It has been a busy few months for many Southport members. Normally the weather is just right for playing on the courts. After Easter the Club hosted the annual Gateball Triples Competition on 12th April, an inaugural Gateball Competition that commenced in 2012. This year for this event there was a special Trophy created in honour of our very dedicated, life member who passed away last year aged 96 (just 2 weeks short of being 97), the Trudy Cummins Perpetual Trophy Gateball Triples. Six teams participated in the one day competition.

The winning trio were from Eildon Club.

Left to right: Alan Beeson, Robert Roose and Philip Rowlands with Trudy's daughter Karen Warmington, who made the presentation.

Then it was the turn of the Golf Croquet players to host the annual doubles competition called the Golden Mallet Competition, 26th April. It was for players with a Division 2 or 3 handicaps. It has attracted players from many other clubs over the years which is a good thing for up and coming players. Once again, this year there were players from other clubs and included the winning doubles pair from Windsor. It is always a friendly experience of playing in golf competitions.

Twelve participants, referees and club helpers for the Golden Mallet Competition are in the photo.

Winners were Brad and Jenny from Windsor and 2nd place went to Gwenda and Peter from Southport. Our QLD State Women's Golf Croquet Champion, Mary McMahon, made the presentations.

Winners Brad and Jenny from Windsor.

2nd place Gwenda and Peter from Southport.

Pennant season commenced early for the Ricochet players. With just three clubs playing Ricochet competitively in the GCT Region, the home and away games were completed quickly with a very good result for the Coolangatta Club who won the 2026 Pennants. The Association Pennants competition is scheduled for later in the year. The Golf Croquet Division 2 Competition has 9 teams vying for the trophy. The Southport Shakers is one of the two teams from Southport and it is in 2nd place so far.

There are always people who are welcomed to the club to play or to learn to play. All four codes are supported at Southport. The monthly "Come and Try" Sunday, sponsored by the Gold Coast City Council, is bringing in new players. A recent group has also commenced playing Golf Croquet and Gateball. They are from the Southport U3A study group who are mature age learners. Fortunately, our Club has wonderful volunteers and coaches who do not hesitate to donate their time to the Club. Recently, there was a course in First Aid and CPR conducted at the Club. There were ten club members who undertook the necessary training for medical emergencies.

On the weekend 23/24th May there were two State Championships held. At the Stephens Club was the CAQ Association Division 2 medal in which Dennis Backer competed. He won his Block and played Zach Kominar from Merthyr in the Final. Dennis had an excellent game and won 21-7. Meanwhile at Windsor Club the CAQ QLD Golf Croquet Men's Singles Championship was held. Charlie Ernst achieved 6 wins out of the 7 games in his Block. His good form continued so he played in the Final against Bob Martin. Charlie's 2nd place in QLD and the win by Dennis are so well deserved because of all of the practice sessions and games they do on Southport's courts.

Charlie Ernst.

Dennis Backer and Zac Kominar.

Two Bunnings BBQs were well supported by Club members and visitors to the hardware store. That effort has assisted the finances of the Club and there are more such BBQs to come. On Wednesday mornings our Club now has some visitors and some club members who play Mahjong.

At the recent QLD Golf Croquet Open Singles Championships there was an amazing result from our dedicated players. The top two positions were very closely fought by two players from Southport, Mary McMahon and Charlie Ernst. They both scored 9 wins but Charlie had a better score of net hoops. Congratulations to both of these two club members. In addition, there was another Southport player, Kathie Grant, who came 4th in the State Golf Championships.

Kathie Grant, Mary McMahon and Charlie Ernst.

By Southport. From the Croquet Newsletter, May/June 2026, pages 27-30.