Advanced Tournament 7-9 July

Eric Audsley presents Nick Steiner with the winner’s trophy. Looking on (l-r) David Warhurst, Cliff Jones, Adrian Kirby, Bryan Harral, Jonathan Wolfe, George Collin and Nick Evans.

The tournament was won by Nick Steiner with six wins from eight games. His only two losses were to John Bevington and David Marsh on Friday; from then on he remained undefeated, finishing with a win against Cliff Jones. Manager Eric Audsley claimed the prize for index points gained as a result of his four wins in five games. Only seven players managed the full complement of eight games – the unrelenting heat had several opting for an early finish. The recent lack of rain had left the lawns quite bare in places and accentuated various dips and borrows, the approach to hoop 6 on lawn 3 proving particularly troublesome. Nevertheless several triples were attempted, but the only one to succeed was by Cliff Jones against Jonathan Toye.  

We had to deal with an injury before play had begun, as George Woolhouse came off his bicycle on the way in to Silsoe and arrived with a cut knee and bloodstained sock. But there was a doctor in the house, and Nick Steiner bandaged him up expertly. At close of play on Friday David Marsh, John Bevington and Eric Audsley were all unbeaten, but both David and John’s form rather deserted them the next day and others came to the fore. Saturday also saw a marathon between Rod Ashwell and David Warhurst that lasted over six hours with Rod finally winning +7.

To avoid any repeat of this, time limits of 1pm and 5pm were imposed on Sunday’s games, and three games went the distance. Sunday was also enlivened by cricket on the adjoining field – juniors in the morning and a women’s match in the afternoon. Our thanks to David Woolley, Richard Keighley and Wendy Audsley for the catering, to John Bevington for restocking the bar, and to everyone who turned up early each morning to set up and stayed late to put it all away again. It’s all about teamwork.

Nick Steiner (0) 6/8

Bryan Harral (0) 5/8

David Marsh (-½) 5/8

John Bevington (1) 4/8

Nick Evans (1) 3/8

Cliff Jones (0) 3/8

Adrian Kirby (-½) 3/8

George Collin (1) 4/7

Philip Windred (2) 2/7

Clive Goode (1) 4/6

David Warhurst (2) 3/6

Jonathan Wolfe (½) 3/6

Eric Audsley (2) 4/5

Rod Ashwell (-½) 4/5

George Woolhouse (2½) 1/5

Jonathan Toye (6) 0/5

David Warhurst

Adrian Kirby

Bryan Harral

John Bevington

© Wrest Park Croquet Club  

George Woolhouse

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