Author: andreahuxley

The team of Douglas Shand, Julie Tremble, John Gosden and Andrew Lockwood were due to play Sussex CC, the holders of the Murphy Shield, in the semi-final. The tie was played at GGCC so we hoped that home advantage would come into play. The first round comprised a doubles and two singles with each match being played as the best of three games. The doubles was between Douglas (1) and Julie (2) against Ben Harwood (1) and David King (3). The first game appeared straightforward with GGCC winning 7-3. The second game less so! A few blobs of the hoop and missed clearances took the game to hoop 13 and Sussex won the important hoop. One game all. Game three saw Douglas and Julie back on track, 7-3 to GGCC gave the first match to us.

The singles matches also went to three games each. John lost his first game 7-3 to Francis Ainley (3) but then won the next two games 7-6, 7-3. Andrew was paired against Paul Green (3) and beat him 7-5 in the first game. The second game was lost 4-7. Game three went to the wire and Andrew was unfortunate to lose on the golden hoop. At lunchtime the score was 2-1 to GGCC.

The weather forecast had been dire – with rain and wind expected. As it happened the weather was kinder but still on the cool side so lunch for the team was a welcome break with hot baked potatoes and fillings provided by Hilary. Many thanks to her for such a warming repast!

In the afternoon all players played singles and it was definitely running in our favour. Douglas beat Ben 7-4, 7-5. Julie beat David 7-4, 7-1 and Andrew beat Francis 7-4, 7-2. The only score missing was John v Paul. They each won a game and at the point with time going on it was decided that the last match would be declared a draw as it had no effect on the outcome. The final score being 5-1 to GGCC.

Congratulations to our winning team – very well played.

Watch this space for the report on the final. GGCC will play Watford CC at Roehampton on Sunday 28th. We wish them all the best for a successful match.

Andrea Huxley, manager/referee

Sunday 3rd August saw 16 players gathered to play in the C level GC tournament. We had three players from GGCC in the group, Dominic Webb, Andrew Jackson and Lynn Edge. Other players came from nearby clubs such as Woking and Surbiton while our furthest travelled visitor came fro Belsay Hall near Newcastle ( though he did admit to staying for a few days with his daughter who live in Guildford!)

The format for the morning was that players were in four seeded groups of four players with each playing the other three. At lunch time the top two from each group were to go into the main knockout while the lower two played in the plate knockout. Dominic and Andrew both qualified for the main knock out while Lynn just missed out and played in the plate.

After a great lunch prepared by Andrew and Wendy Lockwood the players were off again. All games were fiercely contested so that none of the players left having won no games at all.

In the Plate competition Peter Martell (Cheltenham) played against Jill Shaw (Camerton and Peasedown) with Peter winning 7-3.

Dominic Webb (GGCC) played against Steve Morton (Phyllis Court) place with Dominic winning 7-5 to take third place.

The final was between Andrew Maclay (High Wycombe) and Carol Huntington (Phyllis Court) It was a closely fought game with many changes in fortune as it progressed. As many of the other games had finished by the time the final was played there was a good audience to watch – including Andrew’s mother who lives locally and had never seen a croquet game before! However there was no fairy tale ending for Andrew. Carol persevered and with some amazing long hoops managed to win over the opposition taking the game 7-5 to win the MaD cup.

Many thanks to all the competitions and to the members of GGCC ‘background staff’ who prepared the lawns, fed and watered the competitors, acted as referees and scorers and most importantly, cleared up afterwards. We couldn’t do it without you!

Andrea Huxley, manager

After a long delay GGCC were able to play their quarter final match against Hamptworth CC on 25th July. It was a home game so the team were at the club bright and early to offer coffee and biscuits to the travelling team members. To start the tie Douglas Shand and Julie Tremble played doubles against Richard Smith and Hugh Risebrow and had a comfortable win 7-4, 7-3. The first singles games were played by John Gosden against Bill Hammond with John winning 7-0, 7-5. While Andrew Lockwood had to play the full three games against his opponent, but he came out the winner against `Michael Eke 7-3, 5-7, 7-5. Three games to GGCC.

