LOOKING GOOD: Nowra's Margaret Sawers watches her shot yesterday during the Orange City Croquet Club carnival.
THE Orange City Croquet Club started its 20th birthday celebrations yesterday with its annual golf croquet carnival.
The event has attracted more than 20 competitors from outside Orange who, combined with local entries and will play 114 games over four days.
Twenty-four people will compete in the singles competition and the same number will line up for the doubles.
“Some of the top players from the state are here,” Orange City Croquet Club captain Martin Atkins said.
“We have players from Maitland, Toronto, Newcastle, Macquarie City, Dubbo, Young, Nowra and Strathfield.”
The singles competition was divided into three grades, known as blocks.
For the doubles, the organisers have paired up a weaker player with a stronger one to make an even playing field.
In golf croquet, players take turns in hitting the balls with the first to hit theirs through the hoop.
Once a player has sent their ball through a hoop, they move to the next hoop.
The winner is the person who wins the most hoops.
“It’s a very aggressive game because you can knock your opponent’s ball away,” Atkins explained.
“There is still a lot of skill involved.”
Atkins added golf croquet was also good for spectators because games were around 45 to 50 minutes.
“The great thing about golf croquet is everyone can sit around and watch. It’s a much more social game to play as well,” he said.
The Orange club is steadily growing and has now added Wednesday afternoon to its regular Tuesdays and Thursdays to accommodate the extra players.
The golf croquet carnival will start again from 9am today, Saturday and Sunday and will finish around lunch time on Sunday.
Spectators are welcome to attend the greens at Jaeger Reserve on Hill Street.
