The CAQ Men’s Open Golf Croquet Singles was conducted at Windsor CC over the weekend of 22–24 May. A maximum field of 16 players representing nine clubs, including one New Zealand registered player, took to the lawns. Wynnum CC was represented by Cameron Hipwell and Geoff Hull.

The field was graded into two blocks of eight players, with the top four from each block progressing to the knockout quarter-finals.

On day one, five players in Block B, including Cameron, played some excellent croquet to finish tied on second through sixth place based on games won and lost. Cameron missed out on the fourth spot on hoop advantage and moved on to the Plate event. This highlighted how important it is to not only win your games, but to win by the largest margin possible.

After a hard-fought Plate event quarter-final, Cameron’s next challenge came on day three in the Z Plate best-of-three. He took out the match 2–0 for a commendable third place overall.

It was an excellent result for Cameron, who no doubt has some big wins ahead of him judging by the tenacity shown in this event. Congratulations, Cameron.

In Block A, Geoff topped his block with six wins and one loss at the end of day one.

On day two, Geoff went on to win a marathon quarter-final best-of-three. With an allocated four hours of play, his involvement stretched to just over four and a half hours due to double-banked stoppages and two five-minute breaks. The four-hour playing time expired with Geoff declared the match winner at 5/7, 7/5, 6/2 in the third game when time was called.

As the saying goes, there is no rest for the wicked. After a 20-minute break, Geoff was back on court for the semi-final, another four-hour allocated game. In under three hours, he was defeated two games to nil by the eventual winner from Eildon CC.

On day three, Geoff contested the Z Championship. After a positive start, he went down two matches to one with final scores of 7/6, 4/7, 4/7. This secured Geoff official fourth place in the event.

In summary, Wynnum CC fielded two players in the field of 16, with both finishing in the top four.

Cameron heads into battle next weekend alongside Gordon to contest the CAQ Open Golf Croquet Singles at Caloundra CC over Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Ball-by-ball coverage can be accessed on Croquet Scores. Tune in and give them both your mental support.