Croquet Tournament Results

SUMMARY 2009

DETAILED RESULTS 2009

Silver Doubles, 9th - 13th February 2009

The Silver Doubles was the first CNSW event for 2009.

There were only 4 entries in this competition so it was played as a double round robin.

The matches were all played in the true spirit of the game. The sportsmanship displayed by all competitors was outstanding. Congratulations to all players!

Brian Smith and Greg Deakin were the winners having won every match. Well done!

The Runners up were Patricia Goldrick and Wall Fernance.

Agreat effort from all players.

Rita Johnson
Manager

Gold Doubles, 16th - 20th February 2009

There were only 4 entries in this competition so a double round robin was played.

The weather was very kind to the players with some rain but not enough to disrupt play.

There were some very good breaks made by some of the players and most of the matches were pegged out.

Thanks must go to the players for being so prompt each morning and for having the lawns set out well before starting time.

Thanks also to the Referee - Mary Fernance who was assisted by Dennis Faggotter. Thanks Denis!

Congratulations to the winners: Stephen Howes and Neil Hardie and
Runners up: Stewart Joohnston and Vic Aberley

Well done everyone!!!

Rita Johnson
Manager

Senior Citizens Week, 30th March - 3rd April 2009

There were 8 clubs represented in this event - they are as follows: William Gilchrist [Sydney], Peter Freer [Canberra], Patricia Nosworthy [Chatswood], Martyn Prins [Mosman], Michael Mills [Manly], Jack Daniel [Sutherland], Neil Hartley [Cammeray], Brian Smith [Eastwood].

There were no country clubs entered - this was disappointing - maybe next year.

The players were very prompt and had the lawns set up well before start of play.

Most of the games were pegged out with some very good breaks by most of the players in spite of some very heavy rain.

It was all down to the last match to decide the winner Brian Smith and the runner up William Gilchrist.

Congratulations to all players for such a great tournament.

Thank you to our referees Margot Johnson and Mary Fernance who acted as Tournament Referees and also to Wall Fernance, Pat Roach, Kath Coull, Betty Daniel and Max Hooper who assisted them.

Rita Johnson
Manager

NSW Golf Croquet Championship - Womens Open Singles, 4th - 6th April 2009

There were twelve entries and we basically managed ourselves as I thought Rita needed some time off and no-one else seems to be putting up their hand. It was great to see some new faces, Lyn Dimech from Taree (complete with husband and cute dog) and Margaret McMaster from Newcastle. During the round robin competition it seemed to be the top four of Alix, Rosie, Chris and Pam who were certain to move on and then the rest of us did battle for the next four places.

Most of the games were very close tussles with twenty going to 7/6 and another twelve to 7/5. I thought the unlucky one was Margaret McMaster. She only had two wins but lost four games 7/6 and another 7/5.

The round robin finished on Sunday and it was decided to try to run the Quarter Finals, Semi Finals and Final on the Monday instead of the final two returning on the Tuesday. That worked well as it was all over by about 4.30 and there were quite a few spectators for the final.

Sincere thanks to the referees - Mary and Wal Fernance, Jude Wilmore, Judy Bowman, Kath Coull and Betty Daniel

Congratulations to Alix and Pam

Jacky McDonald

Fransted Trophy, 10th - 13th April 2009

This competition began with 10 players but unfortunately Brian Smith succumbed to the dreaded 'flu' and had to withdraw in spite of winning his first 2 matches. However the other 9 players soldiered on to the bitter end despite extremely heavy rain during the last match.

Going in to the second round there were 3 players on 5 games each and 1 player with 4 games so it was going to be a very exciting finish to a very successful competition even though all players were drenched even wearing wet weather gear.

There were some very nice breaks made by all players and some very close finishes especially the match between Joanne Carmichael and Lesley Fransen with Joanne defeating Lesley 23-21 to become the overall winner and Ros Johnstone the runnerup.

Congratulations Joanne and Ros!!!

Rita Johnson
Manager

NSW Golf Croquet Championship - Mens Open Singles, 18th - 20th April 2009

A strong field of 12 players contested this event played from April 18 to 20.

The block round had many close games and a number of upsets. The middle of the field was very bunched up with 10 players in contention for the quarterfinals until the last round. John Levick played very well in the block losing only 1 game out of 11.

