The 2026 South Island Veterans Tournament was held at the Ashbury and West End croquet clubs in Timaru, on 19 and 20 February. The senior grade was played at Ashbury and the intermediate and primary grades were played at West End. Canterbury Clubs were represented by Dave McMillan (Akaroa) in the senior grade and Graham Jones (Akaroa), Alastair and Jill Smithies (United) in the intermediate grade.

In contrast to earlier in the week the weather was kind, warm, mostly sunny and just a short shower on both afternoons. In the intermediate grade the 6 players played each other twice, it was a closely fought competition. Jill Smithies (United) won with 7 wins in the 10 games, the runner up was Pat Gunn (Awamoa) with 6 wins beating Graham Jones on net hoops.

Thank you to Daphne Fitzgerald,  the overall tournament manager, who was based at Ashbury and Gina Tackney who managed play at West End. Also thank you to members of Ashbury and West End for their work in hosting us at their clubs.

Results on croquet stores –  https://croquetscores.com/2026/gc/south-island-vets-golf-croquet-singles

Gina Tackney, Jill Smithies (Intermediate Winner), Daphne Fitzgerald.