13/04/2026
What a fantastic weekend! Our Annual Teams event ran beautifully, with 22 teams taking to the court and creating a wonderful atmosphere full of happy players and great tennis. The conditions were close to perfect, and there were plenty of winners struck across the 288 sets completed!
We were delighted to welcome four teams from Canberra, along with several additional Canberran players joining other teams, and a new team from Cootamundra. Goulburn brought along a strong contingent of three teams, which was fantastic to see—not only for the great competition, but also for their wonderful contribution to the local economy!
These teams were joined by our very appreciated regular visitors from Orange, Toorooweenah, Dubbo, Narromine, Temora, and Springwood, as well as six local teams, rounding out a vibrant and competitive field. We also appreciated the involvement of keen (and very key) individuals from Campbelltown, Collaroy, Gosford, Sydney, Bathurst, Forbes, and Parkes.
Daytime catering was once again superbly managed by Therese MacFarlane and her wonderful team, especially Judy Jones, who was there across both days. We also extend our appreciation to Gail Collins, Di McCollough, Belinda Haworth and Pat Wood for their much-appreciated support—and, of course, to all the locals who pitched in when needed. Liz Daniher did an outstanding job selling raffle and 100 Club tickets – and switching up the music playlists 🤣while Chris Haworth very generously donated the prizes.
Saturday night was again a highlight, with Sally Russell and Malcolm Carnegie providing a fantastic meal. This warm hospitality has become a much-loved feature of the event. Players enjoyed the relaxed dinner on the clubhouse verandah — a great opportunity to socialise without the pressure of hitting any balls back, although the ball machine and wooden racquet challenge still kept things lively! Thanks to Chris Haworth for organising this fun addition, with Dave his 2 IC, assisting in collecting all the stray balls. The Goulburn crew embraced the challenge with great enthusiasm—and we believe they successfully negotiated the right prize as well!?
A huge effort also came from Club President Andrew Job, who ran the Division 2 men’s matches together with Stuart Luelf, and cooked the BBQ and Sunday morning’s egg and bacon rolls, and still managed to play all day Sunday. The eggs were generously donated Pace Farm Eggs, with our sincere thanks to Pace Farm for their support.
Bart handled entries, formats, score sheets, and the draw, while Peter Wood and Stuart Luelf prepared the courts to what could only be described as “Wimbledon standard”— or, at least as Woodsy would say, as close to that standard as the tennis that’s being played on them😂. They were pristine.
Ian Rattey and Harrison MacFarlane kept the kiosk running smoothly, and Tracy Grimshaw did a fantastic job coordinating the ladies’ matches while helping wherever was needed—and even finding time to play a few sets herself. Great job Tracy – much appreciated, the tennis earrings were also a standout!
Steve Pressler was also on hand, overseeing all areas and covering to ensure matches were filled. A standout moment was his suggestion to convert Phil Catlin’s additional ball fees into 100 Club tickets—resulting in Phil drawing first prize! Steve also kindly loaned his freshly restrung racquet to Laura Wood, who loved it so much he’ll have trouble getting it back!
We also thank Bland Shire Council for their support with extra bins and a marquee, and Mark Wood for assisting with the tidy-up of the old clubhouse area. To all our volunteers - your efforts are truly appreciated and vital to the success of this event.
Onto the tennis side - we once again used last year’s scoring system, designed to reward competitive matches while still reflecting performance. Four points were awarded for a set win, with bonus points given for “close” losses. Matches were decided firstly by sets won, then on total games, with an additional two points awarded to the higher game total – if sets were equal. This system produced some fascinating results and kept the competition wide open until the very end.
The Ladies draw was a perfect example, with three teams still in contention for first place going into the final round. The Dubbo Dynamites had the bye and could only watch from the clubhouse as Goulburn faced the Stringers (a combined Canberra and Campbelltown team). The Stringers, previously undefeated, had been beaten by Dubbo in the previous round and needed a strong win—three sets and at least 4 games in the 4th set —to claim the title. Goulburn, having earlier edged out Dubbo in a close match, also needed a big result to take top spot – 15 pts would do them nicely.
What followed was a titanic battle. Goulburn needed 15 points; the Stringers needed 16. In the end, the Stringers managed 15 points—just enough to draw level overall with Dubbo. Goulburn won two sets, but as the Stringers pushed them all the way, taking one set to a tiebreak and another to a 7–5 result, they collected high bonus points. The final match score saw Goulburn go down, 2–2 on sets, with games at 18–23. Just a few more points—and the title could have been theirs.
In a wonderful show of sportsmanship and grace, the Stringers offered to share first place with Dubbo after both teams finished on 95 points. However, maybe they knew the deciding factor was against them, and had to be their head-to-head result, which meant Dubbo claimed the title by this count-back method. Ebony Schlenert and Amelia Day were there to accept the prize money, and no doubt will celebrate with teammates Janelle Goodsell, Laura Sieb, and Poppy. The Stringers are now extra motivated for next year – congratulations to Bev Roberts, Bev Finn, Rozie Davies and Vicki Vesse on their strong performance.
Next best were the Cattle Kids on 53 pts followed by Lyndy’s Cannon’s on 45. Tracy Grimshaws Golden Racquets threatened 5th but did avoid the wooden spoon on 38 pts, while the Bluebells from Canberra claimed the wine bottle for the encouragement award on 20 pts! Captain Rosa Cotta with Karen Renfey won their first set in the final round which was a great way to cap things off for Bluebells – a fitting reward for persistence and dedication to the game!
