Tom and Beverley Berryman won the silver medal in division 2 of golf croquet at the Forbury Park lawns.
The gold medal was won by home club members Lorraine Millar and Kathleen West. Judy Buchanan and Carole Coveney (Winton) won the bronze medal.
Tom Berryman (68) started playing croquet after he retired as a business analyst with Telecom 14 years ago.
''I was invited to take croquet lessons at the Plimmerton club and the game caught my fancy immediately,'' he said.
He was keen on cue sports and found association croquet was similar to snooker.
''There is skill in placing balls on the lawn and running a hoop is like potting a ball in snooker. You hide balls behind hoops and pegs so your opponent can't see them.''
Beverley (69) did not want to play but started croquet four years ago because her husband kept paying fees for both of them at the Plimmerton Club in Wellington.
''I've gone from golf croquet to association and have enjoyed it,'' she said.
''They both have their special skills but I think I like association better.''
The Plimmerton club has 90 members and is the third largest club in New Zealand. Five members are playing in the Masters Games.
The others are Bob and Anne McKenzie, who won the gold medal in division 3, and Jo Bray who teamed with Peter Thomson (Winton) to win the silver medal in division 1.
''We saw it as a challenge to come to Dunedin,'' Beverley said.
''The Masters Games was something to have a bit of fun at. I'd heard about the Masters Games years ago and the Wanganui one caught my interest and I thought I might cycle in it.''
Since Beverley started playing croquet, the Berrymans have entered different tournaments around the country.
''The Masters Games was an opportunity to come down to Dunedin for a week,'' Tom said.
The Berrymans are competing in all four disciplines of croquet this week: golf, ricochet, one ball and association.
Tom feels golf croquet, the shortened version of the sport, is beneficial because the skills carry over to association croquet.
''Croquet is a player-driven sport so things like umpiring and administration of clubs all form part of the responsibilities of being a croquet player,'' he said.
He has been club captain of the Plimmerton Club for seven years and has played a key role in building up the membership.
Golf croquet has been significant in introducing new players to the sport.
''The emergence of golf croquet has made a big difference to our club,'' Tom said,''It's easy to learn, fun to play and is popular with retired people.
"People are coming into the game and enjoying it more easily than if they started with the association game.''
The difference is a 45min game compared with the 3hr association game.
Croquet is becoming a family game for the Berrymans after their granddaughter, Yasmeen Berryman Assemahli (15), started the sport two years ago. She is in contention for the New Zealand team for the Youth World Cup t in Hawkes Bay next year.
The division 1 gold medal was won by the Forbury Park pair of Ngaire McKenzie and Ron McMurran. The Dunedin pair of Dick Bone and Merv Garthwaite won the bronze medal.
