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Handicap tournament 14-16 September

The line-up at the September tournament: Standing L-R: Sally Marsh, Bryan Harral, Eric Audsley, Colin McKenzie, David Marsh, George Collin, Geoff Strutt. Seated: Geoff Johnson, John Hall, Jordan Waters, Barry Keen, John Bevington, Phillippine Geissler, John Pollard, Heather Bennett. In front: Seb and Lara Marsh, and Sanaa Hallam holding Talitha. Photo by John Wheeler.

The last CA tournament to be held on the old lawns turned out in many ways to be a mixture of old and new. It was run as an Egyptian by manager Geoff Strutt, who spent most of his time sitting in the pavilion filling in an array of figures on numerous cards and charts.

We saw the return of CA Chairman Barry Keen, who was a block winner in the first two tournaments held at Wrest Park in 1972. Now playing off 6 he won 10 of his 11 games, conceding on average a mere 7 points in each one. His only loss was to Jordan Waters from Letchworth, playing in his first tournament, who won 9 from 10 (four by the maximum margin) and played with a skill and confidence that belied his handicap of 20.

When all the calculations had been completed it was Jordan who emerged the winner with a rank of 70, just ahead of Barry the Bandit on 68, and his handicap was summarily reduced to 14.

Another player in her first tournament was Phillipine Geissler, who arrived with partner Sanaa Hallam and their two month-old daughter Talitha. Phillipine managed two wins and, having watched any amount of A class play, was not afraid to attempt bold manoeuvres and wired leaves. Talitha decided at an early stage that croquet had little to offer as a spectator sport, and contented herself with tours of the park, regular meals and plenty of sleep.

Among the other visitors were ex-club members John Pollard and Colin McKenzie. Colin had brought with him an old Wrest Park All England competition draw from 1983 and a membership list from 1984, which included himself as well as Eric Audsley, George Collin and Bryan Harral, all playing as keenly as ever nearly thirty years on.

There was champagne all round at the prizegiving, and Barry made a nice speech. We can only hope that the first tournament on the new lawns goes as well as the last one on the old.

Managers meeting: Geoff Strutt confers with Eric Audsley (the array of coloured pens was not essential to Geoff’s data analysis).
Photo by John Wheeler.

John Pollard’s elegant and effective side style.

A few words from the CA Chairman. L-R Geoff Strutt, Jordan Waters, John Pollard, Barry Keen, Heather Bennett, Eric Audsley, Colin McKenzie and Bryan Harral.