THE Blowes Shield is Nelson Bay Croquet Club’s annual Golf Croquet Doubles Handicap competition, played as thirteen-point games with a one-hour time limit.

Twelve pairs contested the Shield in 2023 and were divided into four blocks of three pairs each with the winners of each block qualifying for semi-final play-offs.

In Block A, Marion Graff and Frank Orton used their handicap extra turns effectively to win both games against pairs with lower combined handicaps to qualify for the finals.

In Block B, all three teams won one game each, with the lowest handicap pair of Rae and Trevor Black progressing on hoop count-back.

In Block C, Gary Allen and David Wilson won both games as the pair with the lowest combined handicap to qualify for the finals.

In Block D, all three teams won one game each, with Barry Elliott and Marty Quirke topping the block on hoop count-back.

Both semi-finals were closely contested with Rae and Trevor beating Marion and Frank 7-5 and Gary and David beating Barry and Marty 6-4.

The score in the final belied the closeness of the play – only SIX hoops were run in the one hour of play, but Gary and David triumphed 5-1 to take out the Blowes Shield.

A great competition for the club with many relatively new members playing in a competition for the first time and faring well whilst not making the finals.

For further information about the Club, visit nelsonbaycroquet.org.au or email nelsonbaycroquet@gmail.com