2016

07/12/16   Christmas Lunch was held for the first time at The Refectory, Milford.

31/10/16   CA Diploma for Arthur Lindley – Arthur was presented with a CA Diplomaby Quiller Barrett, President of the CA, at the Croquet Associations’ AGM in recognition of his outstanding service to croquet and active involvement in club affairs over a long period. 

SECF League results 2016
SECF AC U League – G&G 11th of 15 teams
SECF GC Level Play League – G&G 8th of 8 teams
SECF Golf Handicap League West – G&G A – 4th and G&G B – 11th of 18 teams

                 Sport Godalming Outstanding Achievement Award for Stephen Mulliner received the very impressive trophy from Rachel Morris, British Paralympic gold medal winner. The award recognises not only his achievement in winning the 2016 Association Croquet World Championship but also his wider contribution to croquet both locally and worldwide over many years. 

20/09/16   Murphy Shield Final v Leighton Linslade at Surbiton. Sadly, G&G lost to Leighton Linslade in a close match. It was 3 games all going into game 7 which was lost on hoop 13. The team may not have won the trophy but to reach the final and play so well in just our third year of entering this competition is remarkable. The team is already looking to next year! (Team: Mark-Godfrey-James, Andrea Huxley, Mike Huxley and Alan Miles)

18/09/16   All England AC Handicap Finals Success for Stephen Stuart-Matthews in his third appearance in the finals who came runner-up winning 4 out of his 5 matches and only losing to the winner. 

03/09/16   GC A/B -Level Play Open Tournament CARA Cup Congratulations to Andrea Huxley on winning the CARA Cup and to the runner up Roger Goldring (Phyllis Court). 

03/09/16   All-England AC Handicap Regional Final – 10 players drawn from across the SE competed at Surbiton over the weekend for a place in the national final. Stephen Stuart-Matthews and Ian Fugeman were once again the club qualifiers for the Regional Final. Congratulations to Stephen who was successful in qualifying for the All-England Final to be held at Hamptworth over the weekend of 17-18 September.

17/08/16   Mid-Surrey Federation of Townswomen’s Guilds We were very pleased to welcome members of the Federation once again for their annual croquet tournament. 12 teams competing for the silver trophy. The weather was sunny and hot with only the occasional whisper of a breeze and the lawns were fast. Team ‘Just Me’ took the trophy.

17/08/16   SECF GC Level League v Dulwich (Away) Dulwich fielded a strong team with handicaps of -2, -2, 0 and 2 against our 0, 1, 2, and 2. The stronger team won but Mike Huxley reports that we were not disgraced, the day was enjoyable and the hosts hospitable. Match result: G&G 2: Dulwich 5

15/08/16   Murphy Shield v Merton (Home)G&G beat Merton by a narrow margin in a long, hard fought semi-final match to win through to the final. This is the first time the club has reached the final and congratulations go to all the players who have contributed to the success in each round of this national knockout competition. We wish the team every success in the final when they will be playing Leighton Linslade. Match result: G&G 4: Merton 3

09/08/16   Godalming Staycation Open Day This was our third open/taster day run in association with the Godalming Staycation programme. Thirty or so visitors, including 11 juniors, ventured on to the lawns to enjoy games of croquet with club members.  

08/08/16  SECF Golf Croquet Team Singles and Doubles at Southwick results G&G Team 2 – Doubles: 2nd place, Singles: 3rd place; G&G Team 1- Doubles: 7th place, Singles: 12th place 

               All England GC Handicap Regional Finals at Surbiton. Congratulations to Jan Honeysett who qualified for the national final.

SECF GC Handicap League Team A v Dogmersfield Match result: G&G A 5: Dogmersfield 4

07/08/16   Championship of Surrey Congratulations to Stephen Mulliner who has won the championship the fifth time. Details of the championship results can be found on the CA website.

06/08/16  Golf Croquet B-Level Open Tournament a gripping final was won by Marion Manning of Colchester on the golden hoop with runner-up Richard Carline. As the event is one of the national B-level series Marian qualifies for the final. She was presented with the MARE Cup by the tournament manager, Mike Huxley.

