Quite a lot of wet weather has kept the usage of the courts down in numbers. But, the start of Mahjong sessions on Wednesday mornings has brought members and friends into the Clubhouse. It does not affect the players on the courts and it brings more people into the lovely facility of our clubhouse. It is a very good initiative by several of the Management team of the club.
Pennants and Courts
Already the annual competitions for the pennants in the Gold Coast Tweed Regional Competition has commenced in Golf Croquet and Ricochet. It is unfortunate that some clubs can no longer provide teams in the Ricochet and Association Croquet codes. Interest in learning croquet is still out there in the community. Once a month the Southport Club has a Sunday morning "Come and Try Day" sponsored by the Gold Coast City Council.
Keeping people on our lawns is very important because it shows that the three courts are being utilised. Having a huge stadium being constructed nearby in time for the Olympics in 2032 means that any unused land could be swallowed up for another purpose.
St Patrick's Day
On Sunday 15th March an early celebration for St Patrick's Day was held. Players wore green clothes in honour of the day.
A magnificent buffet of home cooked food greeted the players at the end of the day. Naturally, a 'certain' beer was also a popular refreshment to make a toast to St Patrick — the patron saint of Ireland. So many of us have Irish ancestors.
Gateball Birthdays
Another celebration was for those members who play Gateball and who had birthdays at the end of February or at the beginning of March. Kerry Lamerton organised a joint birthday party at the cafe at the Hinze Dam precinct to the west of the Gold Coast. We all had a really good lunch followed by a slice from one or more of the three big birthday cakes that were home baked by Eunice Frater. It was a very convivial celebration. Second from left is Beryl Phillips who celebrated her 97th birthday.
Gateball Competition
The first of the Gateball Competitions was held by the Moreton Bay Gateball Club at Sandgate from 14–16th March. It was a good beginning to the year for the Southport team that was placed 2nd out of 8 teams.
Congratulations! The presentation was made by Judy Stringer on behalf of her husband. The shield and competition was in honour of Max Stringer who had been a member of that Club.
The next Gateball Competition will be the annual Triples competition to be held at Southport on 12th April.
State Representatives
Playing in the QLD Association Croquet team is club member, Kathie Grant. She will be in Perth from 15th–19th April. Best wishes to Kathie and to all of the Queensland players.
Recently there was one of our dedicated club members — Mary McMahon who played in the NSW Golf Croquet Women's Open Singles Championship. Mary played many excellent games, reached the Final and was placed 2nd in the NSW Championship which was a very strong competition. The addition of two of our players to the Queensland Golf Croquet Squad is an indication of the standard of the practice sessions and the competitive games going on at Southport. Congratulations to President, Charlie Ernst, and Treasurer, Gwenda Brennan.