After lunch all players were to play singles. Douglas beat Richard 7-4, 7-5 and Julie beat Hugh 7-5, 7-4. Both John and Andrew had mixed fortunes. Each won one game and lost one. John v Michael ended 5-7, 7-6 and Andrew against Bill finished 6-7, 7-3. At that point our visitors decided that with GGCC winning 5 games to zero there was little point in playing the last two games.

So a resounding win for GGCC 5-0! Congratulations to the team on a great performance. We are now drawn to play against Sussex CC on Monday 1 September in the semi-final of the competition. It is again a home match so spectators / supporters would be welcome to come along to watch! Good luck team.

Andrea Huxley, manager/referee

The GGCC team had played two out of its four CSE restricted league matches in July with great success!

The format for these matches is to play one doubles GC match between the two lower handicapped players while the other players play singles. The second round is for all four players to play their opposite number in singles matches. All are played as the best of three games.

The first match was at home against Merton CC on 14 July. Richard Perkins and Iain Richardson played doubles and won their tie 7-5, 7-5. Vernon Salt and Andrew Jackson played singles and again each match was won 7-5, 7-5. GGCC were three games up at lunchtime. In the afternoon four singles matches were played. Richard had a close match with Fiona Walker, from Merton, and lost out 6-7, 6-7. Our other players were more fortunate. Ian won 7-3, 7-5; Vernon won 7-6, 7-5 and Andrew brought the match to a close with a win 7-1, 7-6 against Sarah Woropay. An amazing 6-1 win to GGCC. Well done team.

Later that same week the team were playing agin. This time against Ealing CC. Jan Honeysett and Vernon Salt were our lower handicapped pair up against Margaret Page and Tony Elliott in the doubles beating them 7-6, 7-4. Hilary Bird lost to Richard Barkey 3-7, 4-7 while Martin Birch struggled with a three game win over Gwynneth Hopper 7-5, 4-7, 7-1. After lunch all players played singles – again the best of three games for each match. Jan beat Tony 7-2, 4-7, 7-5 while Vernon beat Margaret 3-7, 7-6, 7-6. Martin beat Richard in two games winning 7-5, 7-4 and Hilary had to play the full three to overcome Gwynneth 7-3, 2-7, 7-6. Another 6-1 win for GGCC. Congratulations team, well played!

The team has two more R league matches to play. They play at Surbiton on Monday 11 August and at Cheam CC on 5 September. Here’s hoping their run of success continues – we wish them well for those matches.

Andrea Huxley, manager

The GGCC team travelled to Phyllis Court to play in the second round of the Inter-Club competition, the Murphy Shield.

The day started with the two pairs of higher handicapped players playing singles. The two best-of- three matches gave a win each to GGCC and Phyllis Court. John Gosden (GGCC) was beaten by Andy Jones (PC) while Andrea Huxley (GGCC) managed to win against Mike Fensome (PC)

Meanwhile on lawn one the titanic struggle in the doubles gave the initial win to GGCC with Douglas Shand and Julie Tremble. However in game two Roger Goldring and Helena Jansson fought back. It was decided to pause there and only play the third doubles if it were needed to settle the winner. So going into lunch it was all square.

After lunch play resumed. Andrea and John were to play singles against Andy and Mike. The results again gave each side a win. John beat Mike Fensome in two games and Andrea managed to scrape a 7-6 win over Andy Jones before being comprehensively defeated in the next two games.

Two more singles were on lawn one where Julie was unfortunately beaten by Helena but Douglas won his match against Roger. Score 3 wins to each side and the deciding doubles had to be played.