Several of the final positions were determined by only one net hoop, including the last place in the quarterfinals with Nick Macoun in his first golf croquet competition scraping through by 1 point.

The quarterfinals saw one major upset with Nick Macoun (8th in block) beating John Levick (1st) in 3 hard fought games

Tony Hall (6th) beat Martyn Prins (3rd) for another upset from block positions. The other quarterfinals were won by Peter Landrebe in two close games over Ron Johnstone and Peter Smith over Barry Wells.

One semi final was won by Peter Landrebe over Tony Hall in two very quick games, whilst the other was won by Peter Smith over Nick Macoun in 3 tough games taking 3 ½ hours.

The final went to Peter Landrebe.

Many thanks to our Tournament Referee - Bev Smith - who was ably assisted by Robyn Compton, Robyn Wallace, Ingrid Cohen, Jude Willmore, Wendy Bolton and Pam Gentle.. Jackie McDonald.

Rita Johnson and John Eddes

Bronze Singles, 18th - 20th April 2009

There were 9 players in this competition but unfortunately Geoff Davison was forced to withdraw due to illness.

It was pleasing to see Bob Green - Epping Club and Trevor Black - Maitland Club playing their first CNSW event.

All players played very well with some making breaks of 7 and 8 throughout the competition.

All games except 6 were pegged out showing positive play.

It was wonderful to have Referees in charge for every match.

A big thank you to these Referees your assistance was invaluable.

The placings in this event were:

1st - Trevor Black
2nd - Bob Green
3rd - Greg Deakin

Congratulations to Trevor, Bob and Greg and also to all players who participated in this event. Well done!

Rita Johnson
Manager

Win Dickinson Memorial Trophy, 22nd - 24th April 2009

This competition was played with only 4 entries. This was a disappointing number as the event was specifically created as a womens only event for women with handicaps broadly in the platinum, gold and lower silver range.

It was played as a double round robin. The winner was Pam Gentle with 5 wins from 6 games. The runner up with 4 wins was Lesley Fransen which was a good effort as Lesley is a silver player.

Rita Johnson
Tournament Manager

Gold Singles, 4th - 7th May 2009

This competition was played as a double round robin. The players really enjoyed the extra competition.

This competition was played in the true spirit of the game - good sportsmanship, friendship and cooperation.

Stephen Howes was the winner having won 8 matches, and William Gilchrist was the runnerup having won 7 matches.

Congratulations to these players and also to all other competitors.

Rita Johnson
Manager

NSW Golf Croquet Championship - Open Singles, 9th - 12th May 2009

Platinum Singles, 15th - 17th May 2009

There were 10 players in the platinum singles played over 3 days - 15th to 17th May. It was a strong field with a couple of players at the low end of the handicap range favoured to win and the rest of the players very even.

It turned out this way with Martyn Prins playing Jim Nicholls in the last round to decide the winner. Both players had won 7 games with one loss to that stage. The play was not particularly good and momentum went both ways with neither player capitalizing on their opponents mistakes. Eventually Martyn won 22-18; Jim was runner up on a countback from Pam Gentle who finished a strong third. Most of the other players won 3 games or more.

Overall the standard of play was below what was expected of platinum players with less than 50% of games being pegged out. There were some good breaks with some attempted triple peels but most players had trouble maintaining consistent break play. Many of the games were very close finishes and this created tense if not high scoring results. There were 8 games decided by 1 point and another 7 by less than 4 points.

John Eddes

NSW Golf Croquet Championship - Open Doubles, 23rd - 25th May 2009

3 and Under Singles, 30th May - 1st June 2009

There were 10 entries for this event held on the weekend of May 30 to June 1. With very little separating 9 of the entrants in world rankings it was expected to be a close, tough competition with upsets.

As it turned out 17 of the 45 games went against world ranking positions and the competition was not decided until the last round.

In the last round, John Levick , No 1 seed, needed to win against Nick Macoun the No 2 seed to win the competition - a loss would have meant being runner up. John won this game emphatically, 26-3 with a triple peel in less than an hour.

So congratulation to John who was the overall winner: Alan Honey was runner up on a countback as both players had 7 wins from 9 games and Rosemary Graham finished third with 6 wins. All players won 2 games or more indicating the closeness of the competition and most players had upset wins and losses.

