Club

Croquet

Wrest Park

Club GC tournaments 2018

Doubles day     14 July

report by manager Richard Keighley

14 enthusiastic members turned up to take part in this one-day tournament. The group was divided up into an equal number of high handicappers and low handicappers, and a draw was made to settle the pairings.

It was decided that the format would be level play and on an all-play-all basis. Initially, games were to be untimed but the Manager wisely gave himself discretion to time games if they took longer than anticipated with challenging lawns and weather conditions.

The odd number of pairs (7) meant that one team had a bye each round. The break was welcome and resting players took advantage of the shade of the gazebo. By lunchtime, Peter Aspinall and Susan Savage were clear leaders having won all their three games, leaving the other pairs trailing in their wake.

After lunch, the pairings of Rob Chatwin and Shirley Ann Hughes and that of George Savage and Alan Gray showed improved form to win a total of three games each. They were followed by Richard Skidmore and Anne Speake and Tony Meredith and Karen Gray with two wins each. David Manley and Sue Meredith had also clocked up a win.

However, the real battle for the trophies was between Peter and Susan and the pre-tournament favourites, Chris Harrison and Terry Collis. With one round to go, Peter and Susan had won five games out of five. Chris and Terry had won four games out of five but had a superior hoop count. As luck would have it, Susan faced her husband George in her final game with Peter and she claims this jinxed her. In any event, her 100% record was spoilt as the game was lost 2-7.

Now, Chris and Terry had an opportunity to snatch victory if they could beat Rob and Shirley. They accomplished this by 7 hoops to 5, but not before both ladies had demonstrated their clearance and hoop-running skills. Hoop count was decisive with Chris and Terry on +11 compared with the +6 of Peter and Susan.

Watering can in hand, a passing George Collin was invited to present the trophies to Chris and Terry and he joined the group for a fine choice of cake, which had been kept cool in a brand new refrigerator.


Singles day     17 June

report by manager Richard Keighley

l-r David Manley, Terry Collis, Peter Aspinall, Marilyn Robinson, Rob Chatwin, Richard Skidmore (standing), Ross Bagni, Richard Keighley, Helen Manley, Jean Ball, Vivienne Heard, David Ball, Les Heard. Photo by David Manley.

An impressive turnout of 12 players took part in this tournament in fresh conditions which were a far cry from the heatwave which was imminent.

The group was divided into two blocks of six players. Each player had to play every other player in their respective blocks, so five games in all. The format was level play with a handicap range from scratch to 12.

In Block A , there was an early surprise win by Peter Aspinall (6) over Les Heard (0), and Terry Collis (11) made a mockery of the handicap system by defeating David Ball (4), and Peter Aspinall (6) in quick succession. Block B saw Ross Bagni (2) win all of his games fairly comfortably except against Jean Ball (4) who took him to 6-7. Marilyn Robinson finished strongly with 3 wins.

The Knockout stage was completed on a cross-block basis to decide places i.e. 1st against 1st, 2nd against 2nd etc. This process produced some very competitive games:

Ross Bagni beat Les Heard 7-6

Marilyn Robinson beat Peter Aspinall 7-6

Terry Collis beat Richard Skidmore 7-5

David Ball beat Jean Ball 7-3

Rob Chatwin beat David Manley 7-3

Vivienne Heard beat Helen Manley 7-5.

Ross was duly presented with an engraved glass to mark his win, with the trophy to follow at the Annual Dinner. However, his performance was matched by Terry Collis who gained no less than 64 index points on the day and found his handicap being reduced from 11 to 9.

© Wrest Park Croquet Club