CROQUET NEWS:  World-Class Field Tipped

25 January 2008
Maitland Croquet Club, East Maitland, New South Wales, Australia
by Cecilia Peoples in Maitland Mercury, Maitland, New South Wales, Australia

READY FOR AUSTRALIA DAY : Maitland Croquet Club tournament manager Peter Smith and club president Lynn Dooley.

Maitland Croquet Club’s first major carnival of the year will attract a world-class field when its annual Australia Day event is held in Maitland Park on Saturday.

Tournament manager Peter Smith and president Lynn Dooley said all was ready for the club’s annual golf croquet carnival and they were excited at the players set to assemble for the singles event.

Players from as far away as the North Coast and down to the South Coast will be among those to descend on the club’s “exquisite” lawns, including a strong contingent of Maitland representatives.

The event’s elite open block contains four world-ranked players, two NSW representatives and one Australian representative.

Three Maitland players are included in this block, Graham Dark, Geof McDonald and Pam Gentle.

They will do battle with National Park’s Chris Pont and Max Wiltshire and Forster’s John Coates.

Wiltshire won the event at Maitland last year.

There are three other world-ranked players in the handicap blocks, including Maitland’s Jacky McDonald and Robyn Wallace, while President of Croquet Australia John Fransen will also feature.

Maitland has nine players listed in the World Rankings in total, which is the largest contingent of any Australian club.

The day is a great opportunity for Maitland to witness world-class croquet without having to leave town.

Spectators are welcome to come and watch the action and may even be tempted enough to take up a mallet and try out this simple, but highly complex game.

Some 90 matches will be played on Saturday and spare a thought for tournament referee Nelson Bay’s Margaret Thompson.

Smith said Thompson had the “most important job on the day” and will be joined by nine other referees to help the day run smoothly.

“We also have several other volunteers on the day and without them the day would not be possible,” Smith said.

“The lawns are in exquisite condition, they’ve been top dressed and they look spectacular and we’re looking forward to all of our visitors coming.”

The event will feature two sections of play, an open division and five handicap divisions.

The open division caters for players with a handicap of four or less and the other five divisions cater for players with handicaps from five up to 10.

A prize pool of $500, courtesy of Maitland City Council, is on offer and will be shared among the winners and runner’s up on the day.

“For most people it’s the event that starts the year off,” Smith said.

“They’ve had their Christmas goodies and now it’s ‘right, let’s get into it’.”