players greatly appreciated having a referee for each match over the 3 days. Seven of the thirteen contestants were country folk and they certainly tested the city slickers.

It would be great to see even more country club champions in the next years Champion of Champions

There was some clever play in both the semi-finals with Tim beating Wayne 6-7, 7-4, 7-3 and John beating Nick 7-4, 7-6. Congratulations to Tim in beating John in the finals 7-3, 7-6.

Ron Johnstone
Manager

NSW GC Championships - Open Singles, 10th - 13th August 2012