From the President

Dear Members,

Once again Kelburn players have done superbly in Interclub competition.

Jim Strachan and Mary Egley winners and Dave Egley, Pádraig O’Connor, Jim Brough, David Robinson/Pádraig O’Connor, Alison Robinson and Kathleen Coleridge all runners-up in their GC and AC competitions. Wouldn’t Colin be chuffed with their successes, as we all are!

Last night, John and I, together with Pat, Nancy and David Robinson, hosted a corporate group from Te Puni Kōkiri (Ministry of Māori Development). What a fine group they were! Thoughtful and joyous, they made us feel part of their celebration and I felt energised by being with them. None of them had ever played croquet before and they had great fun learning the game. I wonder if some will be become croquet players in the years to come.

I hope to see you at the Christmas lunch tomorrow.

Passing on a Merry Christmas and best wishes to all from Jim Strachan, who will be out of town and can't be at the lunch tomorrow. Also from Wendy Armitage, who is in Christchurch preparing for a flight to Brisbane on Monday. She said she is looking forward to seeing everyone when she is next back visiting Wellington.

Merry Christmas to you all.

Mary Stevens

From the Club Captain

Competition results

Congratulations to all competitors.

GC Wednesday Interclub: winners Jim Strachan and Mary Egley; runners up: Dave Egley and Pádraig O’Connor.
GC Sunday interclub: Jim Brough and David Robinson/ Pádraig O’Connor were runners up in their section.
AC Monday interclub: Alison Robinson and Kathleen Coleridge won their section, and were runners-up in the final.
AC Challenges: we were unsuccessful in our challenges.

Congratulations Jim Strachan

Jim Strachan's GC handicap is now 6.

Competitions coming up

GC Lower NI teams; selection by nomination at regional level. Interclub competitors and some others have been advised of this.
KMCC members will be playing in GC Open singles (Shona MacFarlane) at Waimarie and GC handicap doubles (Metlife) at Paraparaumu.

December/January

We don’t close over the holiday season but leave it up to club members
to decide when they wish to play.

AC Open Championship singles 27 to 30 December

This is hosted by Wellington MCC, and we will provide lawn/s for the overflow if needed. There will probably be no more than two lawns needed.

Attracting new members

Some of the people who attended corporate functions are keen to come back and play again, and we have had a couple of enquiries from people who wish to try out croquet. Dates for these are yet to be confirmed.

Lawns unavailable Saturday 15 - Sunday 16 January

We are hosting the WCA playoff of the AC Arthur Ross Memorial tournament. The winner will represent the Wellington region at the national final.

Close-off for entering GC grade competitions Tuesday 18 January

If you haven’t already done so let me know if you want to enter. The grade you will play in will be according to your handicap on this date.

Wednesday 19 January - WCA Special General Meeting

This is being held at Plimmerton to ratify proposed changes to the constitution. Any queries? Talk to Alison Robinson.

https://wellingtoncroquetassociation.weebly.com/uploads/5/8/5/0/58502757/211009_draft_rules_wca_fv.pdf

Any interest in croquet on Wellington Anniversary Weekend?

Monday 24 January – We can organise some non-AHS GC or AC games if there is interest or members can play competition games.

GC Upton Cup competition starts 31 January 5.30 pm

This is a doubles competition run weekly until the end of daylight saving. Scoring is on an aggregate basis, that is, by the number of hoops made by a team. Entry fee is $5 per person per evening. There are three 25-minute doubles games followed by light refreshments. Enter by being at the club by 5.15 pm; you don’t have to play each week.

Consultation on 6th edition of GC Rules

See link below – any comments, let me know by Christmas. https://croquet.org.nz/6th-edition-of-gc-rules-consultation/

Jane Norman

Where to find tournament information

WELLINGTON CROQUET ASSOCIATION WEBSITE:

Summary of tournaments/events including closing dates:

https://wellingtoncroquetassociation.weebly.com/programme.html

Details of tournaments

https://wellingtoncroquetassociation.weebly.com/wca-tournaments.html

Flyers/posters

https://wellingtoncroquetassociation.weebly.com/flyers--posters.html

These include a new tournament, a GC teams event at Paraparaumu on 12 – 13 March – see below. This is limited to eight teams.

https://wellingtoncroquetassociation.weebly.com/uploads/5/8/5/0/58502757/forsyth_barr_flyer__1_.pdf

CROQUET NZ WEBSITE

CNZ tournament calendar

https://croquet.org.nz/tournament/

New Zealand Select vs New Zealand U21

8-9 January at United Club Christchurch. Jessica Bullen (Paraparaumu) will be in the U21 team and Felix Webby (Wellington) in the Select team. This may be streamed.