A great two days of croquet was played at Waireka Croquet Club, Ashburton on 5 and 6 April. This was attended by 6 of the 7 Associations in the South Island – Marlborough, Nelson, Canterbury, South Canterbury, Otago and Southland. Each team had 4 players – Premier, Senior, Intermediate and Primary
On Saturday the teams were paired for the doubles with each Association playing each other. Canterbury made a flying start winning all their first round games and by the end of the day were celebrating 9 wins from 10 games.
Sunday was the day all players were scheduled to play 5 singles each. The first and second rounds for Canterbury players saw mixed results, however, with good results in the third round Canterbury went out to a 4 point lead and retained this over the next two rounds to finish on 21 wins and 41 net hoops edging out Otago on 17 wins and 6 net hoops Well done to the team of Josh Winter (Cashmere), Mike Bunce (St Martins) Derek Kinley (Cashmere) and Ayelen Tayagui (St James).
The CCA Golf Croquet Open Doubles Tournament was played on Sunday 9 March at the St Martins Croquet Club. The weather was fine and sunny although the wind was a bit gusty at times.
Seven teams played in the round robin tournament. There were some close games with long battles to decide who was victorious. The winners with 6 wins were Josh Winter and Josh Freeth.
Levi Franks and Myles Duggan were the runners-up with 5 wins.
The 2025 Carol Hayward competition was played over five Tuesdays from 4 February to 5 March. One 18-point handicap AC game was played each day. Games had a 2½ hour time limit with a well-catered morning tea break.
The turnout was low this year with only seven entries and the manager filling in as necessary, which was every day this year.
On the final day Sue Stott played Bruce McLay who was the only unbeaten player. Sue won and won the competition for the fourth time.
Bruce and Patsy Clegg were on 3 wins out of 4, but Patsy had the higher net points to be runner-up with Bruce McLay third.
Thanks to all participants who made it an enjoyable event.
The Maud Trainor competition was played at United Croquet Club over four Fridays in February. It was managed as a flexible swiss with two time-limited handicap GC games played each day with draws allowed.
Congratulations to Lena Metcalf who only lost one of her eight games.
Runner up was John Yarrall, winning four and drawing one of his six games.
The next five were very tight with Annette Wilson and Stewart Read both winning five and drawing one of their eight games to take third place.
It was really good to see that everyone who played won at least one gamme.
Thank you for the good spirits with which you played, it made my job much easier.
Of the 26 who enrolled we had between 18 and 22 people playing each day with illnesses, other engagements and even a funeral precluding play.
With just a short, light drizzle on day one the whether was kind to us with light cloud and light winds ensuring that it was not too hot.
The CCA Tournament Committee decided this season to do something outside the normal AC and GC events and decided to recognise players that have contributed many years to croquet and some a lot less years – with all over 80 years of age.
On Thursday 6 February at Cashmere Croquet Club, our host venue, saw 30 players arrive in fine warm weather ready for the day ahead.
A cuppa with sandwiches and biscuits started the day as players met each other for the first time or rekindled memories catching up with each other.
At 11am everyone was sent out onto the lawns with one group of 4 playing AC and 26 playing in their age groups. Janet Scott and Cheryl Morrall got everyone onto the correct lawns and kept count of the hoops scored. Age was no barrier to how competitive the games were – in fact in the 80 – 87 group 15 players are still competing in Interclub and CCA Competitions.
Our Gold group of 88+ years certainly did not give away hoops easily clearing the ball to the boundary when required.
Play finished after 2 hours and everyone was ready for the lunch being prepared by the chefs of the day Adrienne Pavelka and Gay Jones assisted the team of Cashmere members (Alison, Nicky, Janet, Sylvia). The chicken, corned beef, potatoes and salads were quickly devoured and everyone was then ready for the plum pudding, lemon tarts, meringues and syllabub.
This followed with prize giving for each of the 3 groups and recognition to the following players for their contribution to croquet – Margaret and Rodger Lane, Ray and Beryl Atkins, Julie Zohrab and Eleonor Okey with more than 30 years and John Yarrell with 20+ years. Vonnie owned the title of person closest to 95 years and also one of the most competitive on the day.
