CROQUET season is officially underway with Southern Grampians Shire Council (SGSC) mayor, Bruach Colliton, attending the Hamilton Croquet Club for the official season opening on Thursday.
It continues a tradition where the mayor hits the first shot of the season and club president, Jennifer Tully said it was a strong attendance for the opening day.
“I reckon we had three quarters of our members, so it was a very good roll-up,” she said.
“We usually have the mayor there, with COVID nobody knows what is open, so it just lets everyone know we are open now.
“We had a lunch on and it was great to get everyone back together.
“Now we just hope it continues on for the foreseeable future.”
Despite the restrictions, social croquet has been popular this year with competitions only allowed to resume as of this week.
Tully said the club has tried to remain engaged with its members throughout the pandemic and was excited for the return of competitions again.
“We are a very active club, we have tried to do as much as we can and we hope that we can get a good go at it now,” she said.
“We play on Thursdays and Saturdays, mornings and afternoons, but when it is really hot, we only play the mornings on Saturdays.
“We are all into different handicaps, so there are different levels.”
The club has 43 members and is already planning ahead for its annual tournament in early December.
It is Tully’s first term as club president, something she is ready to embrace.
“I have been involved with the club for over six years,” she said.
“This is my first time as president, we have got a new committee and it is going really well.
“We are getting a lot of things achieved so far and we have a lot more we want to do.”
The club is also hopeful of new members coming on board ahead of the new period of play.
“We have been locked down and a lot of people hadn’t been there for a while, and we will also welcome new members.
“We do have twilight sessions later in the season for new members to come and learn the game, but new members are welcome anytime though.”
