Croquet tournaments back on for 2026

CHRISTMAS has come and gone and 2026 is well on the way.

Members of the Wonthaggi Croquet Club have continued with their usual play on the regular club days over this period and are now also starting their travels to other clubs for tournament play.

The first of these was a Level Play Singles event at Sale on the weekend of January 17 and 18.

Two Wonthaggi members, Mike Butterfield and Virginia Wheeler, competed in Sections 2 where Mike finished with four wins and Virginia with three wins.

The section was won by Denise Bray from Phillip Island.

John Priller, Sue Priller and Jo Butterfield competed in Section 3 with John winning four games, Sue three games and unfortunately Jo missing out.

The section was won by Lynette Taylor from Traralgon.

Section 1, with no representative from Wonthaggi, was won by John Carr from Mornington with Richard Parks from Williamstown as runner up.

The internal Singles Championships kicked off with Sections 1 and 2 playing on January 20.

Five players battled it out in Section 1 with three players, Michael Barber, Paul Andrews and Gerry Kool, finishing with three wins each.

On a hoops countback, it was Michael who triumphed with +7, Paul as runner-up with +6 and Gerry with +5.

As Section 2 had only three entrants, they played each other twice with Sue Baker coming out on top with three wins, Tom Lacey with two wins and Neil Warburton with one win.

A barbecue lunch broke up a fun day, and thanks goes to all who assisted on the day.

Well played all.

Meanwhile, president and accredited GC referee Tom Lacey, officiated at Cairnlea for the Victorian Croquet Association Golf Croquet (VCA GC) Doubles on January 21 and 22, Open GC Singles on January 24 to 26 and competed in the Australia Day Singles on January 23, where he won two games.

Sue Baker assisted on these days with the scoring and general administration.