Club

Croquet

Wrest Park

Advanced Tournament 3-5 July

The tournament took place at the tail end of a heatwave, and the combination of relatively fast lawns (lawn 2 was measured at around 11 Plummers) and firmly set hoops provided ideal conditions. Manager Eric Audsley organised the 14 players into two equal groups: ½ or below and 1 or above, but there was some crossover as the tournament progressed.

The winner of the top block was Cliff Jones, making a welcome return to Wrest Park, who lost the first of his seven games to George Collin but won the rest. Joel Taylor would have been in the running as he had won five of his six games by Saturday evening but was unable to play on Sunday as he was booked in for the Opens.The other block was won by Gary Bennett, with four wins from seven games.

There were many close finishes. Nick Steiner eventually won +3 against Rod Ashwell after a struggle lasting many hours, and Rod got the better of George Collin +1 after George had gone to 4-back on the fifth turn and was on peg and peg before Rod had made a hoop. But the game of the tournament had to be Bryan Harral’s +26TP win against Gary Bennett on Sunday morning, which was his first triple peel, completed in just over an hour. This was largely missed by the spectators as it took place on lawn 4, the furthest from the pavilion.

Our thanks to David Woolley and Tim Brewer for keeping us fed and, more importantly in the heat, watered.

Cliff Jones (-½) 6/7

Joel Taylor (½) 5/6

George Collin (0) 6/8

Nick Steiner (0) 4/7

Terry Mahoney (½) 3/7

Bryan Harral (0) 3/7

Rod Ashwell (0) 3/7


Gary Bennett (1½) 4/7

George Woolhouse (2½) 3/6

John Bevington (1) 3/6

Eric Audsley (1½) 2/5

Peter Thompson (2½) 2/6

Philip Windred (3) 3/8

Geoff Strutt (9) 0/7



L-R Eric Audsley, Nick Steiner, Cliff Jones, Geoff Strutt, George Collin, Gary Bennett, Rod Ashwell, Philip Windred, Peter Thompson, George Woolhouse, Bryan Harral

Terry Mahoney approaching rover on his way to winning against John Bevington.






Bryan Harral seeking shade during his game against Cliff Jones.

© Wrest Park Croquet Club