CCA would like to thank Travel 2U for their sponsorship of the event . Gay Jones, CCA Tournament Convenor
Gold GroupSilver GroupBronze GroupLunchSome of the prizes and gifts handed out
A fine weekend saw ideal conditions for the AC Grades this year, played at United Croquet Club. The number of players is concerning from an AC perspective, however, we did have 2 players competing in their first tournament. Congratulations to Carolyn Smith (Akaroa) and Cheryl Morrall (Fendalton).
The 18 – 24 Grade had 6 players enter and competed for the CCA Trophy and CNZ Silver Badge. The winner was Stuart Rich from Edgeware with 5 wins and 3 of those with maximum hoops. The runner-up Patsy Clegg from St James won over fellow club member Barbara Johnstone by a few hoops.
10 to 16 Grade not played as the two entrants decided to play up to ensure at least one of the grades went ahead.
4 to 9 Grade: Bruce McLay (United) got the win and Silver Badge over Sue Stott (Edgeware) who was playing up a grade. Thanks also to Lynne Corbett (St James) and Gaylene Jones (Cashmere) for also playing up to complete the field of 4
0 to 3.5 Grade: John Hearnshaw (United) and Carolyn Fordyce (South Canterbury) were joined by Leo van Oosten (Holmes Park) and Trish Dollan (South Canterbury) both playing up so that the grade play could go ahead. The winner John Hearnshaw was decided in the last round, winning against Leo van Oosten.
Well done to everyone and thanks to all for an enjoyable tournament. I certainly enjoyed filling in for Jono as the manager.
18 to 24 Grade L – Patsy Clegg and winner R Stuart RichLeft to right: Gay Jones, Trish Dollan, John Hearnshaw (front) Leo van Oosten, Bruce McLay (front) Carolyn Fordyce, Sue Stott (front) and Lynne Corbett“
On Sunday 26 January, 16 teams met at Fendalton Park Croquet Club for the above tournament. Due to weather considerations, the original format of two blocks of 8 was changed to four blocks of four followed by a 16-point knockout, to hopefully complete the tournament in time.
Players were very pleased with the new format and there was a great atmosphere and anticipation of some good croquet. The four blocks were completed after mid-day, Vilna the manager then worked out the 16-point draw based on the block results and players took to the lawns again in lovely sunshine!
The first round of 16 was successfully played, with some interesting results. 8 teams were knocked out and the next round of quarter finals was played. Clouds were beginning to gather overhead. 4 more teams were knocked out and the semi-finals of Jenny and Chris Clarke against Betty and Louis Inglewood (both from United) and Jocelyn Partridge and Phyl Holland (St Martins) against Owen Evans and Dick Sainsbury (Cashmere) got under way.
The St Martins vs Cashmere semi-final was completed without hitch with Jocelyn and Phyl from St Martins taking the honours. However, part way through the semifinal of Jenny and Chris against Betty and Louis, the heavens opened and rain started. By the time they managed to finish, with Jenny and Chris taking the honours, the rain was coming down in earnest and there was thunder and lightning. At the suggestion of the manager, and in the interests of the safety of the players, both teams agreed to not play the final, but take equal first honours for the tournament. It was a lovely gesture of sportsmanship from the four players, and they are to be congratulated on their play throughout the day.
Altogether there was some great croquet, great socialising and a lot of good competition. Those who hadn’t played Advantage format before, soon picked it up.
Grateful thanks must go to Sylvia Macfarlane for being the referee for the day; to Mike Dawson from Fendalton for setting up the lawns, and to Cathy Hide from Fendalton for providing the morning and afternoon tea. Altogether, a successful tournament, with croquet winning the day in spite of the weather!
The Grades tournament for those other than primary was held on 1st December in warm conditions.
The Premiers completed seven rounds with some very close games. Logan McCorkindale (United) was the eventual winner with recent returnee from the US and Josh Freeth (North Shore) was runner up. Only two net points separated them, both having six wins.
There was a small field of four Intermediates after some late withdrawals. They began their double round robin with nineteen-hoop games. The first games lasted close on two hours so it was decided to reduce the games after Round 3. It was still a long day finishing after 5.00pm. Carolyn Smith (Akaroa) was declared the winner with Betty Inglewood (United) runner-up.
