AS PART of Chiltern Croquet Academy’s 2026 outreach programme, Ian Shore, Croquet England Golf Croquet Examining Referee, visited the lawns of Camerton and Peasedown Croquet Club to instruct and examine a new group of Golf Croquet Referees. He was accompanied by Brian Wilson (Camerton and Peasedown CC) and Ron Carter (Chiltern Croquet Academy).

There were ten participants at this Blended Learning 1–Day Course which was supported by the South West Federation of Croquet Clubs. They came from croquet clubs all over the South West. The course, delivered mainly on the lawns but with some time spent in the classroom, built on the candidates’ previous knowledge of the rules of Golf Croquet and provided practice in applying these rules on the croquet court. There was a formal assessment both of that knowledge and of the candidates’ ability to apply what they had learnt, in a competitive game.

The day started with introductions and indoor presentations preparing the ground for the practical demonstrations on the CPCC lawns. Fortunately, the weather for the outdoors part of the course was for the most part fair. Emphasis was not only on Golf Croquet rules but also the role of a Referee and their expected ‘presence’ in a refereeing situation..

The candidates were also examined in a short multi-choice written test and by demonstrating their knowledge on the croquet court. This was assessed by the Croquet England Examining Referees.

Those that passed both parts of the examination were recommend to become qualified GC referees and to receive a GC Referee’s badge.

The newly qualified referees from this course were: Gordon Butler (Taunton Deane CC), Dave Kibble (Bristol CC), Neil Purchase (Bristol CC & Budleigh Salterton CC), and David Richards (Camerton & Peasedown CC)

Camerton and Peasedown provided refreshments all day, and also supplied the ‘guinea-pig’ players for the practical tests: David Milford, Nigel Wilko and Des Back.