Noosa Croquet Club enters the New Year slowly but building momentum.
People are drifting back from holidays and trips away and the courts are starting to fill up.
There has been a run of quite hot weather in early January which has kept people away, but some rain, at last, and cooler weather later January has helped.
The club starts the new year with 66 members, mostly Golf Croquet players. It has a new committee elected late 2019, with John Round as President, Sally Stopps as Secretary and James Martin as Treasurer.
Previous President Niven Gugich, who served his full term and then some, has agreed to stay on as Vice-President which is a bonus for us.
The courts are as good as ever, and our ever-present grounds keeper John Olsen continues to do marvellous work, as well providing us with fruit and vegetables from the gardens surrounding the courts.
It has been suggested he set up a market stall on competition days, but still some way to go for that quantity. It is always a pleasure to play on such reliable courts.
Coming events
The first activity will be a new event, the Habner-Gugich Challenge Shield. This is for newer players who have never competed before and is a challenge between Noosa and Nambour Clubs. This inaugural event will be a home and away arrangement, where beginners can compete in a relaxed and friendly atmosphere but still feel part of a competition. The Noosa home game will be 1 February and the return game at Nambour on 29 February. The winner of the shield will be whichever club wins most games over the two rounds.
It is hoped this will encourage our newer players and they will go on to more serious competition. For Noosa, this is a plus, as we have about 12 people who want to play and have to wait for a chance – this bodes well for the future.
Some of these players will also go to Nambour for their Newish Players Day on 15 February, a relaxed day for newer players from all clubs to learn about competitive play – this is a very positive event, and it is from this that the challenge emerged.
The club’s internal competitions begins in February with the Jan van der Linden Handicap Singles Division 2. This a yearly trophy donated by the husband of a much respected past member. This competition will be held late February, with the Division 1 Singles being held in early March.
The first Come and Try Day of the year will be on Sunday morning 2 February at 9am.
New players are encouraged to come and try at any time, but the club set aside this special monthly time to encourage any groups and families in the hope the heat and early time of the year does not put off visitors.
The club will be running a special Noosa Challenge Golf competition later in the year, in September. Keep an eye open for notices of this -it is open to all comer and is usually a fun day.
– Colin Hindson
