THE VERY BUSY MONTH
OF MAY
The Dubbo City Croquet Club has indeed been busy this
month. As well as our regular three
mornings of play and Wednesday afternoon/evening practice sessions, we have
conducted a tuition day, made a club visit and knocked off the singles
championship.
Singles championships
Dubbo City Croquet Club doesn’t do things by halves; here is
something it did double – singles championships!
For the 2018 year it was decided that the Singles
Championship would be a round-robin in which entrants would play their matches
(best of three games) over the first quarter of the year. The aim of this format was to promote the
opportunity to participate and to even out the playing variations of
individuals: after all, everyone claims a day on which play is
uncharacteristically poor, while wishing that the results were the outcome of
one’s better days.
The date for the finals of this competition was set for the
24th March.
However, in order to ensure as many matches as possible
could be played, this date was converted to a seven-hoop singles day open to
all players grouped in handicap divisions.
Seven-hoop really puts the pressure on.
That first hoop takes on much more importance than it does in the usual
‘best of 13’ and being two hoops behind creates a greater sense of
urgency. 5-2 sounds like a more
convincing win than 4-3 whereas both games can be equally tight.
It was another great day at the Dubbo City Croquet Club –
great weather, great play, great friendliness. Margaret Sheridan won Division C, Charles Campbell won Division B and Tom
Barclay blitzed all-comers in Division A.
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| The Six: Max Green, Tim Abbott, Ben Vang, Del Heywood Charles Campbell, Peter Heywood |
There was some great play to be seen on the lawns that day and
the players were heartened by the presence of spectators who enjoyed the
morning thoroughly. The winners of the
round-robin day were Peter Heywood and Del Heywood while the overall results taking into account all the matches and the round robin day were Ben Vang in first place, and Max Green in second. Congratulations to all.
Visit to Orange
Orange and Dubbo clubs hold an annual social visit. Being an even numbered year Dubbo travelled
to Orange. We gathered up a team of eight plus a spare, made a generous
allowance for the road works on the way, and off we went. For the week prior we had anxiously checked
the weather forecast noting with dismay a maximum of 11° and winds but as the
day appointed drew closer so the forecast temperature rose. We arrived to a tolerable temperature which
rose gradually to make a perfectly charming day, one that gave an azure dome
tainted only by a jet trail.
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| Very nearly almost ready to start thinking about playing. |
A select contingent from Bathurst was welcomed and it was
useful to have the attention of John Cooke, the regional convener, to air a few
matters.
To balance the numbers the Bathurst players joined the Dubbo
team and Orangeman Wal was deemed a Dubbonian for the day – thanks Wal.
And thanks three-fold and more to the hospitable Orange club
for a very enjoyable day on the lawns and in the clubhouse, and for involving
so many of their new members in the day.
Tuition Day
We schedule a tuition day annually – last year Graham
Innocent accepted our invitation to be the tutor (his first outing in that new
capacity) and the year before that our tutor was Barb Piggott.
This year our Games Captain organised the information and
lined up a batch of our better players to arrange an in-house
presentation. Ben Vang took us through the
basics of hitting the ball and running the hoop – it is always instructive to
go back to basics as it consolidates technique and leads to extending one’s
skills. Peter Heywood gave useful and
practical advice on tactical play, Beth Stanley was very informative on the use
of extra turns and Tom Barclay inspired an outbreak of jumping practice.
Not by coincidence this was held a week before our visit to
Orange.
