Berea Croquet Club

Club Days

The clubhouse is in the foreground on the right, with the Berea Bowling Clubhouse in the background. Seated in front of our clubhouse are from left – Jean Deeley, Jean Pistorius, Dulcie Chadderton, Lynette De Jonge & Jo Moore-Boyle.

Our club is a separate entity to the Bowling Club, and we pay a fee to them for the maintenance of our lawns. In addition we have the use of their facilities which includes a popular pub, and their kitchen for teas. We have two lawns which are not quite full size.

Berea Croquet Club currently has a membership of 19, which includes 11 Association Croquet players. Our President is Lester Sullivan.

This game is played on Wednesday mornings and Saturday afternoons. The Golf Croquet section was formed a few years ago, and runs on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons. We have recently started a three monthly joint membership afternoon in order that the two sections socialize with each other. On these days we propose playing ‘one-ball’ croquet in order to encourage the Golf Croquet players to learn the basics of Association Croquet.

There is little interest for competitive croquet is this neck of the woods, with most Association members being of an age where the enjoyment of the game is more important. We have little or no response to the KZN Open or Handicap Tournaments and they have therefore been cancelled over the last few years.

The Association bisques range from ‘scratch’ (Lester Sullivan) through to 18, with most being between 8 and 12. The Golf Croquet players all prefer to play level. Once a year we try to get together with Maritzburg for a social day of Golf Croquet. (MCC is almost all Golf Croquet players now.)

Weather-wise, Durban can provide all seasons, but December though to March can be hell in the heat. Wind also alters our approach to the game on many occasions – mainly during the spring months. The most suitable times are probably May, June & July, as we are not burdened with the same cold temperatures as the rest of the country.


Contact Details:

Contact: Lester Sullivan (President)
Address: TBC
Tel: +27 31 261-8731
E-mail: bcc@croquet.org.za