Lynley (68) joined the Watea Croquet Club (now Forbury Park) in 1978 and has been a stalwart of Otago croquet for the last 33 years.
"Mum gave up the game after Dad died in 1978," Lynley said.
"I thought that if I joined the club it would give her an interest and get her back to croquet."
Lynley was aged 35 at the time, a young woman in the croquet club.
Her interest in the sport started at the age of 8, when she played golf croquet at the family crib at Waikouaiti.
"Dad made a set of hoops from reinforced iron and we played on a bumpy paddock near the crib," she said,The family interest in croquet started with her great-aunt Ann Brown, who played the sport in Oamaru.
"She got Mum keen on croquet and she joined the Tainui club in the 1950s," Lynley said.
Ann Peters talked about croquet at home and persuaded her husband, Fred Peters, to start the game two years later.
But his membership was turned down by Tainui and he joined Watea.
"They didn't have any male players at Tainui and Dad's membership application was turned down," Lynley said.
"Mum joined the Watea club two years later."
Fred Peters became one of Otago's best players over the next 20 years and won a New Zealand title, two medals in the English medal and mallet competition and a gold plated mallet.
He was a qualified referee and his best handicap was minus one.
Lynley won two Otago women's open titles and her best career performance was to win the New Zealand open intermediate title at Timaru, 20 years ago. She has also won 11 New Zealand Masters Games titles.
"I like the game. You are always learning," Lynley said.
"You have got to think ahead that is good for the brain."
Lynley has been jack of all trades in her own club of Forbury Park and has also been a powerhouse on the Otago Croquet Association executive. She has been secretary for 18 years.
Her husband, Colin Browne, started playing croquet in 1962, had a scratch handicap, and won a New Zealand A grade title.
Lynley has always loved dogs and Lucy, a 4-year-old beagle, has been a comforting companion since her husband died three years ago.
Her daughter, Leisa, played for the Forbury Park club for two years when she was aged 22 but has not played the sport since returning home from Australia.
Grandson Taylor Hunsche (14) enjoys playing socially at the club and likes to beat his grandmother when they play golf croquet at their crib at Taieri Mouth.
Golf croquet is a shortened version of the sport popular with the public and is bringing more people into the game.
"It is fun and easy to learn," Lynley said. "It is a quick-fire game and lasts between 30 minutes and 45 minutes, compared to the three hours for a game of association croquet,"
It is the version of the game that is always popular when the New Zealand Masters Games is held in Dunedin.
The generation game
First generation: Ann Brown (aunt).
Second generation: Ann and Fred Peters.
Third generation: Colin and Lynley Browne.
Fourth generation: Leisa Browne.
Fifth generation: Taylor Hunsche.
