Latest News - 2009 Club Championships

In September Benoni held their club championships with the following results:
- Singles golf champion: Viv Ridyard
- Doubles: Ron Gale and Dot Faber.

Brief History

At the beginning of 2007 the Benoni Bowling Club made it known that they were looking for members. I approached them and asked if the members had to be bowlers. Would they like to consider croquet players. After a short committee meeting they agreed and the Croquet section was launched.

Facilities

The club has three greens and they have allocated one of them to the croquet section. As this particular green was disused for a while they have spend a lot of time and effort to get it up to standard. Today we have a green that runs true and one that has the speed "tuned" for croquet. Hoops were made and a set of 14 club mallets were also constructed. We purchased two sets of balls and "borrowed" two other sets from Zoo Lake. These need to be returned as soon as possible. Two "almost full size" courts were laid out. The club has its own club house and is fortunate to have a viable bar that pays for the maintenance of the lawns. It is located in the centre of Benoni just behind the swimming pool.

Players

After a slow start, membership has grown steadily and we have recently signed up our 21st member. None of the members had ever played croquet before but they are learning fast and we have a number of players who could stand up in most tournaments. Two of the players are now playing the association version of the game and currently have 16 handicaps. I have been teaching them but we will need some better coaching and some competition in the near future. Most of the players are regulars who pitch up every Sunday afternoon for the game. We are currently trying to start a Saturday group as well. Three of the players have strong links with the Girl Guide Movement so an effort is to be made to recruit from that area. This will bring much needed youth into the game. A Guides day is planned for the near future. An attempt will be made to create a proficiency badge for croquet Two of the players have ambitions to become referees.

Competitions

The first competition that the club participated in was the Jonathon Paton Trophy. Considering that this was the first contact made with players outside of the club they did very well, and demonstrated that their knowledge of the new rules was up to standard. An interclub competition has been instituted in Gauteng. Our first contact was with Zoo lake and as a club all we can say is that there is much to learn. A group was preparing to take part in the Highlander but circumstances forced us to abandon the idea for this year. Every opportunity is being taken to make contact with players from outside the Benoni club.

Visitors wishing to play at the club are welcome.

Contact Details

Contact:	Garth Beresford (President)
Address:	TBC
Tel:	+27 (0)11 425-0293
E-mail:	bbc@croquet.org.za