30/07/16   SECF AC U League v Purley Bury Purley Bury were very hospital hosts for this away match. At lunch the home team were in the lead 2:1 but G&G felt they had a chance to reverse the position in the afternoon singles matches and so were able to enjoy the pleasant al fresco lunch. A large crowd attending the Surrey Bowls finals on the adjacent bowls lawn occasionally proved distracting, but G&G pulled back to win by a narrow margin. Mark Godfrey-James and Peter Gill both pegged out and then it was down to Ian Fugeman, already having proved he was on form in the morning, who fought to overtake his opponent and win +3 on time. Match result: G&G 4: Purley Bury 3

29/07/16   All England GC Handicap Qualifying Tournament Jan Honeysett came first and Ron Piper second. Congratulations to both of them who now qualify for the regional finals in August.

SECF GC Handicap League Team B v Sussex County Match result: G&G B 5: Sussex County B 4

02/07/16   SECF AC U League v Reigate Priory B G&G made a good start with Stephen Stuart-Matthews winning the first game but were down 2-1 at lunch. Much fortified after an excellent lunch G&G attempted a fight back. With two games to finish the score was 3-2 to Reigate with rain and squalls increasing the challenge.  Robert Bateson and Peter Gill both made valiant attempts to win the last two games and in both games all balls were taken through rover. In each game the advantage swung both ways providing some tense viewing. The sun returned but unfortunately lady luck did not with the opposition taking both games +2. Match result: G&G 2: Reigate Priory B 5

20/06/16   Murphy Shield v Phyllis Court After some protracted games our team clinched the match 4 games to 3 and so move forward to Round 3. The next match will be at home against Merton. 

20/06/16   Stephen Mulliner wins two more titles. Stephen and his partner Reg Bamford defeated the defending champions to win the final of the British GC Open Doubles Championship for the fourth time.  Stephen then won the British GC Open Singles Championship for the seventh time defeating Toby Savage in the final.  

18/06/16   GC One-day Handicap Tournament PJ’s Pot Participants handicaps ranged between 0 and 11. Two all-play all blocks of 6 were followed by a final round, where the winners of each block met in the final, the runners-up met to decide 3rd and 4th places, and so on. There was something of a sense of deja vu, as players who had done well in last year’s event rose to the top again. The two groups were won with perfect 5 out of 5 records by Ian Norris (Hcp 0), Phyllis Court and Julie Tremble (Hcp 7), G&G. A resolute Ian beat Julie by 7-5 in a tense final. Congratulations to Ian, who set a new record for the event: 6 wins out of 6 despite conceding 45 extra turns )one more than last year’s 44). We are left wondering how he can be denied a hat trick next year! 

16/06/16   Our clubhouse! After 30 years, our longed-for clubhouse has been erected and is ready to be painted. The desire for a clubhouse grew stronger over the years and, as soon as the restriction on development was lifted, was matched by the determination to make it happen. That a clubhouse has been built so soon after development became possible is down to the generosity of members and to the substantial grants we received. Our grateful thanks to the Croquet Association, Surrey County Playing Fields Association and the South East Croquet Federation for recognising our need for a clubhouse and providing financial support for the project.  The building is only the first step of our development programme and plans for Phase 2, which include connecting to the sewer, are already underway. Photos 65-80.

15/06/16   SECF AC U League v Cheam (Home) With one game still to finish the outcome of the match was in the balance at 3 all. The last game went to time and was won by just one point but that was enough for Cheam to take the match. An excellent lunch was provided by the catering team. Match result: G&G 3: Cheam 4

14/06/16   SECF GC Handicap League Teams A and B both had home fixtures this week. Team B played against Rother Valley on Monday afternoon winning 7:2. Team A played against Chichester & Fishbourne and won 6:3. Thanks to the catering teams at both matches.

10/06/16   In memory of Amanda Bentley A service of thanksgiving for the life of Amanda was held at Guildford Crematorium today. Amanda touched so many lives that the chapel overflowed with friends saying their farewells.  Eleven members of our club attended the service and later joined the family for refreshments at Broadwater Pavilion, sharing their fond memories with Jay, Danny and Bekki. 

05/06/16   National Croquet Day This was the first National Croquet Day promoted by the Croquet Association and supported by clubs around the country.  We hosted an open taster day which attracted more than 40 visitors who were invited on to the lawns to play croquet with our members.  Visitors had the opportunity to try both association and golf croquet and many who had just intended to ‘pop in’ stayed for several hours. Clear blue skies and brilliant sunshine provided the perfect setting throughout the day and by late afternoon people were glad to take a break from playing and enjoy cold drinks and homemade cakes provided by members.

