The Season’s Last Tournament

Last year the Te Mata Croquet Club in Havelock North about 20 minutes drive from the Marewa Club of which I am a member held a tournament.  It was just before I was due to leave New Zealand for the winter and I decided I couldn’t play.  Tony Stephens – one of New Zealand’s top players for the last 50 years! – asked Zoe to partner him and they won.  This year he asked her to play again.  Her grandmother, Judy (who lives near Palmerston North, and whom I know through croquet and whom Jayne and Colleen and I stay with when we are at tournaments there) asked me if I’d partner her at the tournament.  It was a great tournament played over 2 days under wonderful sunny, cloud free skies.  Idyllic.  Tony and Zoe won again.  Judy and I came second.  What a wonderful end to the tournament season.

Zoe, Tony (who also managed the tournament) and the sponsor.

(standing) Judy and me

Success Is Sweeter Than Failure

Important: This post carries a self-indulgency warning! 

Well I can’t deny that I’ve had a Good Day.  I have mentioned previously that I wanted to win the Sweetapple Trophy for a third consecutive year.  The Trophy is, ostensibly, for the ‘best’ Golf Croquet player in the Club.  By that I mean it’s an open competition and played without handicaps.  In theory, therefore, the best player will win.  Of course life isn’t like that but looking at the list of past holders of the trophy it would seem to have a certain validity.  For the previous two seasons I have had the lowest handicap in the Club.  That is no longer the case and I’ve had a relatively bad season as regular readers of this blog will know.  But I’m playing well at the moment.  And I’ve won again.  And I’ve achieved my ambition. 

Now I want Zoe to improve and have a really good season and take the trophy next year.  Then I’ll be really happy.

Off To Palmerston North

Tomorrow I shall be playing an inter-club match against Te Mata in the morning and then Jayne and Colleen and I are setting off in Lucy for a weekend tournament in Palmerston North.  This is the tournament in which Zoe and I won the doubles last year.  We had hoped to defend our title but this afternoon Zoe sprained her ankle and is hors de combat for a while. 

It’s a great shame for me because this would have been the last opportunity for us to partner each other this season.  Zoe has been the dream partner and we have a rapport which means that we rarely have to do anything other than exchange brief looks in a match if either is in doubt as to a course of action.  Consequently our play flows.  We didn’t end up too badly in The Nationals last week. In January 2009 I said that I fully expected Zoe to become a better player than I am.  Well she’s not quite beating me around the lawns yet but I still think it’s just a matter of time.  Certainly I hope that next season she will move on to higher things with a partner who can take her further in her journey that I am able to.  Hopefully we’ll still partner each other in some of the club doubles.

I Had Mixed Hopes

The one Club competition I would like to win this year is the Sweetapple Trophy which I have won for the last two years. I would love to make it three in a row.  Having said that the competition is hard this year in that I'm not playing as well as I was this time last year and the general standard in the Club for Golf Croquet has, in my view, risen since last year.

Today I played Zoe whom some of you will recall is my Doubles partner and a young lady (now 16) whom I hold in very high regard.

I said that if she beat me today there would be a condition: she must go on and win the trophy. 'Twas not to be. I beat her.

Never have I had such mixed feelings about a win. I wanted to win. But deep down I wanted Zoe to win. I so much want her to prove to me that she can fulfill the potential I know that she has.

Next year......

The Lower North Island Teams Tournment

This is one of those occasions when I am not only using someone else's photgraph (with their permission) but also blogging for my own records.

This is the Hawkes Bay team for the Lower North Islands Tournament.

Left to right: Back Row Don Reyland (Te Mata) Sandra Bathgate, Gaynor Robertson and Jayne Powis (Marewa)

Front row: Zoe Petterson (Marewa) and Annette Reyland (Te Mata)

They won!

The Winners

The winners of the Te Mata Golf Croquet Doubles Tournament were Tony Stephens and Zoe Petterson.

The sponser of the Tournament on the right of Tony and Zoe with Leon Roselli the joint founder of the Club in the background.

Did I Tell You?

My partner for the Rose Gardens Doubles Tournament in Palmerston North was Zoe: A fifteen year old with huge potential to go all the way in New Zealand croquet and who has dropped in handicap from a 12 to a 10 in the last few weeks.   I don't think I have ever played with anyone with whom I've had a greater understanding.  We seemed instinctively to know what each of us required from the other.  We won the Tournament without dropping a single game. It was exceptionally rewarding.

At one stage I was flagging.  I'd played a hard week in the Nationals and this was our fifth or six game of the day.  I was walking up the lawn towards my ball when Zoe came up behind me and casually said "Come on Graham.  Lift your game."  Had any other partner said that to me I'd probably have been slightly miffed.  As it was it seemed to be so natural.  It lightened me and, guess what, I lifted my game.  I now need a little Zoe to sit on my shoulder whenever I'm down in a match to remind me.

A Most Rewarding Day

I am blessed with a happy life. Every so often a day comes along that takes that happiness to a higher level even if for only a few hours. Today was one of those days.

I have been very restrained this visit but those who know me or have been reading my blog for the last few years will know of my great love for the game of croquet. A youngster joined the club earlier in the year who I felt from day one had a huge amount of potential. I know her Grandmother who plays for another club in Palmerston North (about 3 1/2 hours drive away). I used to be a fencing coach (so feel that I have some coaching skills) but have no croquet coaching experience nor qualification (other than that I am a good - and modest - player) so felt reluctant to offer her assistance. Her Dad approached to say that her Grandmother had suggested that they ask me to help her. So they did. I was just so thrilled.

Today we had our first session. I was able to identify some areas for improvement but, more importantly, I think I was able to show her that she had those abilities and get her to believe in them. After the coaching session we played two games. I had to give her a lot of free shots because of the difference in handicaps. That, of course, brought us onto a level playing field. She beat me 7:5 7:5 with me giving no quarter and playing some very good croquet. Which told me and her quite a lot. If she sticks at it and develops her talent and self belief in two years time she can be better than I am. I look forward to that day.

In the meantime I will bask in the happiness of the moment and the knowledge that in some tiny way I might have helped her on her way.