Croquetwest

The Big Oyster GC Competition got underway yesterday and is now running in tandem with the WCF Qualifier. It’s amazing to see play on all 24 courts at the same time. The weather continues to be fantastic, although the wind did spring up during the morning session.

Kate and Karen found their groove in the qualifier and gained some well deserved wins. Peter, Fran, Addison, Jamie and myself all took part in the opening rounds of the Big Oyster and it was a nice feeling to be out on the lawns.

With the dry weather and the heavy mowing, the original 8 lawns are becoming very fast. The other 16 courts have only been in use for just over 18 months and are running a little slower but I suspect by the final days of the main tournament, they too will be running quickly. All courts are marked with string lines which has been easy to adjust too.

Big Oyster results from Day 1.

After finishing my last game of the day, I got to watch the match between Addison and Steve Leonard. It was a high quality affair filled with great hooping, excellent positional play and some amazing jump shots.

After a long day we were able to take in a lovely sunset from our porch.

40 players take to the courts today, each in pursuit of claiming one of the final 6 entry spots into the main event.

We arrived at the venue yesterday in time for the player briefing and it’s amazing to see so many courts in the one location.

Matt, who came across for the Over 50’s has been very busy making scoreboards for every court based on the ones we used in Bunbury.

Another great video from John.

Wishing the best of luck to Australians Kate McLaughlin and Karen Bisley as they compete in the WCF Qualifier 13-16 October, aiming to secure their spot in the WCF Golf Croquet World Championships!

Follow along on CroquetScores

As I was wandering through Central Park this morning, I was lucky enough to spot a member practising their American 6 Wicket skills.

After introducing myself, Geoff gave me a brief run down of the club  which has a current membership of about 80. They have room for two full courts but can access to the bowling courts when running tournaments.

Squirrels are constant companions and are very adept at digging out the acorns if they happen to get buried leaving some nice holes in the lawn.

I had the great pleasure of visiting the Hong Kong Cricket Club this evening as a guest of Tom Ingram, who is representing the Hong Kong Croquet Club at the 2024 GC World Championship.

It is an amazing facility with numerous sports being catered for such as swimming, table tennis, lawn bowls, snooker, indoor cricket and even ten pin bowling.

George (president), Caroline and Tom with the club house in the background.

View from clubhouse.

if you are ever thinking of visiting HK, make sure you add a game of croquet to your to do list!

GC Country All Stars

AC York Invitational

After some requests, a few changes have been made to the 2024-25 Calendar.

V3.0 is now online.

If you have any queries, plaease contact John via email: john@glenexploration.com.au

South-West Pennants Up and Running

Yesterday Bunbury Cental and Moorabinda came up against each other in the first round of the South-West Pennants. We wish all clubs and players an enjoyable season.

Follow all the results on Croquetscores:

B Grade Pennants

C Grade Pennants

Neil Johnson – Bunbury Central

Mandurah B Grade Interclub Event

“24 enthusiastic players as they competed in the Mandurah Croquet Club’s annual B grade doubles GC tournament on the 7th and 8th of September.

Players from Bunbury Central, Cambridge, Forrest Park, Gomm Park Albany, Halls Head, Katanning, Mandurah and Sorrento represented their clubs in this two day event. It was closely contested with some spectacular shots being played and exciting finishes.”

Be sure to check out all the fantastic images from this event on Mandurah’s Facebook site.

• Winners: Bernie and David (Halls Head)
• Runners Up: Cindy (Mandurah) and Janet (Forest Park)

Full results on Croquetscores.

Grace Hartland Handicap Doubles

“The Grace Hartland Como Handicap Doubles was held on Sunday 8th September 2024. The tournament attracted 12 couples playing on a beautiful spring day.

Congratulations to the winners, Shiley Hansen and Richard Cook, and the runners up, Graeme Broadbent and Karen Caple.”

Full results on Croquetscores.

From History of Geraldton Croquet Club

July 25th 1908

A tournament was held with Mrs Dunk and Mrs I Davies taking off the honours. They received mallets and operculums presented by the club.

A group of ladies at Geraldton 1911