PORTLAND Croquet Club member Michael Edwards has claimed the division two title at the Victorian Country Regional Association Croquet Championships.

Played at Traralgon and Morwell earlier this month, Edwards was representing the South Western Croquet Association at the championships and claimed section two after winning six of his eight matches over the three-day tournament.

“It was a really tough and even competition,” Edwards said.

“Over the three days of play I actually only won by one hoop. There was three of us with six wins and two losses, and I was one hoop ahead of the second placed person.”

Edwards was one of four players to represent South Western with one player in each of the four divisions, with each division determined by handicap ranges.

A player’s handicap is determined by match results throughout the season – in short, you gain points by beating players with a lower handicap and you lose points when you lose to players with a higher handicap.

“My handicap had me eligible for division two, which is for handicaps of five through to nine.

“I am just hovering about five so I am hoping to get it down to below five which would put me into division one.”

Division two of the championships were played at Morwell.

“The format we played was Association Croquet, which is a mixture of billiards, snooker and chess played on a lawn.

“You have to run the six hoops forwards and backwards with both balls, and matches can be won by pegging out or they can be timed.

“At the championships it was timed at two hours and 15 minutes per match.

“Every match went to the full time limit, the lawns were dead slow so nobody was pegging out. It was a war of attrition.

“You have to adapt. Our lawns at Portland are fast, so it was really difficult to adjust to a dead lawn, but we all pay on the same lawn so everyone has to adjust.”

After first playing competition croquet some 26 years ago, it has only been since he retired two years ago that he has found the time to commit to the sport fully.

“When I first started I played for six years and then stopped for 18 and a half years.

“It is something I always wanted to come back to when I retired and had a bit more time.

“It is the most enjoyable sport I have ever played; the thinking and challenge of it, it’s such a strategy game.

“Although you are playing an opponent, it really is a game where you are playing yourself – having the control and putting the balls where you want them to be, always thinking ahead.

“You are building a break, not just running one hoop at a time.

“Every time I get in I expect to run nine hoops or 12 hoops, but of course it doesn’t always happen that way.”

Croquet winds down during the winter months, but you will still find plenty of players at the Portland Botanic Gardens lawns.

“We will have a social hit all through winter, and I will train a couple of times a week still, then look at the new season starting about September.”