NELSON Bay Croquet Club – State Championship 1st & 3rd

Nelson Bay had two pairs contesting the State Division 3 Golf Croquet Doubles Championship played at Chatswood Croquet Club between Monday 10th and Wednesday 12th July 2023 – Faby Batho & Gary Allan and Les Guzowski & Ralph Harrison.

15 pairs entered and were allocated into 2 blocks, playing a qualifying round-robin of 6 or 7 games. The qualifying games were 13-point play with a 50-minute time limit. The top 4 pairs from each block qualified for the knock-out final rounds. The finals games were 19-point play with a 1-hour time limit.

Les Guzowski & Ralph Harrison were unbeaten over 7 games in the Blue Block to qualify as top seeds for the finals.
Faby Batho & Gary Allan won 5 of 6 games in the Red Block to finish 2nd in the block and also qualify for the finals as 4th seeds.

Les & Ralph beat John & Lorraine McMillan (Chatswood) 9-6 and Faby & Gary beat Sue Clubbe & Joanne Nimmons (Mosman) 10-3 to set-up a semi-final clash between the Nelson Bay pairs. Les & Ralph won the game 9-4 to make the final where they played Janelle Gaggin & Judy Tonkin (Marrickville) – a 10-4 result in the final delivered them a State Championship. Faby & Gary beat Rosemary Howard (Chatswood) & Sue Snepp (Royal Sydney Golf Club) 10-4 to finish 3rd.

A great outcome for Nelson Bay with a 1st and 3rd finish and another State Championship to celebrate. Special mention to Les & Ralph who went through the entire championship unbeaten.

By David WILSON