As would be expected at this level most games were pegged out (39) and the standard of play was quite high although only two triple peels were completed, both on the last day. Alison Sharpe completed the first one and John Levick the second; a number of others were attempted but unfortunately came to grief. The most disappointing was by Mike Hughes in attempting his first triple in competitions, missed the peg out with the croqueted ball.

John Eddes
Co-manager

NSW State Handicap - Beryl Chambers Memorial Trophy, Finals 5th - 8th June 2009

Congratulations to the following players who reached the finals in this event:

Mary Dunn [Nowra], Trevor Black [Maitland], Pam Gentle [Wollongong], Alison Colla [Orange City], Greg Deakin [Eastwood], Neil Hardie [Cammeray], Bruce Buchanan [Mosman], Bob Green [Epping], John Read [Orange City], Warren Porter [Mosman], Peter Freer [Canberra].

Most players displayed knowledge of how to use bisques correctly and were able to make breaks accordingly and sometimes even without using bisques.

The following players reduced their handicap during this event: Bob Green, Peter Freer, Trevor Black and Greg Deakin.

The winner was Bob Green - Epping, 2nd place: Trevor Black - Maitland and 3rd place: Peter Freer - Canberra. Congratulations to these players and to all players who acquitted themselves very well.

Rita Johnson
Manager

Champion of Club Champions, 12th - 14th June 2009

NSW Championships - Womens Open Singles, 4th - 5th July 2009

The NSW Womens Open Singles was played on July 4 & 5 with a pegged down game completed on July 8.

It was very disappointing that there were only 4 entrants and this distracted from the interest in the competition despite the quality of the players involved.

It was played as a double round robin providiing each player with 6 games.

Playing consistently well and winning all games, Rosemary Graham was the overall winner, with Alix Verge the runner up.

The play was of a high quality with all but one game being pegged out and a couple of triple peels attempted but not completed, with Rosemary going oh so close with one.

With the low number of entries in this event and the same number in the Win Dickinson event (the next tier event for women only) it is unfortunate that the top 12 to 18 women players in this state are not getting involved in competitions.

John Eddes
Acting Tournament Manager

NSW Championships - Mens Open Singles, 11th - 14th July 2009

The NSW Men’s Open Singles Championship was held from 11th - 14th July with sixteen entries, seven from metropolitan clubs, eight from country clubs and one individual member. This year a different format was introduced. Players were divided into two blocks as a round robin then the top four from each block went into one block and the other four into another. Players kept their scores and played four more games against those players from the other block. This meant that everyone had plenty of games over the four days with the top two playing a final. This was originally planned for a ‘best of three’ but time constraints meant that it was changed to a single game. In the final Nick Macoun beat Peter Landrebe 26 - 16. Congratulations Nick!

All the competitors seemed to be quite happy with the format and there was some excellent croquet played. Twelve triple peels and one OTP were completed and congratulations to Stephen Howes, Jim Nicholls for their first triple in competition and to Gareth Bushill for his OTP. Two games had to be pegged down on Sunday - the first time I’ve had to do it so that was interesting.

As a result of this competition there were changes to handicaps as follows (I hope they are correct as I managed to leave this at Tempe): Matryn Prins 0, Stephen Howes, Neil Hardie and John Read 4.5

I am constantly amazed at the tactics some players use to win. Maybe it is because of my Physical Education background where children were taught that they should play to win but HOW they played the game was more important.

Thank you to all the players for their cooperation and to John Eddes for his assistance

Jacky McDonald

Gold, Silver and Bronze Pennants, July 2009

The Association Croquet pennants started in mid June and finished on July 27 with the final of the Silver division.

Gold division

This was contested by only 3 clubs, all from Sydney. This was a disappointing number as the gold division has previously been very competitive. The competition was run as a double round robin and Cammeray Club won again winning 3 of their 4 matches. Chatswood were runners up (2 wins) and Mosman were third.

Silver division

There were 6 clubs entered in this division, 5 from Sydney region and Maitland. Killara won the Sydney zone with 4 matches out of 4, losing only 2 games out of 12. Runners up in the Sydney zone were Sutherland with 3 match wins.

