Wynnum hosts CAQ Open Doubles and GC Open Singles, with strong pennant starts

CAQ Open Doubles - Saturday 25th and Sunday 26th March, Eildon Croquet Club

A field of fifteen pairs from South East Queensland clubs contested for the Cynthia Tacey and Greg Kerswell Trophy at Eildon. Played in 2 round robin blocks on Saturday with the top 4 from each block progressing to the Championship block on Sunday and the remaining players playing in a consolation block.

Playing 14 games over two days in glorious sunshine, the final result in the Championship was decided in the last round of play. The winners were Sidney Bates (Ipswich) and Arthur Graf (Eildon) with 6 wins and 11 Net Hoops. Runners-up were Gordon Giles (Wynnum) and Casey De Vene (Merthyr) with 5 wins and 11 Net Hoops. Congratulations to Sidney and Arthur on a great win to take out the trophy and well done Gordon and Casey.

Go See Touring Gala Day - Sunday 2 April, Wynnum Croquet Club

The weather gods were smiling for the Gala Day, sponsored by Go See Touring. There were 26 players coming from six clubs: Burleigh Heads Palm Beach, Ipswich, McIlwraith, Pine Rivers, Twin Rivers, Windsor and Wynnum. It was a pleasure to see so many smiling faces and everyone enjoying their croquet. Players were divided into two blocks and had three games before the lunch break and 3 games in the afternoon. The winners of each block then progressed to the final.

The final between winners of block A, Steve Scrimgeour (Burleigh Heads) and Viv Tidmarsh (Wynnum), and the winners of block B, Graham Young (McIlwraith) and Pam Gunter (Wynnum), was played in the fading light with Steve and Viv taking the game 7-3. Runners-up Graham and Pam put up a great battle.

Winners Steve Scrimgeour and Viv Tidmarsh.

Runners-up Graham Young and Pam Gunter.

The presentation of prizes was made by Deirdre Giles on behalf of Go See Touring to the winners and, as always, the club thanks Go See Touring for their sponsorship support. Hosting this event was a team effort by Wynnum members and thanks must go to all those that helped on the day, and also the caterers. Well done everyone, it was a great day.

CAQ GC Open Singles - Saturday 22nd and Sunday 23rd April 2023

Four Wynnum members played in the CAQ GC Open Singles out of a total of 30 competitors. Players were divided into four blocks for the qualifying round on Saturday with Blocks A and B played at Wynnum and Blocks C and D played at Toombul. Gordon Giles and Ron Schodel played at Wynnum while Geoff Hull and John van Barneveld played at Toombul.

The top four competitors in each block competed for the Pam Shepherd Trophy on Sunday at Wynnum, with the remainder competing for the Pam Shepherd Plate at Toombul.

The players at Wynnum.

The format of the early rounds of the championship was a single 19-point game, timed at 1 hour 15 minutes, and there were many closely contested games with several being decided at the final hoop or being timed out. The final round of the Championship and Consolation X, Y, Z, W were the best of 3, 13-point games timed at 1 hour each game. The Championship final between Ross Rillie and Bob Martin was a hard-fought match with some exceptional play by both competitors. Ross finally came out on top to take out the Trophy.

The winners of each of the finals were:

- Championship X and Pam Shepherd Trophy - Ross Rillie (runner-up Bob Martin) - Championship Z (3rd-4th Place) - Wade Hart (runner-up Gordon Giles) - Championship Z (5th-8th Place) - Casey De Vene (runner-up Steve O'Hare) - Championship Y (9th-16th Place) - Addison Matthews (runner-up Desley Bischoff) - Championship W (13th-16th Place) - Ron Schodel (runner-up Jannene Wall)

Unfortunately, Pam was not able to be at Wynnum to present the trophies so Wynnum CC President John presented the winners of Z, Y, and W knockout with a CAQ Centenary badge before presenting Bob with the runner up Trophy and badge and winner Ross with the Pam Shepherd Trophy and badge. Ross thanked Wynnum CC for hosting the tournament and the referees Cloreen (TR), Deirdre, Joy Wright and Willy Silk for their great work. Thanks also to the wonderful kitchen helpers who provided refreshments for players and spectators throughout the day.

John van Barneveld presented the trophy and badge to Ross Rillie.

John van Barneveld presented the trophy and badge to Bob Martin.

Wynnum members Ann Brooks and Viv Tidmarsh were delighted to win their block and get to the final where they gave it their best shot, finishing as runners-up. Congratulations to the winners, Malcolm Campbell and Chris Parker from BHPB Club. Ann and Viv report that it was a beautiful Gold Coast day, sunny with no rain, and the lawn was running very fast. The tournament was run using the Advantage system of handicap, which they found a little confusing at first but once played it all became clearer. Well done Ann and Viv.

Ann Brooks and Viv Tidmarsh at the Gold Coast tournament.

BSR Golf Pennants

Wynnum's Division 2 and Division 3 Golf Pennants teams played their first matches on 16th April. Both teams were well prepared resulting in a win, at home, for the Division 2 team against Ipswich, 7 games to 3. All members played well with a commendable performance from John van Barneveld chalking up three winning games.

The Division 3 team visited Ipswich for their match and were successful winning 6 games to 4. This team consists predominately of new players to the Pennant competition, who also are relatively new to the sport. They are enjoying the competitive aspect of Golf Croquet.

The second matches were held against Graceville on 14th May with the Division 3 team at home and recording a win of 7 games to 3. Playing in her first Pennants match, Pam Gunter recorded three winning games. The Division 2 team played at Graceville and experienced some tough competition going down 4 games to 6. Both teams are preparing for their next match on 13 August.

By Mike Fordyce, Wynnum. From the Croquet Newsletter, May/June 2023, pages 36-39.