Barry Memorial Croquet Club young guns from the mid-1970s. Back (from left): Ross Smith, Val Clarke, Peter Adsett (1976 New Zealand men's champion), Judy Clarke (1976 NZ women's champion) and Linda Duke. Front: Kevin Smith, Richard Clarke (1972 NZ open champion), Joe Hogan (1977 North Island open winner) and David De La Rue.
Barry Memorial Croquet Club young guns from the mid-1970s. Back (from left): Ross Smith, Val Clarke, Peter Adsett (1976 New Zealand men's champion), Judy Clarke (1976 NZ women's champion) and Linda Duke. Front: Kevin Smith, Richard Clarke (1972 NZ open champion), Joe Hogan (1977 North Island open winner) and David De La Rue.
Players came from far and wide and long ago for the inaugural Joe Hogan International Invitational Croquet Event in Gisborne.
Award winners did not get to take home the trophies they received at the prizegiving, but they weren’t complaining.
The trophies were symbolic of the attractions of the traditional form of the game – association croquet – and were later returned to the trophy cabinet of event organiser and former world croquet singles champion Joe Hogan.
Played at the Barry Memorial Croquet Club off Aberdeen Road, the tournament showcased a sporting and family-friendly culture.
Those taking part came from England, Scotland, Palmerston North, Napier and Gisborne.
Four of the players had competed in the association croquet national men’s championship in Dannevirke. The Barry club’s Hogan retained the title he won last year. It was the sixth time he had won it, the first being in 1981.
Two local “old hands” – signed-up club members – accepted invitations to play. Kevin Smith has resumed playing after a 40-year break from the game and Don McConnochie is back from a 25-year break.
Kevin Smith’s older brother Ross Smith was a spectator at this event, but is also back playing after a 40-year break.
Dennis Bulloch, of Palmerston North, has been playing croquet for 60 years, the last 55 of those at national and international level. He will travel to England this year to play in the British Open, among other tournaments.
“Playing in our teens was a great way to get into the sport,” Hogan said.
“But its great attraction is that you can continue playing a high-quality game in your 60s and 70s while travelling the world.
“In Barry Memorial Croquet Club, we have a 97-year-old woman playing the game and playing it well.”
Hogan, 66, flies to Wellington on Thursday to play in the Croquet New Zealand Top 8 Association Croquet Invitation tournament.
The top eight available association croquet players in New Zealand will compete for the Croquet Association Silver Tray at the Wellington Municipal Croquet Club courts.
Hogan, inaugural world singles champion in 1989, is seeded eighth.
He organised the Gisborne invitational event, held on the first Saturday this month, to celebrate the reinvigoration of association croquet at Barry Memorial Croquet Club.
Hogan likens association croquet to the longer forms of cricket, and is pleased the club has enough people interested in taking part to have it played on Saturdays.
“I’ve always played golf croquet [a shorter form of the game] and it’s good to see that a lot of golf croquet players are really supportive,” he said.
“We’re just improving the markers for a small sport. We have over 40 members ... we’ve never had that many in the history of the club.”
Hogan’s use of his own trophies to enliven the invitation event prizegiving had an unexpected spin-off. When they heard of the plan, players helped his wife Robyn give the trophies a good polish for their airing.
The trophies presented were the tray Hogan received for his 1989 world singles championship win (presented to David Clay); the cup (presented to Chris Versey) and hand-crafted mallet (presented to Dennis Bulloch) that he received for winning the inaugural Chattooga Grand Slam in Cashiers, North Carolina, in 1990; an oblong tray (presented to David Houston and Charles Ostler) for being runner-up in a pro-am competition at the same event at the Chattooga Club; and a square tray (presented to Kevin Smith and Don McConnochie) for being runner-up to Robert Fulford at the Chattooga Grand Slam in 1991. Fulford is a six-time world singles champion who had just started his run of international success.
The games in the Hogan invitational were all doubles, with alternate stroke breaks that allowed for more time on court for everyone.
The trophies presented at the completion of the Joe Hogan Invitational International Croquet Event at the Barry Memorial Croquet Club came from the trophy cabinet of the organiser, Joe Hogan. When players heard that award winners would be presented with the trophies – which would be returned to the cabinet afterwards – they set about giving them a good polish. Award winners are (from left): David Houston (Scotland) and Charles Ostler (England), joint winners of the pro-am; Dennis Bulloch (Palmerston North), Grand Mountain Mallet Croquet Champion; David Clay (Napier), the Joe Hogan Croquet Excellence Tray; Chris Versey (Napier), the Association Croquet Travellers Archaic winner; Kevin Smith (Barry Memorial Croquet Club) and Don McConnochie (Barry Memorial CC), joint runners-up in the pro-am.
The day’s play comprised four doubles matches. Players had two matches each, with a change in partner for their second match.
In a friendly yet competitive atmosphere, newer players improved their game as the day progressed.
Among the notable achievements was McConnochie’s continuous break of 10 hoops with his doubles partner.
The results showed the honours were well spread. McConnochie, Charles Ostler and Hogan had two wins each, while Smith, Bulloch and David Clay had a win each.
The awards emphasised the sporting element of the contest.
First-equal sportsmanship award for great attitude and their travel from Scotland and England to be present for the invitational went to David Houston and Charles Ostler.
Second-equal sportsmanship award for great attitude and their travel from Napier for the invitational went to Chris Versey and David Clay.
Improving players’ award went to Kevin Smith (40 years between games) and Don McConnochie (25 years between games); and also for McConnochie completing a 10-point break with his partner in the second round of play.
The Grand “Blue Ridge Mountain” Mallet went to Dennis Bulloch for his 60 years in the game of croquet and for the level of skill and coaching he showed during play in the invitational.
A barbecue at Joe Hogan’s place ended the day’s activities.
