Plenty to keep an eye on today as the following events reach their conclusion.
WA AC State Open Mixed Doubles
Brett and Janine continue their Tasmanian adventures and are very much in contention in the Tasmanian GC Open Men’s and Women’s Singles.
Great to see John producing another quality video for Association Croquet.
You can find links to his animations in the Resources page.
Politics and Croquet do mix at least in Western Australia.
The first organised croquet in WA before any associations or even clubs was often run by Lady Forrest, the wife of Sir John Forrest the 1st Premier of WA. Sir John is often referred to as Lord Forrest but he never actually became a Lord, he was bound for Englamd to become a Lord when he died, whilst on route, somewhere of the coast of West Africa.
The foundation President of the Western Australian Croquet Association was Mrs Mary Rason, she was the wife of the 7th Premier of WA, Sir Cornthwaite Hector William James Rason. Hector as he preferred was only briefly the Premier and saw the writing on the wall for his tenure early enough to appoint himself Agent General for WA in England, thereby ensuring his future job security.
Mary was replaced in the Presidents role by Edith Daglish. She was the wife of the 6th Premier of WA, Henry Daglish. The suburb of Daglish near Subiaco is named for them.
The 27th Premier of WA was Geoff Gallop, his mother Eunice was a member of the Geraldton club in the late 80’s and early 90’s.
The 21st Premier Sir Charles Court and his son the 26th Premier Richard Court were both Patrons of the Nedlands croquet club at different times. Many other politicians and local government identities have filled roles like this at clubs, some have been players.
But the most politically entangled family has been the Hawkes. Edith Emily “Ellie” Hawke was the President at the Northam club and later at the Leederville club and also the President of the WA Croquet Association. She was the mother of the Australian Prime Minister Bob Hawke. But it doesn’t stop there, her husband Clem was for a time the General Secretary of the Australian Labour Party and a Congregationalist Minister, her brother in law Bert was a long time member for Northam and the 18th Premier of WA who also for a time was the patron of the Northam croquet club.
Opening Day – Subiaco Croquet Club – Click here for a detailed description of this image
A busy weekend around the traps with the traditional Albany Valentines Tournament taking place locally, and the ACA President’s Eights being held at both Cairnlea and the Northern Tasmanian Croquet Centre.
22 pairs contested the event over the weekend in two blocks of 11.
Full results on Croquetscores.
Also, check out the Gomme Park Facebook page to watch the winning hoop.
The Golf Croquet President 8’s tournament was held over two venues; Launceston and Cairnlea. Forty-five competitors took to the courts over three days with the following players winning their sections.
First 9: Robert Fletcher (Vic)
Second 8: Barry Haydon (SA)
Third 8: Andy Barbero (Vic)
Fourth 8: Greg Bury (Qld)
Fifth 8: Ethan Gumbrell (NSW/ACT)
Sixth/Womens 8: Kaye Molyneux (Vic)
These players demonstrated exceptional skill and performance during the tournament. Congratulations to all the winners and competitors.
Results can be found on CroquetScores HERE
Keep up to date with all the results on Croquetscores.
The first and second eights is being played at the Northern Tasmanian Croquet Centre, home to both the St Leonard’s and North Esk Croquet Clubs. The centre has 8 courts and a lovely clubhouse with views of the entire playing area.
You can find live streaming of the event on Jamie’s YouTube channel. Today’s stream has a distinct WA flavour with coverage of games from Brett, Chris and Torben.
Very briefly, what is Ricochet?: It’s a croquet variation, devised in the 1980s by a South Australian, to bridge the gap between Golf and the more complex AC. Like AC, and as opposed to Golf, the aim is to progress each of your balls independently through each hoop in turn and then hit the peg. This is achieved through earning extra turns by making an initial roquet, earning you two extra turns and enabling you to continue to roquet, position and make sucessive hoops by judicious placement of each ball. The winner is the first to take both of their balls through all hoops and onto the peg (or make the most hoops in a timed game).
What skills are needed? That’s the beauty of it – golf players already have all the skills required – roqueting, positioning and making hoops. No new shots to learn. You just need to get your head around a ‘matrix’ approach (traversing the lawn in various directions) as against the usual ‘serial’ approach (all heading for the hoop in play). You’ll be helped in this by your doubles partner providing advice and tactics. Because of this team approach it’s not unusual for a relative newcomer to join up with an experienced player and actually win a competition. Incidentally, if you want exercise, playing just two short (14 point) games can gain you around 8000 steps.
What is the challenge? Like golf it’s a game of options, so choosing the best option and executing the shots which will make you a hoop and put you in a good position to make more (making a ‘break’). (How good is it when you can position your ball in front of a hoop and then have anoher shot to make the hoop – instead of being whacked to the boundary?) For AC players, the challenge is in having to achieve the same objective as for AC but without the benefit of the precise two ball control provided by the ‘croquet’ shot.
Why not try it and see for yourself?
Peter Hamilton
Entries are now open for the ACA GC Open and Doubles events.
Closing date for entries is the 18th April.
Bethwyn was a long serving member of the Victoria Park Croquet Club .
Holding many official positions and helping to steer the club through the difficult move from the old Victoria Park site to the new joint venture with the Higgins Park Tennis Club. (Pictured below with Karen Vernon, Mayor of Victoria Park and Higgins Park Tennis Club President Matthew Bates.
Whilst not destined to be a stellar player, she contributed to the pennant teams of both Victoria Park and the Marauders.
Her forte was to manage events and in addition to running tournaments for her own club, she was instrumental in runningsignificant events for both Croquet West and the ACA .
Bethwyn also took on the role of Croquet West President for a single year back in 2015, at a time when filling positions was proving difficult.
Always willing to help, she will be missed by the Croquet fraternity.
Many thanks to Peter Hamilton for compiling the following:
Where can we play Ricochet here in WA?
Several WA clubs have Ricochet regularly scheduled on their weekly calendar and players can again look forward to State Championships this year.
Visitors are welcome at all clubs. Make contact first, to establish current timing green fees etc.
Como: Currently alternate Fridays with Sorrento to provide North and South of the river options for players from any club.
Contact: Peter Hamilton – Mobile: 0431 992 279 or e-mail: peterhamilton@iprimus.com.au
Sorrento: Host alternate weeks with Como but also play at home each Friday for members who do not wish to travel away from home.
Contact: Terry Craddock: Mobile: 0411 827 815. or e-mail:
Dunsborough: Play Thursdays at 9:30am;
Contact: Wendy Collins: Mobile: 0429 115 499
York: Play Thursdays at 4pm (in Summer) Timing flexible, lights available for night play.
Contact: Dorothy Bull: Mobile: 0407 082 557
Geraldton: Planning to re-start in February on Fridays.
Contact: Kay Chynoweth: Mobile: 0407 196 621
We’d love to hear of any other clubs playing, or wishing to introduce, this fascinating format of our game.
Contact: Peter Hamilton – Mobile: 0431 992 279 or e-mail: peterhamilton@iprimus.com.au
WA Ricochet Doubles Championship: Dunsborough: March 9th & 10th 2024
WA Ricochet Singles Championship: Como: August 31st & September 1st 2024
National Ricochet Championships: Hervey Bay. Qld. July 15th – 21st 2024
Ricochet in the Eastern States…
The code has been popular over East for many years with these recent numbers:-
NSW 25 Clubs, 250 players;
QLD 35 Clubs, 450 players !
VIC just starting to develop – about 70 players.
SA & TAS ???
