Advanced tournament 2-4 July
The influence of the World Cup came into play at the conclusion of the tournament, which was decided by croquet’s equivalent of a penalty shoot-out. Four players had finished with only two losses, these being Nigel Polhill (8/10), Cliff Jones (7/9), Nick Mounfield (6/8) and George Collin (5/7). Nigel had beaten George but lost to Cliff and Nick, Cliff had beaten Nigel and Nick but lost to George, Nick had beaten Nigel and George but lost to Cliff and George had beaten Cliff and lost to Nigel and Nick. All of them had four shots at the peg and Cliff was the only one to register a hit, so he took the trophy with Nick (3) receiving the prize for the best performance in the group of eight players with handicaps of two or more. As in May, the weather was hot and sunny, and the lack of rain in the preceding week left the lawns fast and tricky.
The entry was low - only 16, but this did mean double-banking was at a minimum. Five Wrest Park players were augmented by
the usual delegation from Letchworth (Nick, Ian Mantle, John Hall, Philip Windred and George Woolhouse, plus Jeremy Scott who stood in for John on Sunday) and Ian Parkinson, Kevin Carter, James Skelton and Gordon Weir, There was only one triple peel completed, by Nigel Polhill in his first game against Geoff Strutt - the score was +25, repeated in Nigel’s next two games.
In line ahead - the view looking down from hoop 1 on lawn 2.
Eric Audsley, with assistant Kevin Carter, addresses Nigel, George, Cliff and Nick prior to the shoot-out.
Eric presents Cliff Jones and Nick Mounfield with their trophies.
© Wrest Park Croquet Club