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Jenny Williams asked how challenging the conditions were
at the Australian 8's at the Victorian Croquet Centre. I haven't
seen a reply so here goes.
Background
There are 12 courts at the Centre. Three of the
courts (courts 8 to 10) have been used for about 15 months and are a mixture
of grasses (mainly bent grass I believe). The GBR team played a Victorian
team in a warm up for the Mac on these courts. The remaining 9 courts
are Santa Ana couch and have been in use for about 1 month.
In a macro sense all the courts are flat - I haven't found
a spot yet where it is not safe to take off behind a boundary ball. The
soil is quite sandy and hoops have been classed as 'easy' in all events
I have played at VCC. Court speed wasn't measured during the 8's,
but was measured at 9 to 10 Plummers at the previous event depending on
whether you hit with or against the wind. I feel the conditions were
similar at the 8's.
Courts 1 to 4 are in front of the clubhouse and are probably
the fastest and best courts at this stage. There are lights on these
courts.
Courts 5 to 7 are on the left hand side of the clubhouse
and are slower with more couch cover and with distinct ridges and valleys.
There are some areas where the court is not flat.
Courts 8 to 10 are on the right hand side of the clubhouse
and are the flatest courts with patchy grass cover.
Courts 11 and 12 are in the far right hand corner of the
complex, furthest from the clubhouse. These are the roughest courts
with ridges and valleys and with variable couch cover. The longest
games took place here.
The event
The number of triples was the lowest I have seen at any
8's. Many players that normally triple didn't even attempt them.
Others continued on and often didn't complete breaks. The most difficult
and unreliable stroke was the rush. I believe this was the biggest
single cause of the reduced number of triples.
There is a difference of opinion about the quality of
the courts. Many players complained about balls leaving the ground
when they attempted roquets and rushes. I am sure this happened to
everyone. For the hardest hitters, this happened several times a
game, but for myself not so often. I avoided rushes where I felt
there was a risk of the striker's ball jumping. At the other extreme,
a player close to the decision to accept the courts from the developer
in their present condition argued that it was all in our minds - the courts
are fine.
For many players the wind at the venue was a big problem.
The combination of the wind and the courts meant that the 4 rounds
on the Saturday took from 8:00am to 10:32pm. This is one of the windiest
parts of Melbourne and will continue to be a factor at most tournaments.
Over each of the last 3 weekends we have had at least one day with
average winds of 50km/hour with gusts up to about 80km/hour. Any
Wellington players in the Australian Open next month will have a natural
advantage. Watch out for Greg Bryant.
On the third day (Sunday) we put all the games that started
late in the afternoon on the 4 centre courts. They finished under
lights at about 7:00pm. There was a period of rain for about an hour
or so and the courts became noticeably slower and noticeably easier. Despite
being cold, it was actually quite pleasant playing in the rain with lower
wind and better court conditions. I am told the view from within
the clubhouse for the players that had completed their games was also quite
spectacular. I am not sure if it was the view of the other players
playing in the rain under lights, or the warm conditions inside, or possibly
the wine that accompanied the roast dinner.
The future
The complex is going to be the best thing that has happened
for Australian croquet for a long time.
The noticeable improvement in the conditions when the
courts were wet leads me to believe the conditions will improve quickly
when the Santa Ana begins to grow. Anything to diminish the effect
of the ridges and valleys will have a huge effect on play and on player's
confidence. If we get some warm growing conditions before the Open,
then I expect the percentage of triples will improve markedly.
Kevin Beard
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