Camberwell's First Tournament is a Hit

                  Petanque players line up to toss a few before start of Camberwell's Classic Doubles tournament
     Camberwell's 2012 Classic Doubles Tournaments Brings in 66 Players
                                                        By Bill Claiborne
                                                                                                    Pisteup Editor

   The "new" Camberwell Pétanque Club officially relaunched itself yesterday (Jan. 29) in Lynden Park, holding its inaugural "Classic" Doubles Pétanque tournament. And a glorious affair it was, with 66 registered players rocking up to play on our as-yet-unfinished, but still serviceable, pistes.
   In spite of an unwelcome intrusion by a 35-degree blast of air (hotter on the gravel pistes, to be sure) which halted play to conform to Victoria Health guidelines, three of the competition's four scheduled qualifying rounds were played to the full before Andre Deramond, Pétanque Federation of Australia's director for Victoria, raised the temperature issue, but left the final decision to the CPC Committee, which voted unanimously to call a halt to the the games. Given the age demographic of a large majority of the players (and judging from the reaction to the announcement by Tournament Director Rob Joy) it was a widely-appreciated decision. Yes, there were a a couple of disgruntled players, but they appeared to be in a small minority.
   Based on the results in the first three qualifying rounds in the Women's Doubles competition, Danielle Grancourt and Medgee Lebrasse won first place with an aggregate score of 39:22 points. In second place were Muriel Langlois and Christiane Anathian, and placing third were Jan Purcell and Judith Armstrong. In the Consolante division of the Women's Doubles, Lesley Murray and Diane Yoemans placed first, with two wins, followed by Camberwell's Belinda Willoughby and Pierette Mayor,in second place with two wins. Sandra Brown and Barbara Solnordal finished in third place with two wins.
   In the Open Division, Camberwell's Peter Cuthbert and Caulfield Park's Andre Deramond teamed up to win first place, with three wins and an aggregate total of 39:10 points. They were followed by

Melbourne's Sylvio Grancourt and Guy Baher, in second place, and Camberwell's Howard Brown and St. Kilda's Jim Critelli in third place, each side winning three games.
   The Consolante Division was won by Gloria Wales, of Camberwell, and Grahame Jones of Longbeach, who won two games. They were followed by Camberwell's Felix Hernandez and Jean-Marie Huez, with two wins, and Mary Deakin and Rodney Deakin, both of Longbeach, also with two wins.
   Winning first place in the Social division were Camberwell's Richard Tarlinton and David Garnham. They were followed by Mt. Macedon's Danny Green and Lindsay Kinghorn, in second, and Stephane Langlois and his son, Jacques, who finished third.
   The club's 24 unfinished pistes presented something of a challenge to the players, with the occasional cry of "what the hell was that!" resonating through the playing area now and them. "That" always turned out to be a large, marble-sized stone that somehow had risen to the surface. After Camberwell signed a shared lease agreement for the former bowling club, Boroondara Council stripped away the artificial turf for use in other facilities. After a Victoria stone quarry delivered an underlayer of aggregate gravel, a Bobcat operator hired by CPC spread and leveled the mixture, but then the quarry manager in charge of pricing and delivering the next layer took a bit of holidaying, thereby temporarily delaying the final phase.
    Never mind that. Pétanque is, after all, a game designed to be played on "all terrains," and the 66 players on the ground on Sunday took that to heart. Many veteran competitors were overheard predicting that Cambetwell Pétanque is certain to become a choice venue for most upcoming state and national tournaments. In fact, Camberwell has been selected by PFA to host the upcoming April 28-29 National competition.
   Pisteup salutes a number of its members for the success of Sunday's tournament, and one who comes to mind is our newest Lynden Park member, Pat Osborne, who stopped by to "have a look" around and, learning that help was desperately needed at the food and drinks table, hung around and helped Colin and Helen Macnamara do the hard-yards on the barbecue and cold drinks tables. Then, in a classic display of the spirit that makes things work at our club, she stayed on to help clean up the mess. Good onya, Pat.
   John Paul Ernst, the club's driving force in making things happen on the ground, and Richard Tarlinton, the club's liason to Boroondara Council, each contributed mightily to the effort. John Paul, a frequent winner on the pistes, sat out this tournament so he could run the computer program used to place the winners. Richard, playing with David Garnham, won first place in the Social division. Collecting registration fees and otherwise dealing with money was Colin Macnamara.
CLICK HERE MORE PHOTOS BY PISTEUP'S ACE PHOTOGRAPHER JENNY CUTHBERT AND HER STAFF, SUE GRAY AND BILL CLAIBORNE

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   Welcome Home to a New Piste, Belinda

Jenny Cuthbert and Barbie Lahm flank Belinda Willoughby in front of CPC's shared clubhouse at Lynden Park on Friday, while husbands' Peter Cuthbert and Graham Willoughby stand inconpiciously in the background. That's okay, boys. Belinda was the object of this photo taken by Sue Gray to welcome Belinda home.

