Tag Archives: Croquet

CCA Grand Masters 80+

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CCA Grand Masters 80+ AC and GC 

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 Group
Silver Group
Bronze Group
Lunch
Some of the prizes and gifts handed out

CCA GC Advantage Doubles Tournament

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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!

Full results are at https://croquetscores.com/2025/gc/canterbury-nz-advantage-doubles.

Vilna Gough-Jones
Tournament Manager

GC Singles Advantage Div 2, Sunday 22 September 2024

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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 Vilna
Runner Up – Betty Inglewood with manager Vilna
Third place Alison Lowe
Robin taking position for a clearing shot with spectators looking on and Louis holding the light
Later…Still contesting the hoop!

CCA GC Open Doubles Tournament

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This relatively new Tournament was held at St Martins Croquet Club on Sunday 10th March 2024.

There were only 5 Teams with 4 of the Teams having players representing different clubs.

The format of play was a Round Robin with each team having a bye within the 5 rounds. A knockout was then played with the 4th and 5th positions after the Round Robin playing off for the 4th position in the semi final followed by the Final.

All results are on Croquet Scores at
https://croquetscores.com/2024/gc/canterbury-open-doubles.

With such a small field no games were timed and it was some what of a very long day. However, the weather was perfect and daylight was not an issue as we finished before 7:30.

Sincere thanks to the catering team from St Martins for the effort they made throughout the day providing continuous morning tea and then afternoon tea.

Thank you to Sylvia, Vilna, and John who were able to assist with ensuring a referee was present during the day.

Congratulations to the winning team of Josh Winter (Cashmere), and Paul Kaiser (United).  Runners-up Gay Jones (Cashmere) and Sue Cleveland (Geraldine).

A very successful day providing some very exciting play throughout.

Janet Scott
Tournament Manager

Manager Sue Scott with winners Paul Kaiser (United) and Josh Winter (Cashmere)
Runners up Sue Cleveland (Geraldine) and Gay Jones (Cashmere), Sue Scott and winners Paul Kaiser (United) and Josh Winter (Cashmere)

CCA Doubles Advantage Croquet Tournament

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The first CCA Doubles Advantage Croquet Tournament was held at Fendalton Park Croquet Club on Sunday 28 January 2024. There were 16 pairs from a number of Canterbury Clubs. The format of play was two blocks of eight as a round robin with winners in each block playing a finals for Overall winner and runner-up and the second placed in each block playing for third place. All results are on Croquet Scores.

The weather was good, all players arrived on time, but it was a very long day!! As one player said – “This was a marathon of croquet!”

Players liked the Advantage format of handicap play – every team won at least one game and many scores were 7-6 or 7-5. Most players had picked up by the second or third round how to determine the starting score, what pegs to take out, and how to keep the score during the game. And it was down to the last round to determine the top two teams in each block with some very good croquet being played.

Games were untimed (as recommended by WCF) but took longer than usual because: a) more hoops need to be run, b) doubles partners do have some discussions, c) double banking takes up time.

Games for each round averaged at 1.5 hours per game – by the time the game was played with double banking, AHS cards completed, and players had some refreshment. And there were 8 rounds played! Some refining of the tournament will happen for next season.

However, all credit to the players who entered. There was great sportsmanship throughout the day, a willingness to get out and keep things moving, and a number said they had learnt a lot during the day, and were much more confident about playing the Advantage format for handicap games. A big thank you must go to the catering team of Fendalton Park who provided a delicious morning and afternoon tea.

Thanks must also go to Mike for getting there very early and setting up five lawns. And of course to John Borner who was referee for the whole day and had a wonderful calm manner when called upon for a number of decisions during the day.

Congratulations must go to the winning team of Geoff Price and Lorraine Adam from Cashmere; the Runners up Jill and Alistair Smithies from United; and third place to Pat Pidgeon and Hanne Lelieve from Akaroa playing against Sarah Polson and Helen Webber from Hornby. All in all, a very successful day.

Detailed results are at https://croquetscores.com/2024/gc/canterbury-nz-doubles-advantage

Vilna Gough-Jones
Tournament Manager

Geoff Price, Lorraine Adam (Cashmere), Vilna Gough-Jones (manager), Jill Smithies, Alastair Smithies (United)
Sarah Polson, Helen Webber (Hornby), Pat Pidgeon, Hanne Lelieve (Akaroa)

Don Reyland Stars playoffs

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The regional playoffs were held on Sunday 10th December 2023. This year there were representatives from Cashmere, St Martins, Fendalton, Hornby, Akaroa and Holmes Park, who had each won the right to participate by dint of winning a club feeder competition. This year the entrants were all longstanding players with handicaps ranging from 2 to 6. Format was Round Robin over five rounds.

The level of play was excellent and the small group of supporters were treated to some great croquet. Mike Bunce from St Martins won the right to represent the CCA at the national finals in Dunedin, and Grace Leitch from Fendalton was runner-up.

Results are at https://croquetscores.com/2023/gc/canterbury-nz-don-reyland-stars-playoffs

October 2020 Coaching sessions

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Dennis Bulloch from Rose Gardens Croquet Club in Palmerston North came down to Christchurch and ran four days of coaching at the beginning of October.

Monday and Thursday were AC/GC coaching and Tuesday and Wednesday were Gateball coaching.

The AC/GC Sessions were well attended, and everyone learnt something new about how balls move and how to use this to their advantage. The buzzword was CALIBRATION so if you hear someone muttering it to themselves you know why.

The Gateball sessions were a lot of fun and included skills sessions, Japanese terminology and protocol and strategy followed by 5-a-side and doubles games. Players were keen to do more and we are now running a weekly session at Barrington with the goal of sending at least two teams to the Nationals in February.

Thank you to Barrington, Cashmere and Elmwood who let us use their facilities.

See the new web page on gateball and details on the Tuesday evening gateball sessions.

Gateball sessions will run for the rest of 2020 at Barrington Park Croquet Club on Tuesday evenings. See the new gateball web page for details.

Gateball coaching at Cashmere Croquet Club
Gateball coaching at Cashmere Croquet Club
Gateball coaching at Cashmere Croquet Club
Gateball coaching at Cashmere Croquet Club