Peter’s influence has enabled croquet players to jump through hoops
PETER Heywood is an unassuming, insightful and generous person who has played a key role in Dubbo Croquet Club’s stunning “return from the brink.”
Four years ago it seemed all hope was lost for the “aulde club” that had intrigued visitors to Victoria Park. Members were advised that the turf court in the grounds of the City Bowling Club were to have an alternative use.
“Devastated” was how Club members described their feelings. “It was like a kick in the guts”.
Peter Heywood and others are not the type to lay down in the face of adversity and began a quest to find new premises.
Little did this band of croquet enthusiasts imagine what lay at the end of the yellow brick road – a collection of sand and synthetic tennis courts that had served the community for over half a century became an oasis for the people who wear red and white flannels and ply coloured balls with an assortment of wooden and metallic mallets.
Peter, who had entered the Croquet scene in 2009 and has served on the committee from 2013, volunteered to coordinate grants funding applications. Along the way he took responsibility for “the 95th rehearsal” for last year’s Centenary Celebrations.
“Peter researched and displayed a detailed history of the Club from the women only beginnings to the broad cross-section we have today at our stateof-the-art Muller Park complex,” nominators Kate Colewell and Patricia Shanks wrote.
“Peter has been proactive in enhancing players skills, spending countless hours tutoring and mentoring. He lent his considerable talents acting as Project manager for the first-in-australia purpose-built synthetic croquet courts and has bent his back when jobs have needed to be done,” they added.
Peter Heywood stands as a beacon in a club that refused to buckle under pressure.