The doubles was a tight game with the score swinging from one side to the other. Inevitably it went to hoop 13! Again it was not straightforward with much positioning and clever clearances. But even games at hoop 13 must end and Douglas managed the winning hoop giving Guildford and Godalming the match, 4-3.

Many thanks to Frances Colman and Chris Roberts for refereeing and to all the players who survived a long match in the June heat. Many thanks also to Phyllis Court for their generous hospitality. Well done GGCC – on to round three.

Andrea Huxley, team organiser.

The doubles Dish, more informally known as the Bird Bath, is the trophy presented to the winner of a handicap doubles competition held at GGCC on Saturday 24th May. There were 32 contestants with handicaps ranging from -3 to 12. As GGCC are taking part in a trial to use Target Scores we used that form of handicap scoring for the tournament. It was a system new to most players but caused no problems.

The morning games were played in four blocks with each pair playing the others in their block. It was pleasing that all the pairs won at least one of their games but by lunch time it was clear who were the eight pairs going through to the main knockout while unluckier couples would go to the plate knockout. A buffet lunch prepared by Julie Tremble with help from Chris Davis was very much appreciated and gave all the players time to rest and reflect and gave the manager time to do the maths to place players in their appropriate places for the afternoon battle.

In the Plate knockout the winners of the trophy last year Marilyn and Alex Wood (Colchester) had a better afternoon and beat Phil Tremble and Martin Birch (GGCC) 8:7 in the final game. Meanwhile in the main knockout the top two seeded pairs made it through to a final game. Jason Carley ( Watford) playing off -3 and Ian Davidson (Barnet) playing off 7 were up against Bridget Goodman, 1 and Jane Powell, 4 ( both from Ealing). It was a close match with some fine play on both sides but the Ealing duo came through to win the trophy 7 hoops to 3.

A successful tournament played in fine weather and good spirits! Many thanks to all the players from GGCC who both played in the tournament and helped with its organisation – not to mention the clearing up!

Andrea Huxley, Manager

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As we prepared the club for our Australian visitors we were greeted by sunshine and a clear sky – after a week of weather warnings of thunderstorms and heavy rain it was a relief!

Twelve players from the Adelaide club had been on a tour of croquet clubs in the south of England and we were delighted to welcome them to GGCC. We started the day with coffee and chat as we got to know each other – then off to play. The first round was 6 games of doubles. We were playing level games of GC though we were initially unsure as to how Australian handicaps would match with ours. Some Aussie high handicappers played way above their handicap so the games evened out pretty well for doubles games. GGCC won the round 4 games to 2.

Round 4: Again the pairs and singles were reorganised and off we went again for the final games. Several of them were close and all were strongly contested. GGCC won that round 5 to 3.

Barry Hayden, their captain and Stephen Condous, president, were effusive in their thanks and presented the club with a plaque to mark the occasion ( now hanging in the clubhouse by the notice board). Andrea was give a Hyde Park CC cap for her work organising the day. Speeches with thanks from both sides ended the afternoon on what had been a great day. Offers of a return trip ‘down under’ were also on the cards!
But lastly the final scores : Round one 4:2 to GGCC, Round two 4:4, Round three 5:2 to Oz and Round four 5:3 to GGCC. So the final score 15:14 to GGCC.

Well done team on both the croquet and a wonderful team effort to host the day. Thank you

The team comprised: Peter Adams, Hilary Bird, Martin Birch, David Boyd, John Gosden, Jan Honeysett, Andrea Huxley, Mike Huxley, Andrew Jackson, Heather Longson, Richard Perkins, Bernie Phillips, Douglas Shand, Ian Taylor, Julie Tremble, Phil Tremble and Dominic Webb.

Glorious weather – we were so lucky! 16 players from clubs around the southeast ( and one intrepid player from Hunstanton) met to play the GC C level tournament.

The morning format comprised four blocks each of four payers in an all-play-all format. Many closely fought ties found the two winners from each block to go forward to the main knock out event while the two lower players entered the Plate knockout.

