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Wrest Park

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Advanced tournament 6-7 August

This tournament was the first to be held since the re-opening of Wrest Park following the completion of the first stages of the garden restoration and the opening of the new visitor centre. There had been plentiful publicity on TV and in the press, and the crowds flocked in. Players sitting near the noticeboard found themselves answering the usual questions (“Is he practising?”), explaining the rules and handing out leaflets.

The 18 players were made up of quartets from Wrest Park, Letchworth and Parsons Green and a mixture of old friends and new faces. After two rounds without dropping a point, with a TP against Christian Carter, Robert Wilkinson looked like the man in form, but at this stage Nick Mounfield, Nick Parish and Rob Minshall were also undefeated.

After two further rounds Robert and Rob both had four wins, and Robert finally got his hands on the prize by beating Rob +4. Rob also received a prize for the best performance by a higher handicapper.

Robert Wilkinson receiving his prize from manager Rod Ashwell

Several players stayed on for a last round. Robert was playing George Collin, who embarked on a triple and required a straight double peel to finish. This is what happened next:

1. The initial positioning

2. The final alignment

3. The address

4. The peel and hoop approach

5. The deleted expletives

Photos by Rod Ashwell

The penult peel left blue near the peg and black in an ideal hoop running position. But then disaster struck ......

In spite of this unforced error, George won shortly afterwards.