Founded in 1906 the Country Club Johannesburg, a private Members Club, is a noble landmark on the social landscape of Johannesburg and offers a range of social and recreational activities.

Auckland Park Croquet

Between Tuesdays and Saturdays the facility is fully serviced from the bowls and croquet pavilion (on Sundays and Mondays refreshments may be obtained from the main club house).

Croquet Administrator and Coach

Victor Dladla is our full time administrator and coach. He ensures that the lawns are properly laid out and the required equipment is available. He is available to coach croquet and to give advice on equipment and on the rules/techniques of both codes of the game.

The facility is for the use of croquet section members and their guests and for tournament play.

For corporate and private parties, there is a three quarter-size lawn on kikuyu grass nearer to the main clubhouse, which can be sub-divided into smaller lawns when a simple version of golf croquet is played.

Recruitment and development

Croquet was re-introduced to Country Club in 1997. CCJ has subsequently become one of the strongest croquet clubs in South Africa. Meshack Mazibuko and Victor Dladla have represented South Africa twice, in Cairo in 2000 and in England in 2003.

CCJ croquet has enjoyed positive growth over the last few years. As a result of excellent in house coaching members' handicaps are continuously improving. Now that our facilities have expanded so dramatically, so has our capacity for membership. Our aim is to make all CCJ members – young and old, male and female, retired or working, aware of the benefits croquet has to offer.

Unlike the northern hemisphere, South Africa does not enjoy long summer evenings, and as a result has until now been played more by the retirement fraternity. The installation of lights enables CCJ members to play after work on weekdays and continue well into the evening. Introductory evening events with lawnside drinks and snacks will become a regular part of the calendar.

Croquet is somewhat like golf in the way that it accommodates players of differing skills through the use of handicaps. There is no discrimination by way of gender or age. Some of the longer "roll" shots might require greater strength, but on the whole physical fitness is not important. Croquet is therefore open to all.

Strategy, however, does play a major role and players are required to exercise a fair level of lateral thinking. Golf croquet is more sociable with games lasting on average about 40 minutes. Association croquet is akin to chess in terms of forwarding planning, and snooker in terms of geometry – a well contested game will last about three hours.

Unless they already have a croquet background, new members are first taught to play golf croquet, and participate in regular friendly competition. Those wishing to progress to the more complex code of association croquet are encouraged to do so and will be assisted by existing members. Regular coaching by Victor Dladla is available. Practice is essential for anyone hoping to progress at association croquet – the new facilities at CCJ are ideal for this. Players are initially ranked internally but there are plenty of opportunities to play against other clubs at provincial or national level.

In particular, the presence of overseas players at CCJ will give members a considerable amount of friendly tournament play, against a variety of opponents. Members will also be encouraged to watch “exhibition” games between top level players with a lawnside commentary explaining the strategy being employed.

Equipment and clothing required

The club has 12 croquet mallets for use by new members. The general practice is for members to try out the various types of CCJ mallet before purchasing their own. Mallets are imported from the UK and generally cost in the region of UKP 150, but this will last you a lifetime. This is the only cost outlay required as all other equipment is provided by the club.

Barlow GT balls are used, but the Club now has a set of Dawson balls for top class play.

There is no specific dress code for general play. For competition play, however, whites or predominantly white are expected to be worn. In order to protect the lawns, flat shoes are essential, and sun protection is advised.

Programme of play

The normal programme for weekly play is as shown on the strip at the top of this webpage. It is only subject to variation during holiday periods and tournaments.

National structure

CCJ croquet is a member of the Association of Gauteng Croquet Clubs, which in turn is affiliated to the South African Croquet Association. There are four clubs in Gauteng and fifteen clubs in South Africa.

Contact us

The Committee chairman is John Hindle and his contact number is 082 904 4939, e-mail johnplat@worldonline.co.za.