welcome to
NELSON BAY CROQUET CLUB
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Nelson Bay Croquet Club has been established for 26 years. It is located in the Blue Water Paradise of Port Stephens, just north of Newcastle, NSW. Membership is open to all who are interested in the game, and visitors are warmly welcomed.
Members play all the three internationally recognised forms of Croquet – Golf, Ricochet and Association. The Club plays both social and competitive games five days each week on four professionally maintained full sized courts and has a small clubhouse on-site. We also have an active program of social events.
Playing schedule available here:
NEWSLETTER
We need YOUR help!! If you have items that need to be communicated to other members of the Club, please e-mail them to David Wilson at David_Wilson@internode.on.net
Also, if you have photographs of members and/or Club events, please e-mail them to Karen Lilly at chaz.kaz@bigpond.com
FORTHCOMING EVENTS
2022 CLUB COMPETITIONS
The Club competitions have been scheduled as follows:
Thompson Trophy
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A Grade - Sunday 26th June
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B Grade - Sunday 24th July
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C Grade - Sunday 14th August
Ricochet Competition June/July
Blowes Shield - Sunday 16th October
LATEST NEWS
GALA DAY
Tuesday 17th June 2022
The annual Gala Day was held on 17th June to mark the date the Club moved to Tomaree Sports Complex.
A brilliant clear and bright winter day greeted the 41 members who attended together with 15 guests representing local croquet clubs Maitland, Mount Sugarloaf, Newcastle National Park and Toronto.
The day started with President David Wilson 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 Life Member Margaret-Rose Thompson who acted as MC and Kerry Sprigg who was in charge of the catering - a great effort.
Cutting the birthday cake
Margaret-Rose Thompson oversees the play-offs
A great day!!
DIVISION 2 STATE PENNANTS FINALS
Monday 6th - Tuesday 7th June 2022
Nelson Bay Croquet Club hosted the Croquet NSW Division 2 2022 Golf Croquet State Pennants Final on Monday 6th and Tuesday 7th June 2022. The final was originally to be played at EDSACC in Bateau Bay, but the wet weather meant their courts were closed and the final was transferred to Nelson Bay at late notice.
The regional qualifying rounds resulted in the final being contested between Chatswood (Metro-North), Coogee (Metro-South), Jamberoo (Southern/ACT) and Toronto (Hunter), playing a round-robin of three matches. Toronto beat Jamberoo 3-0 and Chatswood 3-0 but then lost to Coogee 1-2, while Coogee beat Chatswood 3-0 and Toronto 2-1 but lost to Jamberoo 1-2. Toronto and Coogee were then tied in first place with 2 wins and 1 loss each, with Toronto being declared the winner on the basis of winning 7 games against Coogee’s 6. The stand-out player was Sue Sellers (Toronto) who was the only player to win all their matches, beating Carol Tieck (Jamberoo) 7-3 7-5, Bob Berry (Chatswood) 5-7 7-4 7-6 and Val Lloyd (Coogee) 7-5 7-2.
The players braved cold and windy conditions, but clear blue skies and no rain meant the keenly contested matches were completed on time.
Toronto Team Captain
Peter Saunders accepts the trophy
The winning Toronto team
Play and spectators during the finals
DIVISION 3 STATE SINGLES CHAMPIONSHIP
Friday 27th - Sunday 29th May 2022
The Division 3 2022 Golf Croquet State Championship was held at Canberra Croquet Club from Friday 27th to Sunday 29th May. There were 19 players entered and the competition was played in 2 blocks of qualifying round-robin play with the top 4 from each block plating in the knock-out finals.
Sherry Gordon from Nelson Bay topped the Blue Block winning 7 of 9 games, finishing ahead of Paul Gerbich (Queanbeyan), also with 7 wins, with +23 net hoops against +7. Sherry then beat Penny Scott (Ballina Cherry Street) 7-4 and Robyn Wilde (Nowra) 7-5 to qualify for the final.
After 3 very long days, a very tired Sherry lost to Ian McRae (Canberra) 4-7 5-7. Sherry had beaten Ian in the Division 3 State Pennants Finals the week before, but Ian played very well on his home court and little went Sherry’s way in the final.
Well done, Sherry.
Sherry receives the runner-up award
Sherry in action in Canberra
DIVISION 3 2022 STATE PENNANTS FINALS
Sunday 22nd - Monday 23rd May 2022
The finals were transferred from Jamberoo to Manly because the wet weather meant the Jamberoo courts were closed. Even so, the finals were played in constant rain making the conditions challenging.
Nelson Bay qualified from the Hunter Region and played Canberra Green, Manly Sapphire and Marrickville in a full round-robin series. For the final, the team comprised Rob Batho and Sherry Gordon playing singles and Faby Batho & Jane Scorer playing doubles.
The team got off to a great start beating the 2021 champions Canberra 3-0, only to lose narrowly 1-2 to Manly Sapphire playing on their home courts. Finally, they beat Marrickville 2-1 to finish runners-up to Manly Sapphires who were unbeaten.
Another great result for the Club.
Challenging conditions
The team (l to r): Jane Scorer, Faby Batho, Sherry Gordon & Rob Batho
WINTER DOUBLES
Sunday 15th May 2022
12 members entered for the Winter Doubles and were randomly drawn with partners to make 6 competing teams. The competition was played as a single round-robin of handicap play, giving each team 5 games.
Ros Slaughter & David Wilson finished on top, winning 4 of their 5 games, losing only to Rosemary Taylor & Barry Elliott who eventually finished 5th. Faby Batho & Marion Graff, Pat Edmonds & Frank Orton and Anne Jensen & Rae Uptin all finished equal on 3 wins with Faby & Marion finishing 2nd on net hoops. Kath Orton & Penny Wilson finished 6th.
A wonderful competition completed just as the rain started, well organised b y Club Captain Rae Uptin. Thank you to Margaret Thompson and Peter Gordon for refereeing.
Club Captain presents the winners' prize to Ros and David