Mallets are swinging on the ‘perfect lawn’
To The POINT
With
Derry Simonds
OUR LAWN is emerald green, not a bindi-eye or any other weed mars its perfection.
In fact, if I were 70 years younger I’d be doing cartwheels on it. Instead, I and other croquet players are marching on to it, swinging our mallets that have been in storage until Australia Day.
That is when our diligent greenkeepers gave us the signal the greens were ready for action again.
And after the binge season is over, don’t we all need exercise.
To match the perfect green, Hunters Hill Council have done their part in painting the front of the club house in Matthew St and touching up a few rough spots here and there. Thank you, guys for making us look so good.
All we need to do on our part now is to polish up our game to match the sparkle.
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2009 ENDED with the usual flurry of end-of-year parties in the clubhouse - our friends the Tara Old Girls Association, the Hunters Hill Theatre Group and, for the first time, the City Recital Hall Group.
Riverside Girls High staff came again last year for their Christmas party and their efficient sports staff took over the organisation of teams competing in golf croquet with the usual hilarity.
We are hoping to see more of their students again this year who will try croquet as one of their sporting options. Those who came for coaching last year showed they had a natural aptitude for the game (20/20 vision) and put some of their mentors to shame.
And, of course, not to forget our own Christmas party to which we welcomed six new members.
Typical of the newcomers are Jim and Nora Doughan who came in response to the publicised invitation to our Saturday morning sessions.
These have proved popular and allow anyone curious about the game to come without obligation and “have a go”, starting with the less complicated form of the game - golf croquet - which many more clubs are offering.
These sessions are presided over by our Club President Peter Dye, one of our star players and an excellent coach.
For those who don’t know, golf croquet is a simple version of the game where each play is faster than association croquet; a hoop is won by the first ball to go through it.
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JIM DOUGHAN, one of several club members who have passed the 80 mark says: “Age is not just a number. Age is when you give up on sport and retire to your armchair and watch others play.
There is a lot of fun to be had in croquet.” While it is not an old people’s game by any means, it is true that age, experience and a certain amount of guile are great assets.
Croquet is a game that can be played by one, two or four players, depending on how energetic you feel. If you are the sort of person who can be two people at once you can have a good “work out” playing all four balls in turn.
No one criticises your dud shots or your poor strategy and you can try all those fancy strokes you’ve not brave enough to try in company. The only difficulty when you play solo is patting yourself on the back when you bring off a brilliant shot.
Come any Saturday 10am-12noon and try your hand. Ring Peter 98796432.
* DERRY SIMONDS is the Hunters Hill Croquet Club Publicity Officer.
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