FIVE members of Nelson Bay Croquet Club travelled to Nowra for the NSW Division 2 (handicaps 5 to 8) Golf Croquet Championships.
The doubles event was played 8-9 April with the singles played 10-12 April.
Qualifying games were level play of 13-points with a 50-minute time limit; the semi-finals of the singles were played as 19-point games.
17 pairs entered the doubles which were played in two blocks of 8 and 9 players respectively with the top 4 in each block progressing to the knock-out finals.
Rob Batho playing with Paul Coomer (Newcastle National Park) topped Block A with 7 wins from 8 games.
Liz Friend & Marty Quirke topped Block B with 6 wins from 7 games. Faby Batho & Sherry Gordon had 4 wins in Block B to finish 5th, failing to make the finals by 1 win. Rob & Paul reached the semi-final losing to Jeff Guider & Anthony Hammond (Newcastle National Park) 5-6 while Liz & Marty reached the final to lose to Jeff & Anthony 4-7. Heartbreak for Marty who lost in the final of the 2025 Division 2 GC Doubles played in Ballina.
24 players entered the singles which were played in 4 blocks of 6 players with the top 4 in each block progressing to the knock-out finals. Sherry Gordon finished 3rd in Block A with 2 wins from 5 games with a hoop difference of +4. Marty Quirke topped Block B winning all 5 games. Rob Batho topped Block C with 4 wins with Liz Friend 4th with 3 wins. Rob, Liz, Sherry and Marty all qualified for the knock-out finals but only Marty progressed beyond the round-of-16, eventually losing in a semi-final 7-10 to Keith Brodie (Coutts Crossing) and then the 3rd/4th play-off to Anthony Hammond (Newcastle National Park) 6-8 to finish 4th. Again, heartbreak for Marty who lost in the final of the 2025 Division 2 GC Singles played in Ballina.
Rob Batho won the consolation knock-out for the players losing in the round-of-16 by beating Jeremy Tenison-Smith (Killara) 7-5 in the final; Liz Friend finished 3rd beating Glenn Sellers (Toronto) 7-6 in the 3rd/4th play-off. Edward Hoogenboom (Orange City) won the Championship.
Thompson Trophy Novice
The Nelson Bay Croquet Club intraclub Thompson Trophy Golf Croquet Novice competition was played on Sunday 12th April 2026.This competition is for members with a GC handicap or 12 or greater who have not previously won and Club competition. The games were level play of 13-points with a 45-minute time limit.
9 members entered and the competition was played in three blocks of 3 players in a round-robin of 2 games each followed by a knock-out semi-final and final. The three block winners were Iris Maartensz, Rae Black and Prue Patterson, each winning 2 games. The next best player was Pat Edmonds with 1 win and a hoop difference of 0, just ahead of Rosemary Taylor with 1 win and a hoop difference of -1.
In the semi-finals, Rae Black beat Pat Edmonds 4-3 in a very tightly contested game, while Prue Patterson ran out a 5-3 winner over Iris Maartensz In the final, Rae dominated to take the Thompson Trophy Novice 6-2 in a deserved win.
A great competition, well-organised by Club Captain Trevor Black.
By David WILSON
You can help your local paper.
Make a small once-off, or (if you can) a regular donation.
We are an independent family owned business and our newspapers are free to collect and our news stories are free online.
Help support us into the future.
