hank you to all those members who came along and helped to introduce the participants to the wonderful world of croquet.
Thursday morning it was back to normal with members playing Ricochet and Association games.
Sheila Sawyer and Val Wallis pegged out ahead of Vicki Allen and Denise Stevens, 26 to 22, while Glenda Holcombe monopolized the court, making four hoops in one turn and proving much too strong for Carol Anderson and Margaret Roberts, 26 hoops to 11.
In the Association games, John Haydon swept all before him, making 17 hoops to Glenyce Kuilboer and Ron Smith’s nine hoops.
The second game ended with a much closer result after Richard Stevenson finished ahead of Graeme Wallis, 19 hoops to 16.
In the afternoon games, Haydon and Leo Cummins pegged out ahead of John Brader and Margaret Langford, 26 hoops to 20, but the game between Stevens/Liz Cummins and Liz Brinkman/Helen Bell ended with both pairs making 17 hoops each.
Previously, if a player made three hoops in one turn, this rated a mention, but now the standard of play is such that a player has to make four hoops in the one turn before an eyebrow is raised.
The Saturday morning Ricochet game between Wendy Hobbes and Tim O’Brien resulted in a peg out with Hobbes making four hoops in one turn to reach 26 hoops ahead of O’Brien’s 23.
Brader pegged out ahead of Irene Edwards and Val Wallis, 26 hoops to 12 in the second game.
In the two Association games, Kuilboer’s nine hoops finished ahead of Cicely Fenton’s seven, while Stevenson continued with his strong form and overcame Haydon, 17 hoops to 10.
The afternoon game between Liz Cummins/Leanne Barber and Stevens/Langford was timed out with Stevens and Langford leading, 21 to 17.
Brader and Bell were too strong for Leo and Susan Mason in the second game, pegging out with 26 hoops to 21.
The one Association game played between three players saw Smith finish with five hoops, Haydon 10 hoops and Lesley Hobbs’ nine.
A tip for new (or old) players on what you shouldn’t do when you start to play croquet - supplied by Glenda Holcombe.
If you lie full length on the ground to prevent your opponent from hitting the ball, a) they will notice you and refuse to play and b) it’s very hard to get up off the ground. The grass will also stain your white pants.
Hamilton Bowling Club report
JACK WALDRON
FIVE Hamilton women are the pride of the club after being part of the Far Western team which defeated West Coast and Corangamite at the Inter-Divisional trophy at Hamilton on Thursday.
Well done to skippers - Heather McIntyre and Jenny Pole, third - Kay Satchell, and leads - Diane Brody and Miriam Tonissen.
Social bowls was switched to Tuesday last week with Barry Dowling and James Dunn the winners with Peter Graham and Jimmy Nichol runners-up.
On Saturday there were so many players that two separate competitions were held.
Triples was played on the B green with Dennis Gay, Peter Moller and Gerard Lucas winning from Max Spiller, Bruce Marks and Rob Henstridge.
On the A green, it was pairs with Miriam Tonissen and Ken Fort narrowly winning from veteran, John McDonald and Jack Waldron.
The final championships for the year will be played out in the coming weeks.
First is the men’s 21 Up this weekend, the women’s 100 Up on March 20 and 24, the mixed pairs on April 1 and 2, and the men’s major/minor pairs on April 15 and 16.
This Wednesday the open triples tournament is being played with women to skip. Results next week.
For women and Try Bowlers there will be social bowls this Saturday. All welcome.
Congratulations to Richard Martin, who has been selected in the team of 16 to contest the state championships against the other 15 divisions in the state at Echuca in May.
Peter Graham just missed out.
Darts
ROUND three of the Hamilton and District Darts Association season saw last year’s two grand finalists play each other in their first rematch of the year.
When all was said and done, Bushrangers eventually got some revenge with a 5-4 victory over Emu Creekers.
The Emu Creekers got off to a flyer, winning the first two doubles, before Bushies fought back winning the next two, highlighted by a superb 80 peg to Bruce Shepherd.
Into the first singles, it saw Bushies Leesa Humphries take a fighting win with pegs of 16 and 40 with an average of 16.56.
When teammate, Bruce Shepherd, used his experience to win his singles with pegs of 18 and 24, and Bushies were one win away.
The Bushies captain made sure of victory when he won the last singles of the night, pegging four and eight, before Emu Creekers got a consolation win in the teams game at the end when Marianne Finn pegged a fine 34.
In the second game of the evening, Hurricanes took on the Chuckers at the Cally with Hurricanes emerging victors, 5-4, in what was a very even affair.
The doubles were evenly spread between the two teams, leaving the teams locked at 2-2 going into the singles.
Chuckers’ Brendan Jackway continued his consistent singles with pegs of eight and 12.
Hurricanes star player, Luke Walkenhorst, then continued his unstoppable form, winning his singles two straight with pegs of four and 21.
Then it was teammate, Adele Nice’s turn to extend her team’s lead when she won her first singles for the season with pegs of 32 and 18, putting her side one win away from victory.
Chuckers weren’t done with just yet, as captain, Troy Snell, grabbed a much-needed win with pegs of 10 and a magnificent 106, but it wasn’t enough with Hurricanes pegging the teams game on four to give Hurricanes the narrowest of victories.
The last game of the night saw Armed and Hammered get their first victory of the season with a dominant performance against 3 Men and a Boy, 8-1.
For the victors, Nathon Heron had a big night out, claiming the maximum five pegs including a 60 peg in the teams game.
Brett Greed also managed four pegs for Armed and Hammered, while Ben Leehane managed five tons and a couple of pegs.
For 3 Men and a Boy, Dave Milich showed some fight and won his singles with pegs of 20 and four, while captain, Mark Hibberd, managed a stunning 120 peg in the first leg of his singles.
