The Range-Maleny connects to bore water, Nick Cram wins Open Club Championship

Visitors to the show grounds here in Maleny where our club is situated may have noticed the works occurring along our boundary during August while our irrigation system was being connected to the bore. This was a keenly anticipated milestone for us, and we look forward to playing on healthy green lawns going forward. A huge thanks to all who participated in this process.

During August, our 2022 Open Club Championships were held. Congratulations to Nick Cram, the winner of this exciting and well fought competition. The photo shows Nick being presented with the shield by Sarah Widin, our Club President.

As a small club, we like to celebrate the successes of our members as they play further afield. We are especially proud of Donna Manning and Sarah Widin who took part in the Queensland Open Association Croquet Championships on August 27 and 28, with both acquitting themselves very well at this level of competition. Both Donna and Sarah won one match out of three of their block matches convincingly. They then went on to play very well in the Consolation rounds. A huge congratulations to Donna with two great wins taking her to the final match of the Consolation competition against Troy McCallum from Bundaberg, which was won by Troy.

Donna Manning and Sarah Widin with Vicki and Gordon Cooper from Bundaberg at the Queensland Open AC Championships.

Also in August, The Nell Hass Memorial Tournament was conducted by Carolyn Aldrich and her team of helpers at Headland Buderim club. This is always a tournament where a large contingent of players from the Range club have participated. Nick Cram, Sarah Widin, Vince Carbery, Val Carbery, and Kath Smith played, with Donna Manning refereeing. All acquitted themselves well. Sarah won the prize for her block after coming in second to the overall winner Galena Makarova from Noosa club. Thanks to Headland Buderim for hosting an enjoyable and well-run tournament.

We are always happy to welcome groups wishing to come and play croquet on our lawns and enjoy showing newcomers the ropes, meeting up with old friends, making new friends and enjoying a fun (and often quite competitive) game together. The 18th of August saw a visit from the Maleny Uniting Church's Ladies Fellowship Group. Twelve ladies enjoyed playing several friendly but competitive games of Golf croquet on half lawns coached by Sarah Widin, Wallace Roy and Donna Manning. This was followed by a delicious morning tea provided by our visitors. We all enjoyed meeting these lovely ladies and we have to say that some showed natural talent for the sport.

Other visitors included our local Senior Citizens group who came for a morning session playing with our club members on the 12th of September where we had three half courts set up for Golf croquet. By all accounts, there were some among that group showing considerable promise and again our visitors brought some lovely treats to share for morning tea.

On Friday 9th of September we had been invited to participate in the Village Green section at Maleny Fair held at our local Primary School. The start of the day brought much trepidation with heavy rain, grey clouds and a forecast storm. Thankfully, this cleared just in time for the 3pm start and we were able set up some hoops on a "half half" lawn, on which children and adults alike could try playing mini golf croquet. We enjoyed our young visitors and showing children of various ages, from tiny tots to teenagers and some parents too, the ropes. Some of the older children had a natural talent and enjoyed making hoops, as well as engaging with the more competitive aspects of the game. The real stars, though, were the tiny tots who had such fun and found putting the ball through the hoops fascinating. Young Cooper Dew, who at age two and a half, had a most effective, if somewhat unusual side stance mallet action, modelled on his close observations of his father's golf swing.

At the time of writing, our club is looking forward to one of our biggest events of the year being arranged for the 22nd of September, our Friendship Day. This is always a great and full day, enjoyed by many who come from near and far. Throughout the day, we rotate through a range of short games of Golf, Ricochet and Association Croquet, as well as some novelty games. Of course, a delicious morning and afternoon tea is provided, while participants bring their own lunch.

We are pleased to welcome the start of Spring which brings the hope that with our new and improved water supply and the warmer weather our lawns will flourish under the tender care of Wallace Roy. Wallace has been dealing with some uneven patches and invasive grasses which have appeared during autumn and winter following on from the excessive rain earlier in the year. We extend our thanks to Wallace for the time and effort he puts into keeping our lawns in a great state to play on.

The Range-Maleny Friendship Day setup on the lawn.

By Helen Uhlmann, The Range-Maleny. From the Croquet Newsletter, October 2022, pages 34-36.