The final between Killara and Maitland was a cliff hanger from the very start with the deciding game in every match decided by 2 points or less. In the first match Killara won 2 - 1 with Beverley Kasmarik beating Peter Smith 21 - 19 to take the match for Killara. In match two Maitland won 2 - 1 with Trevor Black beating Brian Smith 24 - 22 after Brian led 22-11 with not much time left. A break of 11 just before time tied the scores, Brian missed the lift shot (after hitting just about every roquet in the game) and Trevor scored two points to win. The crucial game in the third match and therefore the overall winner of the pennants was decided by only one point; Janet Bell and David Stanton won the doubles 17 - 16 after leading 17-12 with only minutes left and almost being run down by Alan Pearson and Bob Eyre.

An evenly contested final went to Killara 2 matches to one, 2 - 1, 1 - 2, 2 - 1.

Bronze division

There were 9 clubs in the bronze division, all from Sydney so there were 2 zones. Zone 1 was won by Cammeray with 3 matches out of 4. Runner up was Epping with 2 wins on a count back from Warrawee and Killara who both also had two wins. Zone 2 was won by Hurstville with 5 wins out of 6 matches and Mosman was runner up with 4 wins. Unfortunately the final was rather one sided with Cammeray winning 3 - 0, 3 - 0. Cammeray had a very strong team with 2 of their players finishing the competition in silver division.

Thanks go to all clubs that participated and I am sure everyone had a good time despite a bit of a problem with the weather. Also thanks to the people at clubs that hosted games, provided referees and did the administration to get the results in under some difficulties toward the end.

Whilst this competition was on progress Rita Johnson, the competition manager, had a heart attack and is recovering in hospital. We wish Rita all the best.

John Eddes
Acting Manager

Golf Croquet Pennants, July 2009

Once again the Golf Croquet State Pennants has proven to be a popular event. This year there were three divisions, division 1 with handicaps 0-4, division 2 handicaps 5-8 and division 3 handicaps 9-12. Division 1 had 4 entries only, due to the restricted handicap range, which precluded many clubs from entering a team. Divisions 2 and 3 both had healthy entries of 13 teams. Especially pleasing was that clubs entered multiple teams over the divisions. Entries were received from 15 clubs 8 Metropolitan and 7 country clubs.

In the following results M = Matches, G = Games, H = Hoops.

Division 1 proved to be a very strong event with all teams ultra competitive with many of the states leading mallet wielders competing. With only 4 entries the competition was staged as a single round robin event with all matches but one played at Maitland. Maitland A (Peter Smith, Barry Wells, John Compton, Geof McDonald) won all three matches finishing competition winners. The runners-up Blue Mountains (Peter Landrebe, Rosemary Graham, Martyn Prins, Bill Haines) won two matches out of three while the Southern All-stars (Pam Gentle, Alix Verge, Ron Johnstone, John Eddes) won 1 match with Maitland B (Graham Dark, Steve Dilley, Steve Thornton, Jacky McDonald, Elsina Dilley, Alan Pearson) keeping all opponents honest.

Division 2 saw keen contests in all regions with some favoured teams missing out on qualification. The four semi-finalists were Maitland A, Sutherland Blue, Eastwood and Cheltenham A. The semi-final draw saw Maitland against Cheltenham and Sutherland to play Eastwood. These contests resulted in 2 matches to 1 wins to Maitland and Eastwood. The final proved to be thrilling with fortunes fluctuating throughout but the Maitland team of Bob Eyre, John Martins, Jacky McDonald and Robyn Wallace eventually overcame a very talented Eastwood team. Maitland has now won Division 2 three times in a row – it has only been run for 3 years.

Of the thirteen entries in Division 3 thirteen different clubs were represented. This division contained the most diverse mix of clubs. The 4 semi-finalists were Killara, Sydney, Jamberoo and Branxton. The draw for semi-final opponents resulted in Jamberoo playing Killara and Branxton playing Sydney. Sydney and Jamberoo prevailed in the semi-finals making the final a city V country affair. Sydney proved too experienced and too consistent for Jamberoo all of whom were plying in this type of competition for the first time.

