Biggest Morning Tea & Results

Nowra Croquet Club members are delighted with the results of our Biggest Morning Tea held last Saturday. Approximately $490 was raised; $86 dollars of this was from a raffle with the prize being $30 Gift Voucher from Stocklands Nowra, which was won by Lola Ross Of Bomaderry.

Thank you to Federal Member Johanna Gash ,State Member Shelly Hancock, Mayor Greg Watson, and Councillor Jim McCrudden for their support on the day. Thank you also to club members who provided the delicious morning tea.

Graham Cullen has done it again. Playing against Oie Malcolm, last Monday Graham made two six hoop breaks and pegged out in a 26 point game in less than two hours, not satisfied with that, Graham and Oie began a second game in which Graham made his first eleven hoop break. Look out Tim; Graham will be a force to recon with in the not too distant future.

The state handicap Beryl Chambers competition representative for the local area is Dick Topham. Dick won the Nowra/Bundanoon block on a count back from Tim Murphy and Margaret Sawers each player winning three out of four games. Dick having a net score of 46 Tim net score 32 came second and Margaret third with net 23.

Margaret Sawers
Publicity Officer

Association Club Championship 2005

8 May 2005 – 12 May 2005

The Club Championship to 2005 is over. On behalf of all the players I'd like to thank Claire in her role as Tournament Manager and Tournament Referee. It's a boring job sitting on the sidelines waiting to be called but Claire was there for every game ready to be called to action. Thank you Claire.

Player	Hcp	TM	JD	JP	JG	MS	For	Agst	Net	Wins	Place
Tim Murphy	6	XXX	20 +6	26 +24	26 +18	26 +21	98	29	69	4	1	TM
John Deeves	8	14 -6	XXX	26 +3	26 +21	26 +15	92	59	33	3	2	JD
Jean Pack	8	2 -24	23 -3	XXX	15 +1	17 +1	57	82	-25	2	3	JP
John Gilhooly	4	8 -18	5 -21	14 -1	XXX	26 +21	53	72	-19	1	4	JG
Margaret Sawers	14	5 -21	11 -15	16 -1	5 -21	XXX	37	95	-58	0	5	MS

Gold Singles and Biggest Morning Tea

On the weekend of the 29th of April to May 1st Tim Murphy, John Deeves and Jean Pack played in the Gold Singles competition at Tempe.

Jean and John failed to make the semi final but both played well.

Tim won four out of five matches in his block (Pegging out in all of the matches that he won) to qualify for the semi final which he won 26 to 19. In the final against Ken Edwards who’s handicap is 4 ½ Tim lost 16 to 17. Tim’s handicap was reduced to 6 and he only needs to win one more game to reduce to 5 a great effort for one who has only been playing Croquet for a little over two years

The Club Championships begin on Sunday. There should be some good matches. The champion for the past two years, John Gilhooly, will have some tough competition with such players as Tim Murphy, John Deeves and Jean Pack all playing excellent croquet recently. Results will be in next weeks paper.

Saturday the 21st of May is the date for the Croquet Club’s Annual charity fundraiser. The Biggest Morning Tea will be at the croquet club from 9.30 am.

All members of the public are welcome to have a game of Golf Croquet and enjoy a delicious morning tea which is becoming famous for its friendly atmosphere and delicious fare.

The cost is a donation to cancer research.

Margaret Sawers
Publicity Officer

Editor's Note

Full results of the Gold Singles can be found at www.croquet-nsw.com. A summary of results of our members are as follows:

Name	Games	Wins	For	Against	Net	Place
Tim Murphy	5	4	119	57	62	2nd in A Block
John Deeves	5	2	87	97	-10	3rd in B Block
Jean Pack	5	2	75	98	-23	4th in B Block

Gold Singles – Finals
Ken Edwards (1st A block)	Ken Edwards 26-11	Ken Edwards 17-16
Vic Aberley (2nd B block)
Tim Murphy (2nd A block)	Tim Murphy 26-18
Larry Bryant (1st B block)

New Courts

Council are still to complete their investigations and plans but we are still looking at getting two new courts up near the old netball court in the showground. Council have indicated we should be seeing design plans in mid May. We have made several requests to meet with the designers before the plans are drawn and have been promised this will happen but to date this meeting has not been set. On the 19th April we sent Gary Girdlestone a letter outlining our immediate and long term needs for the new area. We understand this document will be used to brief the designers.