There was a short break for a superb lunch provided by Andrew and Wendy Lockwood before it was all systems go with the two knockouts competitions.

In the competition for the Plate Margaret Page and Andrew Jackson both had convincing wins against their opponents while Ian Prince and Philip Hendy had to work harder to progress to the semi finals of the Plate competition.

In the main event Gary Lewis and Iain Richardson had fairly straightforward games to take them through to the next round. Meanwhile Helen Lucas and Nicholas Barton faced stiffer opposition with each of their matches going to the golden hoop. Gary then beat Helen to set up the match against Iain who had a close match with Nicholas to win through to the final.

In the semi finals of the Plate Ian Prince and Philip Henry were both winners leading to an exciting final, with Philip finding that extra something to be the winner beating Ian 7-2.

The main knockout was a tense contest between Gary and Iain which belies the end score. After much fighting for position and many successful clearances Iain fought through to beat Gary 7-4.

Congratulations to all the competitors for a great day of croquet and many thanks to the ‘backroom staff’ of GGCC members Andrew, Wendy, Mike and Hilary for all their hard work in making such a successful tournament .

Andrea Huxley, Manager

Guildford and Godalming beat Sussex County 4-3 on 2 August 2024
A warm and humid day for this match between two teams that knew each other well. The two singles matches resulted in one win for each team, both only requiring two games for a result. The doubles match was fiercely contested, with Julie and John eventually winning against Vincent and David in three close games and so GGCC took a slender 2-1 lead into the afternoon singles.

In the afternoon singles Vincent and David got their own backs, beating Julie and John. With a win for Hilary the match was finely poised at 3 games a piece and the outcome would be determined by the result of the match between Laki and Janet. Laki won the first game but Jan dug deep and managed to win the next two games to take the game and win the match for GGCC by the narrowest of margins. Janet was the star of the day for GGCC winning both her matches but pleasingly, all members contributed a point.

The teams were Guildford and Godalming: Julie Tremble, John Gosden, Janet Honeysett and Hilary Bird
Sussex County: Vincent L’Estrange, David King, Laki Marangos and Rosemary Faulkner.

Guildford & Godalming beat Hurlingham 5-1  15^th July, 2024 

Guildford & Godalming (G&G) travelled to the Hurlingham Club armed with full wet weather gear given a forecast for incessant rain from 1pm. It was dry but overcast as the teams commenced the morning doubles and two singles. G&G’s Douglas and Peter achieved efficient wins against Hurlingham’s Mark and Jane finishing at 1pm when the promised rain started. The doubles match was fiercely contested, the scoreline of 7-1 to G&Gs Bernie and Julie masked a very competitive first game with multiple long clearances and patient build-ups from both teams. Hurlingham’s Ludolph and Martin started the second game with great conviction racing to a 4-1 lead before being pegged back but ultimately they triumphed 7-6 just as the rain started, leaving the match finely poised at one game apiece. As the other matches had finished it was agreed to break for lunch and then play the four afternoon singles matches. If the match was tied after those, the final game of the doubles match would be the decider and so G&G took a 2-0 lead into the afternoon.

After a splendid lunch provided by our generous hosts we returned to the lawns for the singles. Julie and Bernie won their singles matches in two games securing the 4 points necessary for an overall match win. The two remaining singles matches went to three games resulting in one win for G&G and one win for Hurlingham. With an unassailable scoreline of 5-1, the doubles match was not concluded and the teams sought shelter and a rejuvenating afternoon tea. Thank you to both teams for an enjoyable day’s croquet and to the Hurlingham team for their wonderful hospitality.

The teams were Guildford & Godalming: Bernie Phillips, Julie Tremble, Douglas Shand, and Peter Adams. Hurlingham: Ludolph Van Hasselt, Martin Read, Jane O’Neillbnand Mark Wellby.

Julie Tremble