STATE Championship for Liz Friend

THE Croquet NSW 2024 Division 2 Golf Croquet State Championships were held 13th-14th June at Manly (Doubles) and 15th-17th June at Chatswood (Singles). Division 2 is for players with a handicap between 5 and 8.

8 pairs entered the Doubles with Liz Friend (playing with Lance Howes from Marrickville), Sherry Gordon & Rod Peet and Brenda-Lee Peet & Rae Uptin from Nelson Bay. The qualifying round was played as a single block round-robin of 7 games. The top 4 pairs contested the championship semi-finals with Liz & Lance beating Jaki Gaskell (Jamberoo) & Janelle Wilson (Canberra) 7-3 before taking the championship 3-7 7-6 7-5 over Penny Paterson & David Adams (Mosman) in the best-of-three final. In the Plate competition, Sherry & Rod and Brenda-Lee & Rae won tight semi-finals, before Brenda-Lee and Rae took the final 7-5.

19 players entered the Singles with Liz Friend, Sherry Gordon, Les Guzowski and Rae Uptin from Nelson Bay. Liz was seeded into the Red Block and won 4 of 9 games; Sherry (3 wins from 8 games), Les (2 from 8) and Rae (3 from 8) were seeded in the White Block with Rae qualifying for the championship semi-finals on hoop count-back. The play-offs were 19-point games. Rae lost in the semi-final 8-10 to Lance Howes (Marrickville) but finished 6th losing the 5th/6th place play-off 3-10 to Janelle Wilson (Canberra). In the Plate competition, Liz (8-10), Sherry (8-10) and Les (5-10) all lost in the 1st round.

The Nelson Bay Croquet Club’s Gala Day is held annually on 17th June to celebrate the Club’s ‘birthday’ (the date the club moved to their present facility on Tomaree Sports Complex in 2011).

Despite the recent wet weather, a clear and bright winter day greeted the 42 members and guests, visitors from Maitland, Newcastle National Park, Pelican and Toronto croquet clubs.

The day started with Founding and Life Member Margaret-Rose Thompson welcoming everyone before they enjoyed morning tea. The main part of the day was a series of games that tested mallet skills. The games included perennial favourites such as “Walk the Plank”, “Nearest the Peg”, “Tyre Jump”, “Four Balls” and the wobbly mallet. The day was rounded off by a traditional BBQ, the ceremonial cutting of the birthday cake and the awarding of prizes for the various games.

Congratulations to Margaret-Rose Thompson who acted as MC and Faby Batho and her team who were in charge of the catering – a great effort.

By David WILSON