A highly successful Tasmanian Hi-Lo Doubles event was held at the Sandy Bay Croquet Club over the weekend 9 – 11 August 2024. A total of 12 teams competed which necessitated dividing the field into two blocks of six teams with the winner of each block contesting a Final.
The winner of Block A was John Hutchison and Sue Downer and the winner of Block B was Graham Hyland and Carol Hanigan.
In an enthralling and at times high standard final, the team of John Hutchison and Sue Downer from the Eastern Shore Croquet Club, came out on top, winning 14 to 9.
Congratulations to the winners and well done to all competitors. It would seem that some of the newer players really enjoyed the format over the three days and it is hoped they will continue with AC in the future.
Competitors in the 2024 Tasmanian Hi - Lo Event at Sandy BayThe winners were John Hutchison and Sue Downer of Eastern Shore Croquet Club
A big thank you to Jane Hyland for efficiently managing the event and to the Sandy Bay Club for providing wonderful playing conditions and the many volunteers for their great hospitality.
Croquet Australia are excited to announce the Australian Team selected to play in the 2025 Golf Croquet World Team Championship Tier 1, Openshaw Shield.
Congratulations to Robert Fletcher, Greg Fletcher, Malcolm Fletcher and Edward Wilson.
The Openshaw Shield will be held between Monday, 17 to Sunday 23 February 2025 at the Northern Tasmanian Croquet Centre, St Leonards, Tasmania.
8 full-sized courts will be available to host the 8 teams of 4 players who will compete.
The competing teams are:
New Zealand (Holders)
Australia
Egypt
England
Ireland
South Africa
Spain
USA
Format: The format will be block play followed by a knock-out Championship. Full details of the format will be published in the specific Event Regulations prior to the event.
Schedule Block Play: Monday 17th to Wednesday 19th February 2025. Championship Knockout and Plate: Thursday 20th February to Sunday 23rd February.
Key Personnel
Event Lead: Graeme Roberts Tournament Director: TBA Tournament Manager: Paul Godard DTM/Plate Manager: Sylvia Wing Tournament Referee: Lizzie Bassett (Tasmania Director of Refereeing) Secretary: Jane Hyland (current Secretary of CT) Treasurer: Peter Tracey (current Treasurer of CT)
Livestreaming: It is anticipated that live streaming will be provided for the event. This will be confirmed closer to the event.
Here are the general playing times and lawn allocations.
We produce a fair volume of very fine and normal grass clippings from our mowing activities. If anyone requires such clippings and other general green waste, then drop into the Club and have a look a what we have. If you want some, take it. It is free of charge.
Pennant Competitions
The 2024 Association Croquet Inter Club Pennant season is just around the corner.
Division 1 starts on the 14th August and concludes on the 2nd October 2024
Division 2 starts on the 15 August and concludes on the 3rd October 2024
There will be a two week break between late August to the 8th September to facilitate those players participating in the Australian Golf Croquet Men’s and Women’s Singles and the Golf Croquet Inter State Shield being held on the Sunshine Coast.
The Hi-Lo AC Competition is on again
The popular Tasmanian Association Croquet Hi-Lo Handicap Doubles Competition is being held between the 9th – 11th August at the Sandy Bay Croquet Club. This is a wonderful opportunity for higher handicap players to team up with a lower handicap player and enhance your skills and have a lot of fun at the same time. Play will be conducted on an alternative shot basis.
Entries close on Friday, 2nd August. Entries will be limited so be quick to enter.
Interested in playing Croquet?
We conduct regular coaching sessions on Wednesday afternoons. If you would like to come along and have a go, just turn up just before 1.00pm. A small fee applies for a six-week coaching package, which is then deducted from your membership fees in the event you decide to join the Club.
Our very own John Hutchison (Hutch) is not only a very fine Croquet player and an AC State Team representative, he also produces Association Croquet instruction videos on YouTube. They are easily understood, precise and are short in duration. They are particularly useful for the AC player learning the game and are highly recommended. They are both educational and entertaining.
To access these videos, simply click on the following link. Then click on his name to view the other 30 videos. If you would like notifications of future videos click the Subscribe Button (there is no cost).
