GC Tournament on 5th May 2023
The weather forecast for the tournament to be held on Friday 5 May was dire – rain followed by more rain. So it was with some feelings of trepidation that the 16 players arrived to start the day’s play. In fact the weather stayed kind to us. there were a few short showers but mostly the day was dry and even warm and sunny at times – what a relief.
The croquet was played with enthusiasm and with lots of conversations to ensure the ‘new’ (Advantage Handicap) system was understood and the correct number of hoops were played. The competitors’ handicaps ranged from 3 to 12 so there were several games where the senior player started on -1 or even -2 hoops giving several hoops advantage to the higher handicapped player. All very challenging.
The players were divided into 4 blocks of 4 for the morning and within each block it was an all-play-all format. The top two players from each block then went through to knockout rounds to find the eventual winner and the top 4 players to go through to the area final. The bottom two players from each block played in new all-play-all blocks for the afternoon.
The Blue and Red blocks had clear winners with Phil Tremble and Vernon Salt each having 3 wins and Lynn Edge and Graham Lamacraft having 2 wins. In the black block Anthony Tutt was the winner with 3 wins while the other three players each had one win. Second place was decided on net hoops with Lorna Foster taking the second spot. The Yellow block saw Andrew Lockwood and Andy Shipley win through the block stage with two wins each.
The knockout rounds were closely contested. Lona beat Vernon 7-4 in one semi final and Andrew beat Lynn 7-5 in the other. The tie for 3rd and 4th place was between Vernon and Lynn with Lynn winning 7-6. The final itself was also close with Andrew beating Lorna 7-5 to win PJ’s Pot.
The placings for the top eight players are as follows:
Andrew Lockwood – Lorna Foster – Lynn Edge – Vernon Salt
Graham Lamacraft – Phil Tremble – Andy Shipley – Anthony Tutt
The first four players are entitled to play in the area final at Surbiton in July.
Thanks to all 16 players who played with such good spirits and made sure the tournament ran smoothly. Andrea Huxley – Manager