Second for Thames Valley

The Thames Valley Golf Croquet team recently competed in the UNITE Competition in Auckland.

The UNITE competition is held annually over Anniversary weekend.

The team was made up of members John O’Neal and Keith Mason from Paeroa, Clem Apted from Te Aroha and Dallas Cooke, Barry Jenkins and Geoff Young from Morrinsville.

Dallas Cooke is Geoff Young’s daughter and they are both New Zealand representative golf croquet players.

Competitors played both singles and doubles matches during the three day competition at Eden Epsom and Pt Chevalier Croquet clubs.

All teams were made up of three grades, premier, intermediate and primary.

At the end of the competition the Thames Valley team finished first equal with Bay of Plenty, but lost narrowly on a very close count back of hoops to claim second place.

This is a massive achievement for the Thames Valley team as they were up against teams from Northland, Auckland, Counties, Waikato and Bay of Plenty. Official results were as follows: Bay of Plenty: 48 72 net hoops. Thames Valley: 48 67 net hoops. SINGLES. Premier: Dallas Cooke 7/10; Geoff Young 7/10.

Intermediate: Clem Apted 7/10; Barry 6/10.

Primary: John O’Neal 5/10; Keith Mason 10/10. DOUBLES Premier: 1/5. Intermediate: 4/5. Primary: 1/5.