SENIORS WEEK
The Club will once again participate in Seniors Week this year. The likely date will be Thursday, 17th October and this is a great opportunity for senior members of our community to come along to the Club and have a go at Croquet and learn the fundamentals of the game. There will be several members available to assist with the basics of the game and to show you around our facilities.
NATIONAL GOLF CROQUET TEAMS SELECTED
Congratulations to John Colquhoun for again being selected in the Tasmanian Golf Croquet Team to play in the National titles in Queensland in September 24. Also, congratulations to Carol Inches on her selection as a Reserve in the Women’s Team. The full teams are;
Men:
John Colquhoun, Paul Godard (Vice Captain), Ben King, Malcolm Maney, Phil Roach (Captain). The reserves are Chris Hurford, Noel Hiskins and John Lee-Archer.
Women:
Janis Brooker, Carol Hanigan, Jane Hyland, Patsy Paine (Team Manager), Yvonne Shaw and Carol Inches (Reserve).
TCA APPOINTMENTS
Ian Smith has again been re-elected Competition Convenor of the TCA and
Daryl Jacobs has been elected as a GC Selector (3 years from October 2024)
Thank you both for representing the Club and contributing your time to these important tasks.
Congratulations
Congratulations to Ben King from the Sandy Bay Croquet Club (Associate Member of Eastern Shore) for winning the recent ACA Golf Croquet Gold Medal, defeating our own John Colquhoun in the Final match. Ben will now represent Tasmania in the National GC Gold Medal event to be held on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland between 28 – 30 August 2024.
Ben King (left) and John Colquhoun (right)
IN APPRECIATION TO PAM HAMILTON
A practice lawn has been a work in progress at the Club for many months and was recently declared fit for play. In honour of her long and outstanding service to the Club and the sport generally and a Life Member of the Club, it was decided to name the lawn The Pam Hamilton Practice Lawn. It was officially opened on the 20th May, following the Annual General Meeting.
Mr John Jacob (Patron of the Club) congratulating
Pam Hamilton following the opening of the Pam Hamilton
Practice Lawn
Thanks to our Sponsor
John Dowe Business card
JUNE 2024 Monthly Memo
We welcome Arthur Lathouris and Steve Andrewartha to the committee and welcome back Liz Madden
Celebratory Spring Club open day: At the AGM forum it was overwhelming decided to not hold an official Open day with a dignitary rolling the first hoop but rather hold a club fun day. This is scheduled for Saturday 14th Your House committee is in the early planning stages. So watch this space!
Taste of Croquet Packages: To keep our membership numbers up we have again introduced Taste packages. These are available for 3 months (July, August, September) for $50 or for 1 month at $20. Forms will be available on the President’s desk next week.
Interclub GC Pennant: Sandy Bay did very well in the Autumn Pennant, our C Grade was the winner, B Grade were Winners and Runner Up (1st for SB Red and 2nd for SB White) and A Grade Third and Fourth (3rd SB Red and 4th SB White). Well done to all participants.
Intraclub GC Pennant: Once again we will be running the popular Intraclub GC Pennant: Games will be played on Thursday afternoons, starting June 27th from 12.45pm. This is open to anyone who is interested in playing in Teams of 3 (or 4). A sign-up sheet is on the noticeboard. Entries close Wednesday 19th. For more information contact Liz Madden.
Upcoming (Spring) AC and GC pennants: Likely to be late August to mid-October for AC; mid-October to early December for GC. We’ll let you know asap.
Grandparents Day – Are your grandchildren (age 10 and over) interested in trying their hand at croquet? If so, you can bring them along on Wednesday 10th July from 12.45pm (school holidays) for an introduction to GC. Hopefully we can encourage them to love our game so that eventually they will become junior members and lower the age demographic of the club!
Playing schedule for our lawns: The Games Committee are reviewing the playing schedule so that the lawns are used in a more efficient manner. Some changes are being considered and will be presented to the Committee before anything is brought into place.
Wallaby, Possum or Rabbit poo!! – If you see any please let us know. We are trying to deal with holes in the fence.
Adopt a Shed – we once again invite you to take on the maintenance/beautification of a shelter shed.Major renovation can be undertaken by the Maintenance Committee should you require assistance but general cleanliness, weed removal etc. could be done by you! There are only 5 sheds. Perhaps a group of you could band together and adopt one of them. A signup sheet will be available at the club.