The Premier and Intermediate players were hosted at Fendalton Park, while the very respectable field of ten Seniors played at St Martins under the management of Gay Jones. Played in two blocks the round robins were nineteen-hoop games with the finals reduced to 13. The winner was Geoff Price (Cashmere), runner-up Mike Bunce (St Martins ) with Owen Evans (Cashmere) taking the third place. It was a late finish but they did get home before sunset.
Thanks to our host clubs, referees Sylvia Macfarlane, Tim Slack and Mike Dawson, and assistant managers, Grace and Janet.
A field of 18 players contested the Grades Competition this year. The games were played Saturday 9 and Sunday 10 November 2024 at St Martins Croquet Club in fine weather until the usual Canterbury easterly made its presence felt from 3pm with players and referees donning jackets and for some their wooly hats.
Although entries were down on last season’s numbers it was encouraging to see new players in their first CCA tournament, including one player from Ashburton. All players managed 5 games before the semi finalists were found. Play was of a high standard with many games going to the 13th hoop.
Semi finalists were: Vince van den Dorpe, Rangiora: Alison Lowe, Cashmere; Leon Busch, Holmes Park; and Tony Bilish, Holmes Park. Both these games went to the wire with Alison managing to get hoop 13 over Vince – interesting to watch this game as no player got two hoops in a row. The other semi saw Leon take the game on the 12th hoop from Tony.
The final between Alison and Leon was another game that went to the 13th hoop after some great clearing shots and hoop running.
Well done to Leon the eventual winner, Alison – runner up. Vince taking third place from Tony.
Well done to all players and thanks to the referees, John Borner and Maria Narbey and assistant Manager Janet Scott
This year the decision was to have two Divisions with Div 1 players having -6 to 6 handicap and Div 2 with players on handicap of 7 to 14
There were 24 entries for the Div 2 section which worked out well for four groups of six players. The format decided was a block of six having 5 rounds for each player. The winners of the four blocks would then have a semis and then finals to determine the final positions. However, this meant having a second venue to accommodate the games required for each round. Thanks to Cashmere Club as the second venue and to Cheryl Morrall for stepping up as second manager at Cashmere.
Fortunately, there were no late withdrawals and all players started their games at 8.30am. The weather was good and play proceeded accordingly. Double banking meant some games took longer than others, but the referee kept an eye on progress and let one team through if the other team were contesting the hoop for a longer time. My thanks to Louis Inglewood and John Borner for refereeing during the day.
There was a lot of learning using the Advantage format for some players, but players took it all in their stride and there were some very close games with players going to the 14th hoop and even the 15th hoop for the last point. There was a great atmosphere of camaraderie and good sportsmanship throughout the day, and I thank all the participants for that.
My thanks must also go to John Borner for developing a program on Excel to determine the winning percentage of target hoops against hoops made so that players with the same number of wins could be ranked. Looking at net hoops in Advantage play is not correct, because of the starting score being different in each case.
Most of the five rounds were completed by mid afternoon.
The winners of the four blocks were Robin Lloyd, Ken Lowe, Alison Lowe and Betty Inglewood. Robin Lloyd did not lose a game during the day, and won the final against Betty Inglewood, with them contesting the 15th hoop in the dark for Robin to win 7-6! It was a real battle with each hoop being hotly contested. The last hoop had Louis holding up a cell phone torch so they could see the hoop. All credit to these players to finish the game, which started in daylight, but took longer than anticipated, only finishing at 7pm.Third place went to Alison Lowe.
Congratulations to these finalists, but thanks to all who participated in the tournament, as without players, this could not take place.
My thanks go to the folk at Fendalton and Cashmere for their catering and setting up lawns.
The 16 entries for the Div 1 section meant a total field of 40 players which is an excellent outcome for the first CCA tournament of the season.
Vilna Gough-Jones Tournament Manager for Div 2
Winner Robin Lloyd – CCA Advantage Singles Div 2 Champion for 2024, with manager VilnaRunner Up – Betty Inglewood with manager VilnaThird place Alison LoweRobin taking position for a clearing shot with spectators looking on and Louis holding the lightLater…Still contesting the hoop!
Croquet Canterbury 