The Men’s Division 2 competition featured a strong field of nine teams, each pair playing 16 sets across the weekend. With 18 points available per round (144 in total), the competition was incredibly tight, with an unbelievable six teams finishing between 91 and 113 points.
Goulburn had a particularly eventful tournament—and were unlucky to come up against a full-strength West Wyalong Rusty Nails in Round 4, where they suffered a tough 18–1 loss. It was their only heavy defeat, with just one other loss (14–7 to the Good Old Boys). Despite this shellacking, they still secured third place on 103 points—ironically finishing one point ahead of the Rusty Nails on 102, probably some chilly comfort.
Despite a strong 18–6 win over Temora in Round 9, Goulburn finished just two points shy of second place, which Temora claimed with 105 points. Temora’s only losses came against the Rusty Nails and Goulburn, but a key 15–9 win over the Good Old Boys proved decisive for them.
The Good Old Boys, however, were the standout performers, losing just once (to Temora) and finishing on top with 113 points. Greg Hunt, Rod Stewart, Gary Renfrey, Don Masters (the team’s “spiritual leader,” yet playing for Orange this weekend), John Chapman, and Tony Ross were outstanding throughout and worthy champions. Temora were deserving runners-up, led by Julian Drumore, Dave Armitage, Brett Murchie, and Brett Green, with support from Ross Findlay on Saturday and Ken on Sunday.
It was also fantastic to see our juniors stepping up to compete against seasoned players—sometimes there was an age gap of over 70 years between opponents, which is truly remarkable! The West Wyalong Bear Cubs performed admirably, earning points in every round and finishing with 42 overall. While they collected the wooden spoon, Caleb Boneham and Heath Bischoff can proudly claim a standout victory over a full-strength Rusty Nails pairing on Saturday. Caleb and Jude Anderson also claimed the prized scalp of super vets, Greg Hunt and John Chapman (Good Old Boys) in Rd 7; 6-4. This is a well earned win from gentlemen that know the game so well.
The Woods “Bootlasts” family crew recovered well from a slow start (including injury in game 1 of match 1) to finish sixth on 91 points, while Cootamundra made a strong debut and claimed fifth on 98. Orange Deuces finished seventh on 76 points, with the T’s in eighth on 68.
In Men’s Division 1, Springwood came out firing on Saturday, sprinting to an early lead with 48 points—four ahead of the West Wyalong Warriors on 44, and well clear of Dubbo (35), Goulburn (31), and Toorooweenah (29). The Paramount Pluggers were playing solid tennis but struggled to convert key moments, finishing the day on 16 points.
The big battle was Sunday morning with Springwood facing the locals, and they dominated the opening set 8-2 with Nathan Gardiner and Scott Homsey absolutely on fire against Andrew Bartlett and Dave Haworth. There seemed to be no answers to the Springwood onslaught… or was there? Arrive, Chris Haworth and Rhys Bischoff – and, in a mood for tasty “bakery items”. They promptly restored some order with their special presentation of a lovely bagel to Stewart Palmer and (our relunctantly traded player) Jay Taylor. This set a tone for the top line clash v. Nate and Scott where the home team not only “could do no wrong”, but also did a helluva alot great, to leave Captain Nate cheering when Springwood’s solitary game hit the scoreboard! The bagel, followed by the breadstick. Both teams played great tennis at times – but momentum is a big factor, and when spiralling against, is a nasty weight to carry. Springwood went down in the final set as well to surrender the match (14-4), the tournament lead, (now 6 pts down) - and with it, well.... basically all hope was gone! Dubbo Paramount were their next assignment (where they found another loss; 18-6) to limp out of the tournament with little fanfare. Great to see you again though boys, Blandicoots forever – 2027 might be Springwoods year?
Dubbo’s final round 18-6 win over Springwood put them 11 pts clear for 2nd place on 69 pts, while the West Wyalong Warriors of Chris Haworth, Rhys Bischoff, Dave Haworth, Andrew Boneham and Andrew Bartlett) accounted for the Paramount Pluggers in the final round to win the event on 76 pts! Very strong effort by the Warriors – led by Chris and Rhys.
Dubbo gained 1 more point over all opponents than West Wyalong did – so it was just their head to head match with the Warrior's that cruelled their chances (yes that's enough said Ben Strachan… for a while 😊).
Goulburn pipped Toorooweenah for 4th place, 48 pts to 43. The Paramount Pluggers rounded it all out on 30 pts.
There was a special match in round 4 that found Oscar Tweedale and Ben Hayes from the Pluggers play another Oscar and Ben (being Oscar Mason and Ben playing for Goulburn), and, it went full distance as well - a tie-breaker 8-7 – won by… Oscar and Ben (Goulburn). Goulburn took this match, 2-2 on sets, 29-25 games, for 14-11 pts to help secure 4th place over Toorooweenah, also beating them in the final round 12-10 to round out plenty of high quality, close tennis.
Thanks to Oscar Mason and Jay Taylor for their flexibility to allow “horse trading” to fill the courts where needed. Also, in this regard, Phil Catlin, Dylan Payne (winning a debut set too), Jobie, Ros Ode, Ross Findlay, Janelle Goodsell, Rod Clarkin and Scott Homsey.
All matches were played in fantastic spirit, with players appreciating great shots of every kind—and even a few that defied description! A brilliant weekend of tennis, camaraderie, and community spirit. A huge thank you to everyone who played, and those who travelled long distances absorbing high fuel costs, those who helped, and those who supported the event with their attendance. We’re already looking forward to doing it all again next year - aiming for 10-11th April, 2027 (after a well-earned 12-month recovery)!