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"Jolly Roger" Trophy Back to Camberwell

     These players might look serious, but in fact they are having a bucket of laughs in the Mt. Macedon vs. Camberwell " test
     Good Fun Defeats Cut-throat Competition in the Ranges
                                                                                            By Bill Claiborne
                           Pisteup Editor
      The New Clubhouse is Pretty Flash

           A Special Pisteup Feature

                        Blast from the Past:
                 A Walk Down Memory Lane
   Following are some snapshots of memorable moments during our 12 years at St. James Park.

         Our St. James Park Pistes Being Renovated in 2009

                              

The Great Pyramids of Camberwell? Nope. Just piles of sifted gravel on our club's pistes ready to be re-spread to make the playing ground more playable. Led by Clive Windley, volunteers have worked hard on the pistes, hand-sifting the gravel, spreading, raking and rolling. All members of CPC extend their heartfelt gratitude to these hardworking volunteers for transforming these notoriously boggy pistes into first-rate playing grounds. It's not easy work and they happily pitched in.

  FOR MORE PHOTOS OF OUR PISTE-BUILDING AND RENOVATING CLICK HERE 

Camberwellers Have Vested Interests

Sue Gray leads a big cheer for the Camberwell Pétanque Club's smart new vests, as (L-R) Peter Cuthbert, Howard Brown,Jacquie Perez,Richard Tarlinton, Jenny Cuthbert and David Garnham celebrate the new threads.
More photos by Jenny Cuthbert at
http://picasaweb.google.com/Pisteup/CPCSaturdayAfternoons2010#

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The Great Shed Dedication

At top left, Richard Tarlinton, then Secretary, and Bill Claiborne, President, cut the ribbon to our humble new shed, which was generously erected for us by the Boroondara Council's Department of Culture & Leisure. At bottom left, the club's new banner is unfurled. Above, the Camberwell pétanquers happily raise their glasses of bubbly in a toast.The shed isn't very big, but we learned to be grateful for little blessings. We managed to cram in a couple dozen chairs, four huge sun shade umbrellas, a BBQ grill, file cabinets, many sets of boules etc.

                                                                                     

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Christmas Dinner is a tradition at Camberwell P.C.

Camberwellers sit down to a bit of grog and plenty of delicious food at 2009 Camberwell Christmas Dinner. (Actually, it looks more like sitting down to a bit of food and plenty of grog).

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      Hitting the Road to Show the Camberwell Flag

Lunch at the Camberwell Pétanque Club when we were half our current size

Camberwell Pétanque Club gather for a group photo after winning 2007 Maldon Battered Boule Challenge Trophy. In above photo, Bill Claiborne,  president, proudly holds the trophy in center of second row. 

 

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 An Invitation to Try Pétanque--Funny Name, Great Game

                  Players scoring the boules during a game at our club

                                                                  

Join some entertaining and enthusiastic Pétanque players Sunday afternoons year-around and Friday evenings during summer at our beautiful new venue at Lynden Park. We have a BYO picnic lunch on Saturday afternoons during the Standard Time (Fall, Winter) months and a Twilight social pétanque/barbecue on Friday evenings during Daylight Savings Time months (Spring, Summer).

The Camberwell Pétanque Club is widely known as a inveterate social club whose members enjoy playing the game, quaffing good wine and eating good food amidst entertaining company.

  Pétanque first came to Australia in the 1960s with French immigrants, and in recent years has grown to the point where Victoria alone has 16 clubs. The Pétanque Federation of Australia lists 47 clubs nationally, with 1,200 registered players and more than 7,000 participants. You can play as competitively as you like or as socially as you like. Either way, you'll enjoy yourself among our club's 40 members (and growing). We'll supply boules and coaching whilst you are trying the game!

For more information, please contact: Sue Gray, secretary,  at 9853-6661; Bill Claiborne, President, at 9348-0639; or Terry Barter, vice-president, at 9803-3330.

                Pétanquers enjoying lunch and a bit of wine between games

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                                       Our Sponsors and Affiliates

                         Below are some sponsors and affiliates of the Camberwell Pétanque Club

                          To learn more about these sponsors and affiliates, click on the logos below         

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