CROQUET NEWS: Kirk's in Career-Best Form on Croquet Greens

14 November 2006
Quarry Hill Croquet Club, Bendigo, Victoria, Australia
in Bendigo YourGuide, Bendigo, Victoria, Australia

THROUGH THE HOOP: Croquet ace Rod Kirk practises on the Quarry Hill greens in the lead-up to taking on Great Britain.

In his 22 years of croquet, Bendigo's Rod Kirk says he has never played as well as he does now.

Kirk's fine recent form has earned second-place finishes in Victoria's two main tournaments - the men's state championship and the Gold Medal event.

The Gold Medal event featured Victoria's top 10 men and women's players, and after a gruelling nine matches, Kirk was second on 23 points behind Geelong's Australian representative, Stephen Foster.

“I've never played better,” said Kirk, who plays off a handicap of -1.

“I was confident going into the Gold Medal event after the state championship, and I was thinking I had a real chance of being able to win it.

“I have been playing croquet for 22 years and that was the first time I went into it thinking I had a chance of winning it, so I was rapt with the result.

“Although when you get so close, you do want to win it.” The 48-year-old will be on Melbourne's greens for tomorrow's game between Victoria and Great Britain.

The match is a warm-up for Great Britain, which will join the USA, New Zealand and Australian teams for the MacRobertson Shield tournament at Rich River and Shepparton starting this Saturday.

Kirk is a member of the Quarry Hill Croquet Club, which will hold its annual open tournament for handicaps -3 to 6 this weekend. Among the players competing in the tournament will be Kirk, clubmate Rob Mundy, Anne Crowe (Rich River) and Brian Reither (Ballarat). Play begins at 8 am this Saturday and Sunday. Events for handicaps 7 to 24 will be held on November 21 and 22.