Top seed Jenny Clarke hot on the trail of first women's world golf croquet gold

Top seed in the Women's World's Golf Croquet Championship, Jenny Clarke of Christchurch, makes a difficult jump shot look easy.

Last week Dannevirke hosted top players during two days of qualifying for the women's world golf croquet championships which got under way in Hawke's Bay on Saturday.

And the handful of Australian players were enjoying the 31C heat, as was top seed Jenny Clarke from Christchurch.

Clarke has played golf croquet for 20 years, after 10 years in the United Kingdom playing county cricket.

"After I hurt my back I turned to golf croquet and ironically one the things I like about this sport is that you can be on equal terms with the men," she said.

Clarke admitted she has a very competitive streak and is ranked 20th in the world in golf croquet.

A lecturer in sports science at the University of Canterbury, she started playing the game while studying for a PhD at Oxford University.

She and husband Chris were half of the four-strong team that won the world team championships in London in 2016.

"Chris has also won a couple of open world championship, but doesn't play as much now," Clarke said.

The top qualifier in Dannevirke, Clarke headed into the seven-day women's world golf croquet championships at the Heretaunga and Marewa clubs in Hawke's Bay.

Chris, who coaches Clarke, was confident she would do well in the championships.

"Jenny has won four medals from the Women's GC World championships, (including being runner up twice), but they haven't been the right colour. However, she's the top seed playing at home this time ... " Chris said.

Golf croquet is a simpler form of the traditional game. There are no bonus shots and each side plays alternate strokes as they try to be the first to score the next hoop.

"Golf croquet is about putting yourself in the right position and crossing your fingers," Clarke said.

"Chris is a really good coach and if he were to play more he'd be ranked No. 1."

And while the intense heat in Dannevirke, which rose to 33C in the afternoon, was causing headaches for some players, Clarke said she likes it warm and has played in 41C.

Geoff Young is the manager of the world championships in Hawke's Bay where 56 players from eight countries, Australia, Egypt, England, Spain, Ireland, Scotland, US and New Zealand are taking part.

There were four qualifiers from Dannevirke, Clarke, from Christchurch and Geraldine Trivett, Anne Woodhouse and Nvran Melksham, all from Australia.