Sunshine Coast Masters and Apprentices at Caloundra, and a new Come and Try

What a fantastic weekend Caloundra Mallet Sports Club had for their annual Sunshine Coast Masters and Apprentices Tournaments on 12th to 14th November. The weather was fine and clear, if a little hot at times, but the sea breeze that came in late in the morning helped players contend with 30o temperatures. The program was again very full with 12 teams and 17 doubles teams registered, 72 players in total. Teams from Rockhampton, Toowoomba, Southport, Moreton Bay, Eildon, and Pine Rivers were back to join the home team in spirited competition. And this year, 2 new players from Point Lookout in Maryborough, where Gateball is just being introduced, joined with Bribie Island to form the Lookout! Bribie team. Because of the number of entries, our 2 newest courts needed to be used for the doubles, meaning we had 6 courts to play the 2 blocks of doubles.

The Gateball Team Winners were Southport Red with Moreton Bay placed second. The Doubles were won by Steve and Chris Kele (Rocky) and the Runners up were Dianne and Peter Sweet (Southport) Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves though many were looking weary by the end of a long weekend. Caloundra looks forward to catching up with everyone again next year at the many tournaments that are both the competitive and social aspects of Gateball here in Queensland.

(Thanks Robyn for your Gateball report) The day after the Gateball carnival finished, work to upgrade our bottom two courts commenced. New drainage has been installed and the courts have been levelled. Once work on these courts is completed then the other four courts will be upgraded - two courts at a time. This will mean we will only have four courts available for some time. Because of this Gateball play has been moved from Thursday morning to Wednesday morning to allow golf croquet players more courts. Club competitions are almost completed for the year. The Association players have only the doubles competition to complete. The results so far are: Div1 Winner Ted Singleton ; Div2 Winner Helen Matchett; Div3 Winner Sam Oaten; Div1 &2 Handicap Winner (Mackay Brooch) Howard Williams; Div3 &4 Handicap Winner (McKillop Shield) Don Helmrich Club Golf Croquet competitions were instigated again this year and we had 12 competitors in the Division 2 event. After playing a round robin event in two pools, the top two players from each pool played in a round robin final. The four finalists were Sam Oaten Ron Duggleby, Frank Guerreiro and Sue Dixon. Congratulations to the winner, Ron Duggleby and runner up Frank Guerreiro. The division 1 Golf Croquet winner is yet to be decided and hinges on the result of the game between Murray Tinker and Mike Bertram. Either player can claim this title depending on the result.

Last Sunday afternoon our VP, Ricki Barrett, coordinated a “Come and Try” event. We had six visitors who were introduced to Croquet and Gateball. There were plenty of members on hand to assist and it was pleasing to see some of our members have a try at Gateball for the first time. Some of our visitors are keen to return on Friday afternoon for further tuition. It was a very pleasant afternoon and enjoyed by all. Thanks Ricki for your efforts.

Brenda Tranter, a long serving member of the CMSC has published a book about her father’s experiences while a prisoner of the Japanese in Sumatra in WW2. Her father, Lieutenant A. E. Tranter kept records in a book he kept secret from the guards. Brenda is a former primary teacher and our current club’s newsletter editor. She had her book launch on 4 November at the Caloundra RSL.

"Doubles winners, Steve & Chris Kele with Robyn Brown CMSC Gateball Captain"

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By Howard Williams, Caloundra. From the Croquet Newsletter, December 2022, pages 8-10.