I would like to thank all the referees who gave willingly of their time to officiate at 1 or both of the finals. Thank you to Bill Haines, Bev Smith, Peter Smith, Wendy Fothergill, Ingrid Cohen, Margaret Sawers, Robyn Compton, Ron Johnstone, Alix Verge, Jacky McDonald and Madeline Goodman. I would also like to thank all players who participated in the pennants competitions; it is you the players who have made the competition a success. Hopefully we will have more entries next year to make it an even bigger success. It was particularly disappointing to see so few country entries especially from the heartland of Golf Croquet the Hunter.

John Compton

Bronze Brooch, 3rd - 5th August 2009

NSW Championships - Open Doubles, 8th - 10th August 2009

The Open Doubles Championship was played on August 8 to August 10. It was a very strong field of 9 entries, of which 7 pairs had players with state team experience. Four teams appeared very evenly matched with a fifth team close.

For the first day and a half all games went according to expectations with the favoured teams winning. Then Alix Verge & Dennis Faggotter beat Peter Landrebe and Rosemary Graham, followed closely by Ken Edwards and Alison Sharpe beating Tim Murphy and Alan Honey.

At the start of day three 2 teams were undefeated and they played in the first round that day with Mike Jenner completing the first triple of the event with him and Alan Walsh beating John Levick and Nick Macoun. Mike did another triple in the next game against Peter and Rosemary so went into the last game undefeated against Tim Murphy and Alan Honey who had just the one loss. Mike and Alan needed just three points to clinch the competition but Tim and Alan played very well to win 26 - 0 and win the competition overall on a count back by 4 net points with 7 wins from 8 games. Runners up were Mike Jenner and Alan Walsh also with 7 wins, with Nick Macoun and John Levick third with 6 wins.

The fast lawns required high levels of playing ability and concentration and made triple peels difficult, with only two triples completed, both by Mike Jenner. Given the speed of the lawns and the normal consultative processes in doubles, scoring was good with nearly all games pegged out or reaching scores above 20.

NSW Championships - Open Singles, 11th - 16th August 2009

This event was played from August 11 to August 16 and a large field of 18 players entered, including most of the best players in NSW and some new at this level . The initial rounds were 2 blocks of 9 played at Tempe and Sutherland and most of the top seeds finished in the top four of each block to proceed to the best of 3 game knockout stage. Ted Griffin was seeded eighth in his block but played well to finish fourth. On day 1 Mark Callan played very well beating two seeds in his first two games and then doing a triple peel of the opponents ball against John Levick, but eventually lost this game.

In Block A triple peels were done by Peter Landrebe (2TP and a TPO), Nick Macoun and Alan Walsh. In block B triples were done by John Levick, Mike Jenner and Rosemary Graham, the latter against John Levick was celebrated with much excitement, and Mark Callan with the OTP,

In the quarter finals, 3 were decided in two games: Peter Landrebe beat Ted Griffin with one TP, John Levick beat Ken Edwards and Mike Jenner beat Mike Hughes. The fourth quarter between Rosemary Graham and Alan Walsh was very close with Rosemary winning 2 games to 1, with only 2 points difference in the first game being the critical difference.

Peter Landrebe easily won his semi in 2 games against John Levick, and Rosemary Graham again provided the excitement, beating Mike Jenner 2 games to 1 in a very hard fought match.

The final between Peter and Rosemary was much anticipated as a ‘local derby’ and with both players playing well throughout the event a good final was expected. In the first game Rosemary played very well, doing the three peels of the triple peel before just missing an 8 yard peg out of the partner ball by less than a half inch. Behind 0 - 25 Peter bided his time until opportunities arose and went on to win 26-25. In the second game Peter played consistently until missing a peg out on his partner ball and leading 25-0. Although Rosemary hit in she only scored 1 point before Peter finished to win 26-1.

The Y event for the beaten quarter finalists was won by Ted Griffin, keeping up his good form from the block round. Ted beat Mike Hughes in the final after he beat Ken Edwards in the semi, and Mike beat Alan Walsh in the other semi.

The players from each block who did not make the knockout stage played in a plate at Cammeray. Alison Sharpe did well being undefeated in her block and winning the semi against Stephen Richards. The other semi was won by Nick Macoun against Martyn Prins. Nick won the plate final against Alison 13-2.

The lawns were fast and in some cases tricky to play. This probably accounts for the failure of many games to peg out and for the small number of triple peels, although several more were commenced but not completed. There was much good and interesting play but some other games were below the standard expected of players at this level.

John Eddes
Manager