OVER the last several weeks the members of Milton Ulladulla Croquet Club have been participating in the club’s annual golf croquet competitions. Members competed in the singles events for beginners, novices and bronze players, and the popular doubles competition attracted players from all handicap levels.
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The weather cooperated on all occasions, ensuring no delays in completion of events and allowing participants to enjoy a relaxing break in the shade between their scheduled games.
Players entered each group of games with a combination of enthusiasm and friendly rivalry.
Good handicapping was evident in the close results of most games, requiring hoop count backs to decide the final winners.
Participants agreed on how enjoyable the days’ events proved to be and many said they had learned a lot about the strategy of the game by playing their opponents and by watching other games.
The club and participants wish to thank Moya Flynn for volunteering her time to organise and run the events.
It involved a lot of work, some cajoling and plenty of patience and we appreciate her ongoing support for the club in this way.
This was the first year of holding the beginners singles and the event proved successful.
The final result came down to a tie between Janette Enright and Jen Bromley, but, after countback on hoops, Janette was declared this year’s winner and Jen the runner-up.
The novices singles competition was open to players with handicaps over five who had not had the experience of participating in any interclub competition.
Friendly rivalry showed itself on the day, but, despite Peggy Lee playing the age card on several occasions, the winner of the hard-fought and close contest was Elisabeth Andrews, with Bev Smith as runner-up.
The bronze singles was open to players with handicaps over five, all of whom had played in an interclub competition.
These old hands at the game produced some outstanding play, with most of the games down to a single hoop to decide the winner.
After all scores were tallied it was clear that two players, Tony DeFriend and Maureen Greenwood, had won the same number of games, but Tony took the contest by just one hoop after the hoop countback was taken into account.
Rounding off the golf croquet competitions was the doubles event where the more experienced players were partnered with newer players to even up the chances of winning.
A chilly start to the day was soon overcome as the wind subsided and the competition hotted up.
Sue “Whacker” Weeks made some stunning shots from the sideline time and time again to deny opponents their chance at winning a hoop.
Jump shots were successfully executed by several players, allowing them to steal a hoop from opponents who already had their ball in the jaws. Many also used the stop shot to great effect by stopping the player’s ball in front of the hoop while sending the opponent’s ball to the other end of the court.
After an excellent day of contest, George Timbs and Bev Smith were declared the winners after a hoop countback, with Alice Timbs and Tony DeFriend the runners-up.
Congratulations to all the winners and participants in this year’s events.
Winners will be honoured at the club’s annual presentation lunch being held on November 26 at the Tipsy Fig.