5/9/14 Dataw SC croquet and golf

Dataw Island; SC

     Today I was able to spend a bit of time with the Dataw Island Croquet Club.  Croquet has its roots in a game that was called Pall Mall, whose first written mention was in 1611.  The distinguishing factor in this game is that age nor sex give any advantage.  Male or female, young or old is irrelevant - it is skill that wins.

     Dataw Island provides its residents with two playing fields, both of which are on prime real estate along the river.  

     The players here take their game seriously.  There are various teams on the island that play competitively against each other and other teams from along the Atlantic seaboard.  Tomorrow they are involved in a tournament at Brays Island where they expect better than $25,000 will be raised for a local troubled children's home.  

     Remember the old sets that were around when we were kids?  The mallets always had a few big chunks missing out of them.  These mallets are specially made - this one from a heavy English wood.  

     Bruce Anderson, director of croquet was a big help.  He got the players out an hour earlier than usual so the light would be better for taking photos.  He is pictured here with Barbara Titus, who has been playing croquet on Dataw for 17 years now.  Thanks you two !!

     So, I am shooting for four days for the island's website.  It is a nice break from the road and the money I am earning will be going to set up the foundation so that donations become tax deductible.  I am trying to shoot as many of the various aspects of the island as possible - here are a few photos.

     The clubhouse has a unique design.

     There are two separate golf courses on the island - here are a few shots of those.

     There is also a large aquatic element - here are a few shots of that.

   So far in three days I have over two hundred edited photos for them - hopefully they work out well.

Have an awesome Saturday all !!
David

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