Croquet club’s new lawnmower a golden opportunity

Did you know that Quarry Hill Croquet Club celebrated its 70th anniversary in 2022 and is the homeground of a Croquet World Champion and a number of past Victorian team members?

This passion for the sport has kept the club going for decades, along with a dedicated committee of individuals, who want to get as many Bendigonians addicted to the sport as possible.

The club currently has 53 passionate members, but also hosts school groups and welcomes regular groups looking for a relaxing team building experience or social day out. All of this aligns with the club’s objectives to improve community wellbeing by offering a great space for people to connect and enjoy the benefits of socialising while learning new skills.

But without a good turf to play on, that wouldn’t be possible, which is why they were thrilled to recently purchase a new turf lawnmower with the help of a grant from Fosterville Gold Mine’s Community Grants Program.

“Having a good quality turf lawnmower is absolutely vital to our club, but in recent years our old lawnmower was on the blink more often than not, so we began fundraising for a new one,” said Club President, Helen Gourlay.

However, turf lawnmowers are very expensive, so the chance to apply for the FGM Community Grant, presented a great opportunity.

“If we hadn’t been successful in being awarded the community grant, we would still be fundraising for the mower,” Helen continued.

“We decided to christen the mower “Goldie” in recognition of Fosterville Gold Mine’s contribution towards helping us purchase this vital piece of equipment,” explained Helen.

“Fosterville is happy to have supported the Quarry Hill Croquet Club to purchase “Goldie” and hope that it will enable them to hopefully see some more champions added to their ranks,” said FGM General Manager, Lance Faulkner.

If you would like to give croquet a try, newcomers are welcome on any play day (Tues, Wed, Fri and Sat). Potential new members enjoy three free visits to try out the sport. Find out more by visiting the club’s website or look them up on Facebook.