When Dennis Bulloch advertised that the N.Z. Gateball Championship was being held at Rose Gardens Croquet Club at Palmerston North 6-8th March, there were some very excited ex-Kiwi players in the Gateball community who were very keen to travel there to compete. As a result three teams were formed from the Queenslanders. One was called Aussie Gold which had players from Rockhampton, Caloundra and Eildon. Judy Tier from Canberra linked in with Southport and two teams were formed – Southport Red and Southport White. There were two players from Mt Gambier who joined with a player from Kew to compete in a composite team which included two local NZ players.

The Aussie Contingent

The draw for the competition was organised later than would have been desired because of the withdrawal of 4 teams from Indonesia. But the positive and very friendly atmosphere of all associated with Rose Gardens Croquet Club meant a ‘can do’ approach took over. Courts were set out for the practice day on the Friday, then early on Saturday and Sunday.

On Friday afternoon Glenda Windust who is an International referee from the Caloundra Mallet Sports Club provided plenty of valuable insights into refereeing for those who were new to the game. Thank you Glenda.

On Saturday the sun shone brightly and the lawns changed speed quite quickly. All teams suffered from balls accidentally being sent off the court.  The young fellows from Rose Gardens CC were skilful with stroking the ball but they were to be shown some hard lessons in the tactics of the game. It was a very positive time for all of them.  By the end of the afternoon, Southport Red team was undefeated after 5 games and won the Championship.The beautiful new trophy of a globe on a wooden stand was presented to the team.

In second place was the Mt Gambier Team. The players did not know each other very well yet achieved good results. Below is the photograph of them with Dennis Bulloch (in red shirt) who organised the Championship.

Barbara Northcott
Queensland State Director

Rose Gardens Croquet Club recently hosted the first New Zealand Open Gateball Championships on their lawns in the Esplanade. 

A third of the players in this tournament were from Rose Gardens and the balance from Australian clubs; Rockhampton (Qld), Southport (Qld) Canberra, Mount Gambier (SA), Kew (Vic), Caloundra (Qld) and Eildon (Qld). Some New Zealanders were guest players for Australian clubs and Croquet New Zealand President, Kathie Grant played for Southport as she is a member of that club.

The Mayor Grant Smith, having opened the tournament and run the first hoop, Saturday saw teams of five competing. Here, the tactics of the experienced Australian players told, with the eventual winners, Southport Red, being unbeaten in their five games. The Mount Gambier team were runners up. The better performing of the two Rose Gardens teams was Red Sparks, in fourth place with two wins. 

Sunday was occupied with Doubles play, and was notable for the play of the five participating Rose Gardens teenage members against their more experienced Australian opposition. Logan McKinnon and Jacob Mildenhall were unbeaten in section play, and in the final, lost a close game 16-12 to Philip Brown (Kew) and Leah O’Neill (Mount Gambier) to be runners up. Callum McKinnon and Bradley Forsyth, were second placed in their section and lost narrowly 16-12 to Kathie Grant and Barbara Northcott (Southport) in the playoff for third place.

At Rose Gardens, gateball is offered to members as a code additional to association and golf croquet, and a dozen members turned out for this tournament. We look for bigger numbers for this Tournament, next year, as interest in the game is being shown in other parts of New Zealand, and we would expect more overseas players to participate.