Entries to the Australian Golf Croquet Men’s and Women’s Championships can be made on online. The competitions are being held in Brisbane from Saturday 2 to Tuesday 5 September, 2017. To play in the Men’s Tournament click here and to play in the Women’s click here.

Entries close on Thursday 3 August, 2017 (Midnight WA time).

The President’s AC Eights is being held at the Victorian Croquet Centre from Friday 6 to Monday 9 October, 2017.

Expressions of interest are being sought to play in this event and you can register by clicking here.

Closing date is Monday 24 July (midnight Western Australian time).

If you have any queries please do not hesitate to contact Anne Quinn.

The World Croquet Federation is calling for players wishing to participate in the 2018 Association Croquet World Championship being held at the Kelburn Croquet Club in Wellington, New Zealand from Saturday 3 to Sunday 11 February.

Australian players are asked to register their interest no later than Sunday 9 July (midnight WA time) via the ACA website by clicking here. Names will be forwarded to the AC Selection Committee. Australia is required to send the list of names to the WCF by Sunday 30 July which will also include names of those players wanting to nominate for a Wild Card Place.

The WCF on Sunday 27 August will announce those players who have been awarded Ranking Places and Wild Places.

The ACA wishes to advise that from 1 January 2018, players will no longer receive financial support i.e. contribution and entry fees with the exception of players under the age of 21 commencing. ACA’s focus will be team events such as the MacRobertson Shield, GC Teams and both the AC and GC Trans Trasman.

The format and draw for the Patron’s Trophy has been finalised. The event is being held over the Queen’s Birthday long weekend at the Wynnum Croquet Club in Brisbane.

At 8 o’clock Australian time on Thursday 4 May, Australia won croquet’s most coveted prize – the MacRobertson Shield. The tournament is named after Australian Sir MacPherson Robertson, philanthropist, entrepreneur and founder of confectionary company MacRobertson’s.

The first ever ‘test’ was between England and Australia in 1925 and Robertson presented England, the champions, with a shield which became known as the MacRobertson Shield. Australia last won the Shield in 1935.

It is fought over between the four major croquet nations – England, New Zealand, United States of America and Australia. The competition is gruelling – seventeen days, 3 five-day tests and 21 matches. In all 63 matches are played in a combination of doubles pairings and singles.

Australia’s team is Ian Dumergue, Captain, Stephen Forster, Simon Hockey, Robert Fletcher (currently number one in the world and former world champion), Malcolm Fletcher and Greg Fletcher; three brothers make up half the team. Team Manager is Peter Landrebe. Play began on Tuesday 18 April against England at Rancho Mirage in California. Australia was the victor – 12 matches to 9. The second test was against New Zealand and the result was 14 matches to 7 in our favour.

With only one day to go in the final test, Australia is playing host country, USA and has an unassailable lead 12 to six

Australia is on the brink of creating history making its first win in living memory – a drought of 82 years to come to an end as Australia wins the third test with a day to still to play/

The Shield is coming home before Australia hosts the next MacRobertson Shield in 2021.

L-R Ian Dumergue, Captain; Robert Fletcher; Greg Fletcher; Malcolm Fletcher and Stephen Forster. The sixth member of the team, Simon Hockey, was still playing when Malcolm finished his game giving Australia the win.

The progam for the Australian Golf Croquet Open Doubles and Singles Championships being played at the Victorian Croquet Centre from Saturday 6 to Tuesday 9 May and Wednesday 10 to Sunday 15 May, respectively, is now available to view or download and has been updated since the first posting on Friday 11 March.

Greg Fletcher became the second player, after Mark Saurin in 1990, and the first Australian, to win all 5 matches on his debut in the MacRobertson Shield.

Since 21 match tests were introduced in 1990 there have been 7 tests which have ended 11-10. New Zealand have been involved in 5 of them and this was the first time they have won one; having previously lost 3 times to Great Britain and once to Australia by that score.

David Maugham has now won 75 matches in the Mac; only Robert Fulford on 93 has won more. David has played 105 matches in that time and should overtake Robert Fulford's 111 during the final test.

