The Shepparton Croquet Club has been a hive of activity over recent weeks.
Shepparton Croquet Club has just completed its annual singles golf championships in beautiful autumn conditions.
John Young will represent the Shepparton club in division one.
Division two was closely contested with three players finishing on equal wins with Wayne Comer winning on a countback.
Division three had the most entries. Ann Starritt played nine games over two days to win division three.
Divisional winners from all Goulburn Valley clubs will compete at Shepparton on April 9 and 10 in the Champion of Champions.
The winner of each division will then represent the Goulburn Valley at the headquarters of Croquet Victoria, Cairnlea, Melbourne on the 23rd and 24th.
Country Regional Championships
This year the annual Victorian Country Regional Association Croquet Championships were hosted by the Gippsland Croquet Association and games were played in Traralgon and Morwell.
Play took place on Monday, April 3, to Wednesday, April 6, and players and spectators enjoyed mixing socially at dinners on Sunday and Tuesday nights.
Thirty-six players from nine regions competed in four sections according to handicap, and the Goulburn Valley Croquet Association team performed very well, with four podium finishes.
The Section 1 winner was Stephen Forster of Geelong who had seven wins out of eight games. GVCA's Kenn Boal was runner-up with six games.
Section 2 was won by Michael Edwards of South West with six wins and 34 nett hoops, a mere one hoop ahead of runner-up Kevin Bluff of Geelong who also had six wins.
Lindsay Patullo of Murray Valley took first spot in Section 3, winning all eight games, and second spot went to Kim Collins of Geelong (six wins, 73 hoops) just ahead of GVCA's John Young (six wins, 63 hoops).
Section 4’s win went to Maureen Alberts of Geelong who won seven out of eight games. GVCA's Dave Maher took the runner-up position for the GVCA with six wins.
"The team shield" is awarded for the region who scores the most hoops over all sections of the competition. Geelong won the shield this year, and the GVCA team was proud to come home in second spot, around 50 hoops behind Geelong.
Organisation and running of the tournament was done extremely well by the Gippsland Croquet Association, tournament managers Joy and Ron Davis, and the Traralgon and Morwell Croquet Clubs.
Once again it was brilliant to see the Croquet "family" getting back to the new normal post-COVID.
GVCA Champion of Champions
The Goulburn Valley Croquet Association golf croquet Champion of Champions event was held on the weekend of April 9 and 10 on the manicured courts at Shepparton Croquet Club.
Club champions of each of the eight GVCA member clubs competed for the honour of representing the GVCA at the Victorian Croquet Association Country Regional Championships in Melbourne.
Games were played in three divisions according to handicap, and the closeness of some games demonstrates that there are very good players spread over the various clubs of the GVCA.
Of the 10 games in division one, five games finished 7-6, and four finished 7-5. In division two four games were 7-6 and three were 7-5 out of 10 games. Out of 15 games in division three, three were 7-6 and five 7-5.
Division one winner was John James of Deniliquin who didn’t lose a game, winning all of his four games and having a net hoop score of seven. One game behind was John Young of Shepparton whose only loss was to John James 6-7. John Young finished the day with three wins and five net hoops.
The winner of division two was Dave Maher of Rich River who won three of his four games, scoring seven net hoops and losing only to Mary James of Deniliquin, the runner-up. Mary won two games out of four and finished with four net hoops, ahead of Wayne Comer of Shepparton and Ian Londey of Numurkah who had net hoop scores of 0 and -5 respectively.
Division three’s winner was Doc Ryant of Rich River. He won four out of five games and had a net hoop score of 11. Three players finished with three wins: Brian Dudley of Deniliquin, Geoff Vallance of Shepparton and Tony Potts of Kyabram. Brian took the runner-up position with three net hoops.
This event was the first run by tournament managers Pauline Phillips and Margaret Gleeson and all agreed they did an excellent job. The GVCA also appreciated the contribution of Shepparton Croquet Club members to the weekend’s success, and to June Hoge and her team of referees.
Divisional winners will now head to VCA headquarters at Cairnlea. The GVCA wishes them well and hopes they enjoy their games.