25/05/16   Preparation for the new clubhouse The demolition team demonstrated their skills of ‘percussive violence’. After a day’s exhausting work, the shelter and portaloo have been demolished and everything flattened, hacksawed and sledgehammered into submission. The skip was filled, a work of art to fit everything in, and has been removed. Plans are in hand to move the Bowls manager’s shed and clear the leaves in readiness for the erection of the clubhouse in mid-June.

27/05/16   SECF GC Handicap League Team B v Lodsworth Team B lost 7:2 to Lodsworth in its first SECF league match of the season; however, it was a much closer match than the result indicates with five of the matches lost going to the golden hoop.  Thank you to the catering team for providing an excellent lunch for this home match.

27/05/16   Murphy Shield v Sussex County G&G achieved a 4:2 win against Sussex County CC in the match at Southwick.  Congratulations to the team who move forward to Round 2 of this knockout competition and will now play Phyllis Court at home in late June or early July. 

23/05/16   SECF AC Team Doubles G&G came seventh overall with four wins out of a possible ten.

23/05/16   Longman Cup v East Dorset G&G travelled to Poole for Round 1 of the Longman Cup but with only one win the final result was 6:1 to East Dorset.

20/05/16   World Croquet Federation Tier 3 Golf Croquet World Team Championship was hosted by G&G. Teams from Norway, Portugal, Russia and a CA Select team playing hors concours competed over three days. The competition was an ‘all play all’ format with each team playing a number of singles and doubles matches against one of the other teams each day and then competing against a different team the next day.  After three days the results were: 1st Norway with 6 points, 2nd Russia with 4 points, and third Portugal with 2 points. Photos

18/05/16   Wrest Park B-level GC Tournament Congratulations to Chris Heath who won the tournament and qualifies for the National GC B-Level Series final at Budleigh on 8-9 October. Chris’ handicap has now moved down to 2.

08/05/16   AC Open Challenge Cup Advanced After two days play Nick Parish and Harry Fisher, both handicap -1.5, had each won 5 of their 6 games so the tournament rested on who beat whom in their head-to-head. Nick Parish, who won that game, was declared winner of the tournament and presented with the trophy.  Also of note was Nick Parish’s only loss, which was to Chris O’Byrne, handicap 5, from Reigate; Chris beat Nick +26tp and achieved his first ever triple peel under tournament conditions. (TM)

08/05/16   One-ball Charity Handicap Final Stephen Stuart-Matthews was one of the 40 competitors in this year’s final which took place at Surbiton. Stephen came third in the final and won an engraved wine glass as a memento of his achievement. The winner was Nigel Trott (Handicap 14) from Caterham. The competition raised £3,505 + £662 Gift Aid for Myeloma UK.

25/04/16   Stephen Mulliner wins AC World Championship in Palm Beach, Florida. There were 80 players from around the world with 32 going through to the final knockout stage. The quarter finals, semi-finals and final were each the best of 5 matches, requiring both skill and stamina. Stephen beat David Maloof of the USA in the best-of-five final which lasted eleven and a half hours with play finishing under lights. Two matches down, Stephen then turned the tables on David and went on to win the last three matches to take the championship. Congratulations to Stephen on this magnificent achievement. 

17/04/16   One-ball Charity Handicap Qualifier Following two very wet days the nine members welcomed some warm spring sunshine. This year’s competition was in aid of the charity, Myeloma UK – a bone cancer charity. and competitors sported various amounts and shades of orange, the charity’s colour. Discreet touches of faded hue, well-dressed hats, boiler suits and, notably, Barry occasionally flashing a pendant. Stephen Stuart-Matthews might not have played for months but he proved that he was in excellent one-ball form and regardless of some stiff opposition overcame all opponents to win the trophy for the third consecutive year. Gillian Noble-Jones came a close second, winning all of her matches except the one against Stephen. The final is being held at Surbiton on Sunday, 8 May and we wish Stephen every success. The event raised £55 for the charity.

02/04/16   Applewood Bowl. The summer season opened with this informal mini-tournament with its established format of two to three rounds of one-ball and two rounds of 14-point handicap advanced games. The newly powder-coated hoops sparkled in the sunshine and with barely a whisper of wind it was a beautiful day for playing AC. Eight members enjoyed both the croquet and the opportunity to catch up with each other and in the warm weather it was no hardship to sit out and watch a break. After a leisurely lunch break and the second round of 14-point games the cloud started to bubble up in the late afternoon and it was time for the manager to declare the results and present the Applewood Bowl to the winner, Stephen Stuart-Matthews. Our thanks go to Arthur Lindley for organising and managing the event so well.