Career records have been updated after the first round of tests at

MacRob players

Various other records including full previous results can be found at

Other records

Australia's win over England in the first test was their first over England since 1935, when Australia last won the Mac. Australia have won the Mac 3 times with all 3 wins taking place in Melbourne, Australia.

The last time Australia beat the CA's side was in the final test in 1986 at Colchester, when the CA's side played as Great Britain. Ironically that match was the last one Robert Fulford had not played in before the current match.

Since 21 match tests were introduced in 1990 the most matches Australia had previously won against England/GB was 7 in 2010. Overall Australia had previously beaten England/GB 4 times in 41 tests; drawing 3 and losing 34.

England have now lost two Mac tests in a row for the first time since 1951. Great Britain never lost two in a row.

Thursday 13 April – We all met up at the Melbourne airport at 6am for the flight to Los Angeles. The flight was extremely comfortable on the new Qantas plane. Everyone managed to eat sleep and relax and we landed in LA about 6.15am on Thursday morning – arriving before we left Australia. Picked up our transport to drive to Palm Springs but not all the luggage could fit so we upgraded to the maximum size SUV.

The drive of approximately 130 miles (210 kms) took a full three hours and it was not until the day after did I read that leaving LA heading east is the most intimidating drive in the USA and while it had its moments of chaos it did not seem any worse than Sydney!

The next two days were spent in full relaxation, getting used to the temperature and adjusting the body clock. We took a trip to Mission Hills on Friday to check out our playing venue, the time it would take to drive in the morning and the best route. The lawns were being prepared (desert weather requires a lot of watering of the lawns and care of the grass) so we were unable to have a hit until the official practice which was due to start on Sunday 16th.

Sunday 16 April – we arrived at the lawns at 7.30am – the first team – and got onto the lawns smartly. The condition report from the players was – ‘very true and flat, hoops firm and narrowly set to Regs but easier than Atkin Quadways to run (they are a Rodini hoop).

Monday 17 April – a good days’ practice of required ball movement, as the previous day was more getting the swing grooved and ready.

Tuesday 18 April – Test 1 – Day 1 Australia v England Doubles

Robert Fletcher and Malcolm Fletcher v, David Maugham and James Hopgood.
This was pretty one sided, Malcolm had the early hit, but turned the innings over when he was hampered after Hoop 2. Robert only got one lift shot attempt which missed. The highlight was the composed debut match for England’s James Hopgood.

Simon Hockey and Greg Fletcher v. Stephen Mulliner and Samir Patel.
Perfect performance from Australia, they complimented each other well, with Simon’s shooting ability and Greg’s impressive break play from tricky starting positions.

Stephen Forster and Ian Dumergue v, James Death and Jamie Burch Good match to watch, had everything, lots of good tactics, a fightback from Australia and some quality shooting. Stephen and Ian came back from 1 game down and 1 break down in the third game. This match was a good reflection of the Australian team – fighting, confident, enjoying each other’s company and ability – these qualities will be needed during the next few weeks to achieve success and reach our goals.

Australia’s MacRobertson Shield Team are winging their way to Los Angeles. The team of Ian Dumergue, Captain, Greg Fletcher, Malcolm Fletcher, Robert Fletcher, Stephen Forster, Simon Hockey and Pete Landrebe, Team Manager arrive early Thursday morning – California is seventeen hours behind Australia Eastern (sixteen and a half hours behind South Australia and fifteen hours behind Western Australia) – and drive to Palm Desert where they will reside for the next twenty-two nights.

Back row Left to Right Trevor Bassett (Reserve), Dwayne McCormick (Reserve), Simon Hockey, Greg Fletcher.
Front row Left to Right Malcolm Fletcher, Robert Fletcher, Ian Dumergue (Captain), Stephen Forster.

The first test begins after Easter on Tuesday 18 April - Australia meets England and New Zealand plays the United States.

Each test is played over five days in doubles and single combinations. Only one rest day has been scheduled between each test.

Test 2 Australia v. New Zealand; England v. the United States
Test 3 Australia v. the United States; New Zealand v. England.

To follow each nail biting result, go to Croquet Scores at https://croquetscores.com/2017/ac/macrobertson-shield

For more information about the players go to http://www.2017macrobertsonshield.com/

There will be regular updates on the team’s progress as Pete will be penning a number of reports during each test.