Malcolm Cawley, NZ Open Manager
Welcome to the NZ Open Championships 2025

With the unfortunate passing of Geoff Young, I will be stepping up to manage this event, with support from Tournament Committee members Jarrod Coutts and Paddy Chapman.
Venues

With a large entry this year, we took the decision to use a secondary venue instead of restricting entry numbers. The main venue is Mt Maunganui Croquet Club with 6 lawns, with overflow of the Singles now accommodated at Katikati Croquet Club (Dave Roberts will be the venue manager). The use of a minibus has been arranged to get players from the Mount to Katikati and back. This is available at no cost to the players on Monday 20th, Tuesday 21st and Thursday 23rd. Unfortunately on Wednesday 22nd, the minibus will not be available and so players are asked to arrange their own transport. I understand that there will be a number of players with vehicles, so it would be appreciated if car-sharing could be arranged. Travel time to Katikati is approximately 45 minutes, so a departure time of no later than 7.15 am from the Mount will be necessary for those who will be using the shared transport. One full block of eight players will be transported on Monday with an alternative block on Tuesday. It's important that all players are on time for this transport.

Practice

Practice will be from 12.00 to 4pm Thursday 16th at the Mount. After this time, all hoops will be set in new holes for the start of the Doubles the following day.

Doubles: Friday 17th to Sunday 19th January

All Doubles will be played at the Mount. Two lawns will be double-banked, so don't forget your markers. Suspension of time Law 9.4, page 190 of the current Year Book will apply.
With 16 teams entered, there will be four blocks of four. The top two teams from each block will go forward to a knockout stage, which is intended to be best-of-3. Pairs who have not qualified for the main knockout will enter the Doubles Plate which will involve 1 day of block play and 1 day of single game KO play. Block and plate games will have a 3-hour time limit, and best-of-3 knockout rounds will have a 3.5 / 3 / 2.5 hour cumulative time limit.

Singles: Monday 20th to Friday 24th

Play will begin at 8:30am with opening remarks on the first day at 8am. With 30 current entries, there will be 2 blocks of eight and 2 blocks of seven. Seven rounds must be played over two days, with four on Day 1 and three on Day 2. Due to requiring 4 rounds on Day 1, time limits for singles block play will be set at 2 hour 45 minutes. We appreciate that this makes for a long day 1, but the benefits of doing so create a better event for both the KO and Plate which we hope you will appreciate. The top four players in each block will proceed to the knockout. A Player Choice draw for the 16 qualifiers will take place at the Mount club on Tuesday 21st at 6.30 pm immediately before the tournament dinner.

Knockout Format

The knockout will begin on Wednesday as a best-of-3 for the first two rounds (time limit 3.5 / 3 / 2.5), with best-of-5 to be used at manager’s discretion for the semi-finals and final. Winners of the first round of the knockout are expected to play at least the first game of round 2 on Wednesday - progress of round 2 will largely dictate the format for the semi-finals on Thursday.
First round losers of the main knockout will enter the Bowl knockout. Losers from the Bowl's first round will enter a Z knockout. The losing quarter finalists of the main knockout will enter the Shield. It is intended that the Bowl and Shield knockout will be best of 3 matches, while the Z knockout may be best of 1 with no time limit.

Plate Format

All players entered in Event 1 who do not qualify for the Open Singles Knockout are eligible to enter the Heenan Plate which will begin with block play on Wednesday. The format will be determined based on the number of participants in the plate. We hope all players will be involved, but for any players who choose not to participate, they will need to update the manager by 5.30pm on Tuesday.

Catering

Players are responsible for their own lunches. Orders can be taken before play at the Mount for toasties, chips etc. Filled rolls will be available to order before play at Katikati.

Clubhouse Fee

There will be a $5.00 daily charge per person at each venue to cover the club facilities, morning and afternoon teas and nibbles throughout the day. This must be paid before play each day, or in total at the start of the tournament. For those wishing to make payment online instead of cash on the day, please do so into the following account;
Mount Maunganui Croquet Club: 03 0374 0001534 50

Tournament Dinner

A Tournament dinner is planned for Tuesday 21st at 7.00 pm. This will follow the Players Choice draw at 6.30 pm. Dinner will be buffet style and be a main course and dessert. The cost is $30.00. Players and partners/friends/family are welcomed. Registration to confirm your attendance will be by Monday 20th January and a sign up sheet will be at MMCC.

Prizes
There will be trophies and/or certificates with some prizes for each of the following events. If you know of anyone who is interested in supporting some additional prize money, or additional prizes, please contact the manager prior to the event so this can be taken into consideration.

Doubles Prizes
Winners
Runners up
Plate winners
Plate runners up
Singles Prizes
Winner
Runner up
Shield (5th)
Bowl (9th place)
Plate Winner
Peeling Trophy
Best 0+ player

Officials

With a shortage of umpires and referees in the Association, only a few umpires will be available. Suitably qualified players will be asked to referee games other than their own to assist with this.
The Appeals Committee members will be Jim Gilligan, Tournament Referee, and any two of the following: John Christie, Steve Clarke and Greg Bryant.

We wish you all safe travels and look forward to seeing you in the Bay of Plenty.