Dates for you to diarise!
Grandparents Day 10th July 12.45pm
Healthy Tasmania 8th September 10-11.30
Celebratory Club Day 14th September
SBCC Bunnings BBQ - Saturday 7th December - looking to volunteers - talk to Marg Jennings or Ann Murray
Please remember your Committee welcomes suggestions of a substantive nature and queries can be directed to the committee members at any time. We welcome your input and assistance in all club matters.
APRIL 2024 Monthly Memo
We have had many comments from players, officials and visitors regarding our wonderful club. With interstate competitors praising our lawns as the best they had played on in Australia. Thank you again to all who contributed to the successful Eire Cup and Medals Competitions. You all did our Club proud.
The Club had 2 representatives in the recent competition. Jane Hyland won the Women’s Plate and Callum Hyland won the Z knockout event. Both Jane and Callum performed admirably for the state in the Eire Cup Teams event.
GC Pennant has started with SBCC fielding 2 teams in Division 1 and 2 and 1 team in Division 3. There will be some impact on pennant days at Sandy Bay but there is always one lawn left for social play.
Croquet Balls – The old Dawson balls have been placed in A1, B1 and C1 boxes. Other balls have been allocated to A2, B2, and C2 boxes. These balls have been marked and are to be put back into the correct boxes after play.
FOR SALE Sets of Croquet Balls – don’t get enough practice at the Club and want to practice at home? We have sets for sale at the amazingly discounted price of $100. And there maybe a few single balls also. Please see Hugh if you need to buy a set.
Lawns - The lawns were cut extra short, dried out a bit and double rolled to produce a flat fast surface for the national championships and Eire Cup. The resultant playing surface was commented on favourably and was much appreciated by the competitors. Since then the skill of the greenkeepers and some beneficial weather has enabled the grass to regain its normal height and all three lawns are looking very good, apart from a profusion of small flat broadleaf weeds on lawn B which is being dealt with. With autumn approaching, there is a strong chance of leaves, buds and twigs cluttering the playing surface. If winds happen to pile these up it would be sensible to put them in green bins straight away.
Wallaby and Rabbit poo!! – if you see any please let us know. We are trying to deal with holes in the fence
RED DOOR – do you love it? We have decided to paint the other club door red and deliberate on the other doors at a later date. Look forward to Anni putting our logo on the front door.
Dates for you to diarise!
GC Pennant some Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays – keep an eye on the whiteboard
New Members Welcome evening - Wednesday 10th April 5pm
GC Handicap Singles and AC Club Championships to be held in April
ACA GC Bronze Medal at SBCC 10-12 May – entries are by invitation of the GC Selectors
AGM - Saturday 18th May 10am
Friends School – 29th and 31st May – small groups coming to play 11.45-12.45
Healthy Tasmania 8th September 10-11.30
SBCC Bunnings BBQ - Saturday 7th December - looking to volunteers - talk to Marg Jennings or Ann Murray
Please remember your Committee welcomes suggestions of a substantive nature and queries can be directed to the committee members at any time. We welcome your input and assistance in all club matters.
MARCH 2024 Monthly Memo
Congratulations to Jane Hyland and Callum Hyland (captain) as members of the Tasmania Eire Cup team - good luck in that and in the ACA Open Singles. As you all know, the AC National Championships are being played between 6-17 March, and all lawns are closed to members. Thank you to all members who have been and will be volunteering to help throughout this busy time, including at the Working Bee last Saturday. The club now looks a treat! Do come and watch top class AC! And if you take any good photos, Jane Hyland would love a copy for the website.
Congratulations to Steve Andrewartha B Division GC Champion and runner up Ian Murray; and to Rene Hortle Novice winner Rod West and runner up Colette Gallacher
GC Singles Handicap will be played as Advantage Play in April, as will the AC Club Championships. Keep an eye out for details.
Lawn and hoop care – Keep your eyes out for advice on how to best to maintain hoop settings, which is to be posted by the mallet shed door (e.g. don’t stomp on hoops to tighten them - use a rubber mallet; use the lifter to remove tight hoops, rather than wobble them). We can all play a role here.
