| On the 27th October 1982, Ian Gillespie,
President of the South African Croquet Association gave a talk and
video presentation at Kelvin Grove to assess the possible
interest in the sport with a view to forming a croquet section
within the club. The first meeting was held on 15th November 1982, when
a committee was formed with Ian as Chairman and 80 members were
enrolled. Assistance initially was given by David Cunningham,
Keith Collins, Andy Knox and Corrie Phillips who coached beginners
until 1984 when D. Day took over. The first game was played on
27th November 1982 with the opening ball being struck by Eric Grubb
Chairman of Kelvin Grove. David continues to help in laying out
the courts and Eric continues to win prizes.
Organised play was arranged for Saturday afternoon and Sunday
morning, which was changed to Tuesday and Saturday afternoons.
In 1987 play was moved from the Grove bowling green where we had
started to our present position after extensions to the bowling
green to accommodate four small courts which are changed to two
large ones on Wednesday and Thursday. Kelvin participates in the
Robinson Cup which started in 1992 also the WP Golf Croquet League
which started in 2004 and at present runs seven club competitions.
Twilight croquet on Friday was introduced by Clare Stableford in
1992. Membership at present is 89 having peaked at 115.
This year the SA National Tournament Golf Croquet will be played
at Kelvin. In November three of our members, Carole Jackson,
Clare Stableford and Anne Oxton will take part in
the inaugural International Ladies Golf Croquet Tournament in
Cairo.
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