welcome to
NELSON BAY CROQUET CLUB
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Nelson Bay Croquet Club has been established for 30 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.
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Members play two the three internationally recognised forms of Croquet – Golf and Ricochet - at present, there are no regular Association games. 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:
FORTHCOMING EVENTS
CLUB COMPETITIONS 2026
Monday 11th May
Sunday 14th June
Wednesday 17th June
July/October
Sunday 5th July
Sunday 2nd August
Sunday 13th September
Sunday 25th October
Winter Doubles
Thompson Trophy - C Grade
Gala Day
Ricochet Knock-Out
Thompson Trophy - B Grade
Thompson Trophy - A Grade
Blowes Shield Doubles
President’s Cup
HUNTER ZONE HUB ACTIVITIES 2026
Tuesday 7th May
Tuesday 14th May
Saturday 13th June
Division 2 GC Workshop
Promoting RC
GC High-Low Gala Day
Hunter Zone Hub activities are for all players – if you are interested contact Marion Davies to register your interest.
Email: marion.dawn6@gmail.com
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All activities are scheduled at Lake Macquarie Croquet Centre, Glendale (Toronto Croquet Club).
COACHING DATES 2026
Regular Coaching Sessions
Monday afternoons – all, content as required
State Pennants – as requested by teams
Wednesday 8th April – beginner coaching
Coaching – Kate McLoughlin & Peter Freer
Sunday 19th April (afternoon) – Division 3
Monday 20th April (morning) - Division 1 & 2
Monday 20th April (afternoon) - Coaches
Coaching – Pam Barnwell & Derek Bull
Monday 3rd August (morning) – Division 2 Tactics
PACE (Player and Coach Education)
PACE is the CNSW Pathway Program to educate and support Players and Coaches.
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A PACE Workshop is being held at Lake Macquarie Croquet Centre, Glendale (Toronto Croquet Club) on Thursday 23rd April 2026.
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if you are interested contact Marion Davies to register your interest.
Email: marion.dawn6@gmail.com
Gala Day & 30th Birthday
Wednesday 17th June 2026
All proceeds with be donated to the Stroke Foundation
Social croquet, games of shill, 3-hoop challenge and 'nearest the pin competition
LATEST NEWS
THOMPSON TROPHY NOVICE
Sunday 12th April 2026
9 members entered and the competition was played in three blocks of 3 players in a round-robin of 2 games each followed by a knock-out semi-final and final.​
The three block winners were Iris Maartensz, Rae Black and Prue Patterson, each winning 2 games. The next best player was Pat Edmonds with 1 win and a hoop difference of 0, just ahead of Rosemary Taylor with 1 win and a hoop difference of -1.
In the semi-finals, Rae Black beat Pat Edmonds 4-3 in a very tightly contested game, while Prue Patterson ran out a 5-3 winner over Iris Maartensz In the final, Rae dominated to take the Thompson Trophy Novice 6-2 in a deserved win.​​
A great competition, well-organised by Club Captain Trevor Black.
Play from the competition
Club President with finalists Prue Patterson and Rae Black
Resting between games
NSW DIVISION 2 GC CHAMPIONSHIPS
Wednesday 8th to Sunday 12th April 2026
Five members of Nelson Bay Croquet Club travelled to Nowra for the NSW Division 2 (handicaps 5 to 8) Golf Croquet Championships. The doubles event was played 8th and 9th April with the singles played 10th to 12th April.
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17 pairs entered the doubles which were played in two blocks of 8 and 9 players respectively with the top 4 in each block progressing to the knock-out finals. Rob Batho playing with Paul Coomer (Newcastle National Park) topped Block A with 7 wins from 8 games. Liz Friend & Marty Quirke topped Block B with 6 wins from 7 games. Faby Batho & Sherry Gordon had 4 wins in Block B to finish 5th, failing to make the finals by 1 win. Rob & Paul reached the semi-final losing to Jeff Guider & Anthony Hammond (Newcastle National Park) 5-6 while Liz & Marty reached the final to lose to Jeff & Anthony 4-7.