AC Summer Pennant - Sandy Bay won the B Grade Pennant and fought well in the A and C Grade Pennants.Liz Madden and Rod Chisholm, who have recently taken up AC, performed well in the C Grade competition.
The CT GC Men’s Open Singles at SBCC was won by Brett McHardy of WA. Three Sandy Bay members made the Quarter Finals – Graham Keating, Ben King and Ian Murray. In the CT GC Women’s Open Singles CarolHanigan performed exceptionally well, coming third after a play off for second, finishing ahead of all other Tasmanian entrants.
Outside hires – St Aloysius School came this week, and will come again 19th March 11.20 - 12.20. A group of 30 from Deloitte Social Club will be coming on 22 March, 6pm. If you can help with either, contact Ann Murray.
Grants Officer – Liz Cummings volunteered for this, so if you know of any possible grants to the club, talk to her.
Animal incursions - if you notice any signs of wildlife getting into the club grounds, please draw them to the attention of Marg Jennings.
Dates for you to diarise!
GC Pennant starts 26 March, with games on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. Keep an eye on the lawns whiteboard for information on when the lawns will be used for Pennant matches.
GC Handicap Singles and AC Club Championships to be held in April
New Members Welcome evening - Wednesday 10th April 5pm. RSVP on the sheet on the noticeboard.
AGM - Saturday 18th May 10am
Outside bookings 19th March, 11.20-12.20, and 22nd March 6-8pm – can you help? Talk to Ann Murray
SBCC Bunnings BBQ - Saturday 7th December - looking to volunteers - talk to Marg Jennings or Ann Murray
Please remember your Committee welcomes suggestions of a substantive nature and queries can be directed to the committee members at any time. We welcome your assistance in all club matters.
FEBRUARY 2024 Monthly Memo
Congratulations to Ben King who is the new Club Champion and runner up Graham Keating
Congratulations to Guna Ginneliya C Division Champion and runners up Shane Madden and Summa McIntyre B Division Championship and the Rene Hortle will be held 23-25th February
Sunshiny Balls – you may have noticed that we are now using the new balls. A little bit different in colour!
Main Street Financial Solutions - A valued sponsor of SBCC will hold an information evening from 5pm February 13th – Drinks and nibbles supplied.
Lawn Contract with Renov8 –Hugh D worked very hard on our lawn maintenance contract and managed to get a contract that will stand us in good stead for the next 3 years.
Croquet Tas GC Men’s Open Singles 16th – 18th February – we are catering with nibbles etc. for this event and you would have seen the volunteer sheet for food donations and help on the days already.
Grants Officers – We are looking for a member/s to take on the task of researching all grants that are available. The committee receive many opportunities for grants, some not applicable to us, but we would like to have a member who may be familiar with the grant process or has the time to thoroughly search through the information provided. Please get in touch if you feel you could help your club out.
MARCH IS GOING TO BE VERY BUSY
AC Gold Medal, ACA Men’s and Women’s AC Singles and the AC Interstate Event the Eire Cup will be held from 6th to 17th March
As SBCC is the host club for an Australia wide event we will require lots of help to ensure that Sandy Bay is the talk of the nation! Carol Hanigan is working on the ‘House’ side of things and would love to have as many hands helping out – Carol will have a schedule out very soon.
There will also be help needed in hoop setting, leaf blowing, setting up etc. Please help out where you can when the schedule is emailed out.
Around the Club – A cleanup day (10am Saturday 2nd March) will enable us to make the club and gardens sparkle. The normal list of jobs will be up in the club but please feel free to wave your magic wand over anything you feel needs doing. You will receive a reminder email before the day.
Michael B is working on updating our lawn flags, Rod C and Chris G have made circle barriers to cover the protruding bolts in the shelter shed. Great examples of noticing a job that needs doing and just getting on with it.
Hoop Setting – Tony VdeV is doing a great job in moving hoops. He is trying to keep the central area for the Eire Cup and the 2 side settings for pennant and social. Don’t forget to use a fork and repair any lawn damage you see.
Dates for you to diarise!
