Renaissance Retirement Living are proud to have Wynnum Croquet Club as one of their partnership sponsored sporting clubs. With a club membership of 55 and growing Wynnum Croquet Club are increasingly becoming regarded as the Club with superior lawns and facilities as well as a strong depth of skilled players.
The national sporting body for Gateball Croquet afforded Wynnum Croquet Club the opportunity to host the 2015 National titles held over the weekend of the 4/5/6th September. Seventeen teams from Australia and overseas took part with teams from China taking out 1st and 2nd position. Canberra was the best performed domestic team losing out to the eventual winners in the semi final by one gate.
On the home front the Metropolitan South Golf Croquet Pennants Championships for 2015 were held over June, July, August with 8 clubs - Wynnum, Eildon, Windsor, Merthyr, McIlwraith, Graceville, East Brisbane and Stephens forming the competition.
Village residents, Gordon Giles, Geoff Hull and Bruce Duffell made up three of the nine Wynnum squad. A minimum of four players are chosen for each round with doubles pairings sometimes requiring a team of six. As Div 1, players both Gordon and Geoff are well recognised by opposition clubs enjoying success both as doubles partners and singles rivals. It was new member Bruce who flew in under the radar after a frantic process to have him registered in time for round 1. With only days to spare Bruce’s national ID card arrived. Club Captain Geoff commented, “With a playing handicap of 6 and unknown to the opposition, it opened the way to form a perfectly balanced team structure around Bruce. Knowing the opposition and choosing the right players to get the job done is an important part of the process. The unselfish support from team mates not required for a particular round contributed further to our success”.
At the end of round 1, East Brisbane led by one win over Wynnum. A solid team performance of 14 wins to 4 losses saw Wynnum take the lead at the end of round 2. In the final round Wynnum were caught off guard when both McIlwraith and East Brisbane called in State and National players in an effort to curtail their momentum. In a nail biter Wynnum prevailed with a dominating fourth (4th) consecutive title, a feat never before recorded by any other club.
Article supplied by Geoff Hull.
