welcome to
NELSON BAY CROQUET CLUB
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Nelson Bay Croquet Club has been established for 29 years. It is located in the Blue Water Paradise of Port Stephens, just north of Newcastle, NSW. Membership is open to all who are interested in the game, and visitors are warmly welcomed.
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Members play all the three internationally recognised forms of Croquet – Golf, Ricochet and Association. The Club plays both social and competitive games five days each week on four professionally maintained full sized courts and has a small clubhouse on-site. We also have an active program of social events.
Playing schedule available here:
FORTHCOMING EVENTS
CLUB COMPETITIONS 2025​
Autumn Doubles
Autumn Singles
Winter Doubles
Thompson Trophy
A Grade
B Grade
C Grade
Novice
Ricochet Knockout
Spring Singles
Blowes Shield
President's Cup
9th March
13th April
1st June
17th August
27th July
13th July
29th June
August-September
28th September
19th October
16th November
HUNTER ZONE HUB ACTIVITIES
23rd January
18th February
1st March
6th March
15th March
20th March
3rd April
24th April
15th May
31st May
3rd June
7th June
21st June
Ricochet Refereeing
GC Back to Basics
Gateball Come & Try
GC Rules Workshop
GC Focus on Team Skills
Ricochet Come & Try
Ricochet Using Bisques
GC Division 1 Coaching
GC Division 3 Coaching
GC Division 1 Coaching (Alison Sharpe)
AC Friendship Day
GC Division 2 Coaching
GC Division 3 Tactics
Hunter Zone Hub activities are for all players – if you are interested contact Marion Davies to register your interest.
Email: marion.dawn6@gmail.com
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All activities are scheduled at Lake Macquarie Croquet Centre, Glendale (Toronto Croquet Club).
LATEST NEWS
AUSTRALIA DAY 2025
Sunday 26th January 2025
27 members and guests turned out for social croquet and a BBQ to celebrate Australia Day .... and the return to use of the 2 courts recently renovated.
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Peter Gordon organised a 3-hoop challenge which was won by Trevor Black. There were also prizes for the best Australia Day costumes, won by David and Penny Wilson, though Pat Edmonds must have been close to a prize.
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A great day - well done, Faby Batho
Peter Gordon presents the
Australia Day Trophy to Trevor Black
Best Australia Day costumes
Members enjoy Australia Day
CHRISTMAS / PRESENTATION LUNCH
Sunday 15th December 2024
44 members and guests attended the annual Christmas / Presentation Lunch held at the clubhouse on Sunday 15th December 2024.
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The day started with social games of croquet and games of mallet skills which were followed by lunch - BYO meat for the BBQ with salads and dessert provided by the Club.
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President David Smith then introduced the formal part of the day recognising the Club's competition winners. After welcoming all present, David introduced Margaret-Rose Thompson to present the Thompson Trophy winners before presenting the Blowes Shield and Ricochet Knockout trophies himself. Finally, Tim Meharg presented the President's Cup.
Thompson Trophy
A Grade: Pamela Barnwell
B Grade: David Wilson
C Grade: Faby Batho
Novice: John O'Shea
Blowes Shield: Liz Friend & Chris Cox
Ricochet: Peter Gordon
President's Cup: Peter Gordon
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David then presented the NSW Champion of Champions Trophy to Pamela Barnwell who had represented Nelson Bay as the Thompson Trophy A Grade winner..
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The presentations were completed with David presenting the President's Award jointly to Rob Batho and Les Guzowski for their contributions to the Club and Life Member badges to the two current Life Members, Margaret-Rose Thompson and Trevor Black.
The presentations
Christmas Lunch
Social croquet and mallet skills
PRESIDENT'S CUP
Sunday 8th December 2024
The President’s Cup is the final championship of the year - Golf Croquet level-play singles open to all members of the club but limited to 16 players. Players are seeded into 4 blocks with the winners of each block contesting semi-finals and final - 13-point games with no time limit with a 19-point final.
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Peter Gordon, Greg Long and Rob Batho shared 2 wins each in Block A with Peter finishing top on hoop count-back (+10 to Greg’s +4 and Rob’s +1). Brenda-Lee Peet won Block B with 3 wins ahead of Marty Quirke. Chris Cox won Block C with 3 wins ahead of Faby Batho. Rod Peet won Block D with 3 wins ahead of David Wilson, Col Bailey and Jane Scorer each with 1 win. Each block was won by the top seed in that block.
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In the semi-finals, Peter Gordon beat Rod Peet 7-4 and Chris Cox beat Brenda-Lee Peet 7-4. In an entertaining and close final decided by a narrowly missed hoop or clearance, Peter triumphed 10-7 over Chris.
The championship featured some great croquet and was a fitting end to the competitive club program for 2024.
President's Cup Semi-Finalists
(l to r) Peter, Rod, Chris, Brenda-Lee
Rod congratulates Peter after their semi-final
Play from the semi-finals
RICOCHET HANDICAP SINGLES KNOCK-OUT
August - December 2024
9 players entered the annual Nelson Bay Croquet Club Ricochet Knock-out Competition. The handicap competition was played from August to December, 26-point games with a 2-hour time limit.
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The semi-finals saw 2023 champion David Wilson play Rae Uptin and 2021 champion Peter Gordon play Gary Allen. Rae used her 6 handicap shots effectively to beat David 20-14 while Peter prevailed 17-12 over Gary, despite Gary having 5 handicap shots.
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The final was a close affair with Peter running-out the 17-15 winner. Peter’s ability to make long roquets overcame Rae’s 6 handicap shots.
Peter Gordon
Knock-out Ricochet Champion 2024