As far as funding goes we have $40,000 from council and recently a $20,000 grant from Sport and Recreation. The $20,000 grant was announced by state government on 1st April 2005 (an unfortunate day to make any announcements). Not only is the money beneficial but a condition that the facility must be built within 2 years gives us and council a deadline to meet and that can only be a good thing. Council have also indicated that we will have to contribute to the project. While council have not been specific about this I think we should aim to provide at least $10,000 to help with the finishing touches to the project such as new equipment, seating, etc. Of course our volunteer labour will be a much required and appreciated contribution.

We will provide you with interim reports as we receive more details.

President’s Report

Its good to see players coming back to the club and enjoying the new lawn. I trust you are all enjoying it as much as I am.

Thanks to Fay & Geoff Lochrin for tree pruning a couple of weeks ago.

At the January meeting I commented on 4 goals Tony Hall had previously stated for the Canberra Croquet club and we should adopt the same. The 4 goals are:

1. Provision of good facilities, including good courts and a comfortable and versatile clubhouse.
2. Continuous recruiting to maintain the strength of the club numerically, and efficient coaching to enable players to reach their potential.
3. Maintaining the wider picture by having a number of "travelling members" and encouraging as many visitors to our own courts as possible.
4. The club must be a friendly and pleasant place for members to enjoy recreational and competitive play and social contact.

Points 1, 2 and 3 are being achieved and/or on the way to being achieved. Personally I'd have to say point 4 is sadly lacking at times and I'm not the only one that feels this way. Instead of pointing out things that are going wrong I thought I'd try a positive approach and list things we can all do to help the harmony of the club.

Court Etiquette 

1. Always carry and use ball markers.
2. Always seek permission from the owner of the ball before marking.
3. Assume all balls, especially around hoops, are in a critical position and mark it correctly and accurately.
4. Before walking onto the court look up and make sure you don't walk across the line of play.
5. When your turn ends leave the court in the shortest possible route and without walking across the line of play.
6. The player in a break has right of way from a player starting a break.
7. While playing be aware of other players.
8. Do not walk near players preparing to play a shot. Even walking down the sideline while someone is playing a shot can be distracting.
9. Avoid yelling across the court. If you do need to yell wait until the player on the court has played their shot.
10. When talking on the side line keep your voices to a minimum and while a player is within say 10 yards halt your discussion while they play their shot.
11. All players, be they high or low handicappers, have the same rights on the court.
12. Be prepared to play any member.

Club Etiquette

1. A simple hello and goodbye goes a long way.
2. When entering or leaving the premises do not walk on the court.
3. Read newsletters, emails and notice boards.
4. All members are equal. There is no such thing as a golf or association member. We all have an equal vote and say.
5. Congratulate and encourage people on their play.
6. Thank people for the work they do. Ask them if they need any assistance.
7. Believe in the fact the committee acts in the best interest of all members.
8. Accept the decisions of the committee and/or meetings.
9. Do not speak to committee members about club issues before or during a game.
10. Try and address any concerns or questions to the appropriate committee member. 
11. Do volunteer. Try and volunteer at least 1 hour every month. Many hands make light work.
12. The school program brings in $30+ per session and possible new members. Please volunteer to help. If we all volunteered we would each only have to do 1 session per term.
13. Arrive at the court 20-30 minutes prior to the start of play. During this time the court can be rolled, the club house cleaned, hoops and flags set out and the draws for the day can be decided.
14. Complete your games in a timely fashion. The times are clearly posted on the wall. Feel free to extend your games if no one else turns up but as soon as they do clear the court. This includes people turning up for practise and mowing.
15. Do not walk or practise in front of the mower. The mower is heavy and takes time to stop, keep at least 5 yards clearance.
16. Buy tickets from any committee member instead of paying cash for green fees.
17. Do recommend ways the club can improve.