· Clean Up Day - Saturday 2nd March 10am followed by a thank you BBQ
· Late March GC Pennant starts – dates to be advised
· GC Handicap Singles and AC Club Championships to be held in April
· New Members Welcome evening - Wednesday 10th April 5pm
· AGM - Saturday 18th May 10am
· Outside booking 22nd March 6pm – can you help? Talk to Ann Murray
· SBCC Bunnings BBQ - Saturday 7th December - looking to volunteers - talk to Marg Jennings or Ann Murray
Please remember your Committee welcomes suggestions of a substantive nature and queries can be directed to the committee members at any time. We welcome your input and assistance in all club matters.
Minutes from Committee Meetings and Financial Reports are available for you to read. Find them in a folder on the President’s Desk
December 2023 Monthly Memo
Welcome to our newest Members – Denise Armstrong, Joan Van Drunen and Michael Meredith. Please make yourself known to these 3 andwelcome them to our club.
Christmas Lunch – should be a very fabulous affair on Wednesday 13th. The House committee are working hard on making this lunch the best ever.
Around the Club – You would have to agree the Club is looking fantastic. Thanks to all the volunteers who are helping around the club. From gardens to lawns, guttering (to suit short people!), fence painting, safety line marking etc. A lot of work goes into maintaining the club and jobs appear to be happening without fanfare. Keep it up everyone. Help may be needed to prune the hedges. Talk to Chris Groves if you can help.
Defibrillator & First Aid Bag – A new battery & pads have been purchased for the defibrillator to keep it up to date. Let’s hope we never have to use it. If you use anything from the first aid bag please let us know so it can be replaced and should it be necessary please fill out an incident form.
Outside Bookings – we have 4 final outside bookings in December – fabulous funds for the Club.
Club Polo Tops and Name Badges – Please see the flyer on the noticeboard (next week) for more details.
Congratulations to the following successful teams and SBCC members:-
CT GC Divisional Singles Div 3 Winner Rod Chisholm and Div 4 Winner Ian Murray
GC Spring Pennant –SB won Div 2, SB Red won Div 3 with SB White runners up. SB came 3rd in Div 1.
Australian Open SinglesCallum Hyland reached the semi-finals & finished 3rd & came 4th in the Aus AC Open doubles
CT Teams Championships The southern team of which 2 were from SB, Yvonne Shaw and Graham Keating, convincingly won from the North & North West teams.
New TownCroquet Club asked if we would circulate the following to our members: “Do you live north of SBCC? New Town has excellent availability of three lawns and offers Associate Membership for $100 pa. Lawn fees are $5.00 per day, and you'll be given a key to access the Club whenever you like. As with all Croquet Clubs, New Town do have schedules, but with 50 members and three lawns, we offer good availability and are a friendly mob.” SBCC don’t offer an associate membership as we are at membership capacity.
2024 – A very busy start to the year
Coaching, Tim’s Tactics - Tim will be running a workshop on the 18th January from 2pm to help you improve your croquet for competition. Very beneficial to not only those who are considering entering into one of our pennant teams in 2024 but to all players.
AC Summer Pennant – to start on 16th January for 6 weeks. If interested please contact Jane Hyland
Club Championships & C Division Championships – will be held Friday 2nd till Sunday 4th February
Rene Hortle Novice Championship & B Division Championships – will be held Friday 23rd till Sunday 25thFebruary
Expressions of Interest Forms will be placed on the notice board in January
Handicap singles - will be held in April
AC Club Championships – will be held in April
Croquet Tas GC Men’s Open Singles 16th – 18th February
AC Gold Medal, ACA Men’s and Women’s AC Singles and the AC Interstate Event the Eire Cup will be held from 6th to 17th March As SBCC is the host club (7 years since we last hosted) there will be a number of volunteers needed to help out. Please consider helping as we want SBCC to shine! More details to follow in the New Year.
Come and Try –We receive requests from the public to come and have a try at croquet. Our membership is at capacity at the present but we are mindful that membership numbers can change at any time and in order to maintain this level of membership we will hold 2 ‘Come and Try Days’. The first one will be on Friday 17th May from 1pm and the other in October.
Main Street Financial Solutions - A valued sponsor of SBCC will hold an information evening from 5pm February 13th – Drinks and nibbles supplied.
