By Casey O'Connor
Play resumed at the Stanthorpe Mallet club last week after the greens were rested for four weeks after undergoing some much need maintenance.
Shirley Page and Liz Ellway were the first players to to test the green. The Pair played a game of Golf Croquet last Wednesday (12 Jan). Shirley Page scored eight hoops against opponent Liz Ellway, who scored a hole in one during the game.
Five of the Gateball group were eager to return to the greens after their extended break and they were back in action on Friday.
While some players seemed to take a while to warm up to their usual standard of play it was not the case for Joy Newman who barely missed a hoop or a ball during the morning’s play.
Les Williams partnered Sharyn Roser won the toss and elected to play white balls in the first two games leaving the red balls for Joy Newman, Heather Widderick and Grace Howard.
In the first half of the opening game both teams struggled to get all their balls into play. Whites trailed for most of the game, before evening the scores. In the final five minutes of play, reds pulled ahead after scoring hoop three and Agari to claim a 10-7.
The second game was a much closer however Whites made some tactical errors; meanwhile Newman was playing accurate long shots. Reds scored two Agaris in their 15-12 win.
Following the break Newman and Widderick played the white balls with Williams, Roser and Howard playing the reds. Reds got off to a flying start as Whites struggled to put their balls into play. They went on to dominate the game scoring a comfortable 16-8 win.
In the final game Red again took an early lead with Whites again slow to put all balls on the court. The eight ball only coming into play on the last shot of the game to a big cheer from all the players. After dominating again Reds scored another win by the comfortable 17-7 margin.
