welcome to
NELSON BAY CROQUET CLUB
(Remember to scroll down each page to see all the content)
Nelson Bay Croquet Club has been established for 30 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.
Members play two the three internationally recognised forms of Croquet – Golf and Ricochet - at present, there are no regular Association games. 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:
GALA DAY - Contribution to Stroke Foundation
The 2026 Gala Day was dedicated to the memory of Peter Gordon and raised a very creditable $2,200 for the Stroke Foundation
FORTHCOMING EVENTS
CLUB COMPETITIONS 2026
July/October
Sunday 5th July
Sunday 2nd August
Sunday 13th September
Sunday 25th October
Ricochet Knock-Out
Thompson Trophy - B Grade
Thompson Trophy - A Grade
Blowes Shield Doubles
President’s Cup
HUNTER ZONE HUB ACTIVITIES 2026
Tuesday 7th July
Tuesday 14th July
Jumping Workshop @ 1pm
hoop Setting & Lawn Workshop @ 1pm
Hunter Zone Hub activities are for all players – if you are interested contact Nancy Ainsworth to register your interest.
Email: nancyainsworth146@bigpond.com
All activities are scheduled at Lake Macquarie Croquet Centre, Glendale (Toronto Croquet Club).
COACHING DATES 2026
Regular Coaching Sessions
Monday afternoons – all, content as required
State Pennants – as requested by teams
To be confirmed – beginner coaching
Coaching – Pam Barnwell & Derek Bull
Monday 3rd August (morning) – Division 2 Tactics
LATEST NEWS
GALA DAY
Wednesday 17th June 2026
Local Federal Member for Paterson and Club Patron Meryl Swanson opened the 2026 Gala Day before playing a few hoops and almost winning a nearest the peg competition.
35 members and 17 visitors from Maitland, Mt Sugarloaf, Newcastle National Park and Toronto croquet clubs attended to play social games of croquet and to try their luck at tests of mallet skills, such as run the hoop tunnel, jump the tyre and hit the hole on the ramp. Players also enjoyed several neatest the peg competitions before and after the BBQ lunch. The meat for the BBQ was sponsored by Guy’s Choice Cuts in Magnus Street, Nelson Bay.
In July 2025, the Club and the wider Hunter community lost a much-loved member, Peter Gordon, to a massive stroke and the Gala Day was dedicated to raising funds for the Stroke Foundation in his memory. The Gala Day raised $2,200 for the Stroke Foundation.
A very successful Gala Day with a great result for the Stroke Foundation.
Margaret-Rose Thompson OAM
cuts the birthday cake
Local Federal MP Meryl Swanson with Rae Black
On the courts at Gala Day
Raffle and BBQ Lunch
THOMPSON TROPHY C GRADE
Sunday 14th June 2026
The Thompson Trophy C Grade competition was held on Sunday 14th June 2026. 14 members entered the competition and were seeded into 4 blocks, 2 blocks of 4 players and 2 blocks of 3 players. The winners of the blocks then played a semi-final and final.
In their respective blocks, Barry Elliott, Frank Orton and Bryce Patterson were unbeaten in the round-robin play to qualify for the semi-finals. In Block B, Prue Patterson and Kath Orton both won 2 games, but Prue qualified for the semi-finals with a better hoop difference, +5 to -1.
In the semi-finals, Bryce narrowly beat wife Prue 5-4 while Frank eased past Barry with a 7-3 win. In a close fought final, Frank prevailed.
Action from the competition
Frank Orton receives the trophy
from Vice-President Marty Quirke
Semi-finalsits
MARGARET-ROSE THOMPSON OAM
On 8th June 2026, the King's Birthday Honours 2026 awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia to Life Member Margaret-Rose Thompson OAM for her services to croquet.
Margaret-Rose was instrumental in establishing the Club in 1996 and was one of the 17 founding members. She was also one of the agitators who persuaded Port Stephens Council to provide a facility at Tomaree Sports Complex for the sole use of the Club in May 2008. She served as President of the Club in 2000/01. Her contribution to establishing the Club was recognised by the naming one of the Club’s then two lawns after her and her beloved late husband Tommy and her being made a Life Member of the Club in 2008.
She has coached, played and refereed all three forms of croquet and has refereed at international, national, state and club level. Ricochet was devised in 1984 by an Australian, John Riches of Adelaide - for many years, she was the main proponent of RC in NSW, running coaching sessions and referee courses throughout the State. Despite her husband Tommy’s failing health, she continued this work until recently, travelling anywhere to give coaching sessions and referee examinations (always with Tommy in the passenger seat – she did all the driving) – she would never say no
Margaret-Rose Thompson OAM
WINTER DOUBLES
Monday 11th May 2026
The intraclub GC Winter Doubles competition was played on Monday 11th May 2026. All games were advantage handicap play, 13-point with a time limit of 50 minutes.
24 members entered the competition and were randomly drawn into pairs before being seeded into 3 blocks of 4 pairs. The 3-game round-robin block play was followed by semi-finals and a final. In Block A, Greg Long & Bryce Patterson and Iris Maartensz & Geoff Yonge finished with 2 wins each, with Greg & Bryce declared winners on hoop difference. In Block B, Kath Orton & Barry Elliott and Faby Batho & Jan Puckeridge finished with 2 wins each, with Kath & Barry declared winners on hoop difference. In Block C, Gail Brabant & Rosemary Taylor finished on top unbeaten with 3 wins.
The semi-finals featured the 3 block winners plus the best runner-up, Iris Maartensz & Geoff Yonge. Iris & Geoff beat Gail Brabant & Rosemary Taylor while Greg Long & Bryce Patterson beat Kath Orton & Barry Elliott in the semi-finals. In the final, Greg Long & Bryce Patterson ran out winners of the Winter Doubles.
Winners Bryce Patterson and Greg Long
Winter Doubles