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24 players entered the singles which were played in 4 blocks of 6 players with the top 4 in each block progressing to the knock-out finals. Sherry Gordon finished 3rd in Block A with 2 wins from 5 games with a hoop difference of +4. Marty Quirke topped Block B winning all 5 games. Rob Batho topped Block C with 4 wins with Liz Friend 4th with 3 wins. Rob, Liz, Sherry and Marty all qualified for the knock-out finals but only Marty progressed beyond the round-of-16, eventually losing in a semi-final 7-10 to Keith Brodie (Coutts Crossing) and then the 3rd/4th play-off to Anthony Hammond (Newcastle National Park) 6-8 to finish 4th. Again, heartbreak for Marty who lost in the final of the 2025 Division 2 GC Singles played in Ballina.
Rob Batho won the consolation knock-out for the players losing in the round-of-16 by beating Jeremy Tenison-Smith (Killara) 7-5 in the final; Liz Friend finished 3rd beating Glenn Sellers (Toronto) 7-6 in the 3rd/4th play-off. Edward Hoogenboom (Orange City) won the Championship.
Nelson Bay players (l to right) Sherry Gordon, Faby Batho, Rob Batho, Marty Quirke & Liz Friend
Runners-up Liz Friend & Marty Quirke
DEFIBRILLATOR TRAINING
Tuesday 31st March 2026
Paul Stewart ASM provided an informative training session on the Automated External Defibrillator (AED) as installed at the Club.
AEDs have been shown to save lives but it is important that a significant number of members have the confidence to use the defibrillator. This training will provide that confidence.
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Thanks to Gail Brabant for organising this session.
NBCC HANDICAP SINGLES
Sunday 30th March 2026
16 members entered and were seeded into 4 blocks of 4 players; following the round-robin block play, the winners of each block played a semi-final followed by a final. The competition was played as 13-point games with a 50-minute time limit.
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In Block A, 3 players finished with 2 wins each: Kath Orton, Trevor Black and Nada Yonge. Kath and Trevor both had a hoop difference of +4 but Kath had beaten Trevor in their game to be declared 1st. In Blocks B and C, both Greg Long and Jan Puckeridge had 3 wins each to finish outright 1st.in their respective blocks. In Block D, Gary Allen and Bryce Patterson had 2 wins each with Gary being declared 1st on hoop difference (+8 to +7).
In the semi-finals, Kath beat Gary 7-5 and Jan beat Greg 5-1. In the final Kath ran out the worthy winner by beating Jan 7-1.
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Some great croquet was played during the day and the results demonstrated how handicap play evens out the field.
Club Captain Trevor Black with finalists Kath Orton and Jan Puckeridge
Play from the Handicap Singles
NSW MEN'S GC OPEN SINGLES CHAMPIONSHIP
Friday 27th March 2026
The NSW Men’s Open GCSingles Championship was held at Lake Macquarie Croquet Centre, Glendale, on 27th-29th March 2026. With 36 entries, an extra venue was required to enable the competition to be completed in 3 days. Nelson Bay Croquet Club hosted the first day of play, 5 or 6 games, for one block on Friday 27th March.
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Local players in the block were Rob Batho (Nelson Bay), Paul Coomer (Newcastle National Park), Alexander Michalak (Newcastle National Park), Mark Shanks (Maitland) and Marty Wooster (Toronto). Andrew Bissex (Forster), Simon Cook (Coutts Crossing) and Peter Freer (Canberra) completed the draw.
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The day dawned fine but overcast and, although the forecast rain did not eventuate, the strong wind made for tricky playing conditions. At the end of the day, Peter Freer led the block with 5 wins ahead of Mark Shanks on 4 wins, although each had only lost one game. The club members who turned out to spectate were treated to top class croquet despite the conditions.
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​Rob Batho made the final of the Plate Competition, only to lose 1-7 to Bob Berry (Chatswood).
Great work on the catering
from Prue, Gail, Kath & Faby
Mark Shanks playing Peter Freer
Rob Batho reaches final of
Plate Competition
Play on Friday 27th March