Cambridge win the 7th Oxbridge Croquet Tournament, Sunday 31 March 2019

We had a glorious day in the autumn sunshine yesterday at Cammeray Croquet Club. Nineteen players were on the lawns and we were well supported by our mentors Alix Verge, Alan Walsh and Ian Lucas who generously gave their time to coach us on the finer points of the game. After the morning's practice, twelve participants were involved in the Blues contest in the afternoon with the games being closely fought. David Goodman and Chris Bertram represented Oxford in the final having beaten last year's champions Robert Laurie and Robin Mills 4-3 in the semi-final who in turn had defeated Susie Spinks and Bruce Macklin 4-3 in the quarter final. Martin Maynard and Andrew Fulton represented Cambridge in the final. They had defeated Elizabeth Glasson and Zheng Wang 4-3 in the semi-final and Katy Toole, daughter of Yvonne Toole, and Julian Todd 4-1 in the quarter final. In the final Oxford took the lead three times and, with the scores at 3-2 to Oxford, were on the verge of winning the tournament before a match saving shot from Andrew removed an Oxford ball from the jaws of the hoop and Martin promptly struck an equalising shot with Cambridge then going on to win the final hoop and secure a 4-3 victory. Many congratulations our the new champions Martin and Andrew. Many thanks to Julian Todd from BackVintage who presented the very popular prizes (one of which was opened immediately) and to Susie Spinks, who helped organise the day and who has kindly agreed to take on the organisational responsibility for next year's event. Our thanks also goes to Juan Roberson who was the 'thought leader' in creating the event and who ran it for the first six years bringing us together in what is now a regular event in our calendars. I look forward to seeing everyone next year.

Thinking at Twilight with Professor Michael Johnson AM, Thursday 7 March 2019

Alumni and guests gathered to enjoy drinks & canapes with fellow alum and hear guest speaker Associate Professor Michael Johnson AM from UNSW and the Fred Hollows Foundation. Michael Johnson spoke about the vision, fun, challenges and hard work of building The Fred Hollows Foundation into a respected global development organisation and his part in it. Michael was a close friend of Fred's and the family and one of the founders of The Foundation created to carry on the work of eradicating avoidable blindness after his death in 1993. Michael, who has Cambridge connections, is now a semi-retired and honorary academic and still is a Director of The Fred Hollows Foundation. He was awarded an AM in 2014 for his academic and humanitarian work.

Christmas Thinking at Twilight with Andy Morton, 7 December 2018

Members and guests enjoyed a most entertaining Thinking at Twilight. Guest speaker was fellow alum Andy Morton director of the 2018 production of La Bohème, Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour. Afterwards guests adjourned to the bar.

Tenth Annual Golf Match vs Oxford: Monday 5 November 2018

The recent rains combined with the warm weather have given the golf courses of Sydney a much-needed boost.  The fairways and greens at Manly were in excellent condition unlike the bunkers.
Oxford won the 10th anniversary golf match between the Sydney alumni of Oxford and Cambridge 2½ to 1½.  This is the first time Oxford has won the team event.

Chris Golis reversed the result of the last time he played Robert Laurie by winning 4&3 even after baptising six golf balls.

Lynne Presley then equalised the score for Oxford beating Daryl Dixon 5&4 with a combination of great drives, birdies and chip-ins from off the green.

Laurie Scandrett climbed out of his sick bed and managed to halve his match with Peter Abelson.
Thus the final match would decide the winner and Charles Thorburn, even though he conceded 5 strokes to James Balfour played a captain’s knock for the Dark Blues and won 4&3.

The post-match dinner at the Buena Vista with numerous bottles of Tasmanian Pinot Noir was enjoyed by all.

Next year’s match will again be on the first Monday 4 November 2019.

Oxbridge & Ivy League Young Alumni Drinks, Friday 24 August

The Harvard Club of Australia invited Cambridge Society of NSW members and their guests to drinks for young alumni, hosted by Harvard Club of Australia members Sean Li & Charles Walker.