Guildford and Godalming Croquet Club
Located at Broadwater Sports Club Ltd, Guildford Road, Godalming, GU7 3DH
Team B, (John Gosden, Charles Martin, Roseann Sullivan and Hilary Bird), played Dogmersfield at home today.
We had a pretty satisfactory win, 8-1, despite our lower handicap members having to give away many extra strokes (turns, in old money!).
Just one more match to go, home to West Worthing on 24th August.
A very pleasant day was had by all I think, made all the more enjoyable by good hosts.
Unfortunately we were pipped at the post 4-3 with leads changing in the closing minutes in a few games.
The team were: John Gosden, Michael Clark, Robert Bateson, Stephen Stuart-Matthews
The 2nd Round of the Longman Trophy, an AC national Handicap tournament, was played at home on Wednesday 13th July against East Dorset but we lost 6:1. Our opponents coped extremely well with the challenging conditions of the very fast lawns and the erratic movement of the ball when approaching the hoop. This resulted in low scoring games with only one pegged out. Despite the result of only one win, congratulations to Andrew Fewster, there were three games with close scores or where the lead was lost in the final moments. The GGCC team comprised Andrew Fewster, John Gosden , Robert Bateson and Ian Fugeman.
Our team of 4, comprising Roseann Sullivan, Janet Curtecka, Kirsty Bates and Hilary Bird, had a lovely day representing the club at Ladies Day in Southwick . The sun shone all day but there was a gentle breeze, ensuring that we didn’t overheat.
12 teams were playing and, while I’m unsure of the final placings , having won 3.5 matches out of 6 ( we drew with Surbiton who were the winners) I think we were probably 4th. Not bad at all, considering the change in tournament rules meant that we played teams with some players with handicaps as low as 3.
Special mention should go to Janet, taking part in her first competition – well done!
Sadly for team B, their journey to Rother Valley went unrewarded – they lost 7-2.
All credit to the team however, (Roseann, Kirsty, Lynn and Charles) , they did their best but had difficulty getting used to the speed of the lawns. Someone was heard to comment, “We’re not used to playing on grass”! Rother Valley’s lawns are distinctly spongy and the grass is much longer than GGCC.
Better luck next time, when we play at home v Dogmersfield 26/7.
27 June
The GGCC team met a team from Merton CC to play the quarter-final round of the Murphy Shield at Surbiton CC. Despite the alternating rain showers and sunshine play carried on regardless.
The format is a mixture of doubles and singles with each match being the best of 3 games. Julie Tremble and Stephen Stuart-Matthews played a doubles match and won 3-7, 7-3, 7-5. In the singles matches we had mixed fortunes as Ian Taylor won his match in two games, but Jan Honeysett lost her tie.
At lunch time there was still all to play for. In the afternoon all were singles matches. Julie beat her opponent but Stephen lost to his. Jan won two close games 7-6, 7-6 and Ian was unlucky to lose a closely fought match 6-7, 7-1, 5-7.
A win for Guildford and Godalming, albeit a close one at 4-3. We now go forward to the semi-final which will be played against either Roehampton or Ryde.
Well done team!
25 June
16 players met to contest the MaD Cup, our GC C level tournament. The morning games were played in four blocks with the top two players going forward to the main knockout phase in the afternoon.
The remaining players also entered a knockout competition to win ‘The Plate’ – which turned out to be a box of chocolates, presented to Gillian Symons (Phyllis Court) who beat Paul Brown (Sussex) 7-6 in The Plate final!
Home players Roseann Sullivan and Andrew Jackson both reached the main knockout competition. All games were closely fought with the eventual winner being Jon Carrington (Broadwas) who beat Patricia Mulcahy (Phyllis Court) 7-3. It was definitely a case of our tallest ever winner being given our smallest ever cup!
All the competitors were very complimentary about the welcome at the club and especially the delicious lunch provided by Jan Honeysett and Andrew Lockwood.
In warm but wet circumstances, Team B got revenge on behalf of GGCC by beating Woking in the SECF GC Handicap league.
Hilary Bird, John Bryson, John Gosden and Ian Taylor, were 4-2 up after Round 2, needing 1 more win to secure the match. Happily, Round 3 gave us 2 more wins, resulting in an overall win for the team. Ian was man of the match, winning his doubles and both his singles.
June 1st saw GC Handicap Team A at home to Woking. We gave away quite a few extra strokes and lost narrowly 4-5, the result depending on the last game out on court.
Despite the loss, we had an enjoyable time with the Woking members and treated them to tea and cakes afterwards, There has to be some consolation 
There was a full house for the doubles handicap tournament on Saturday 28th May. It was a lovely sunny day and the lawns were fast. Competition was fierce and the added ‘extra turns’ made for some tight games.
At the end of the morning blocks there were two couples with three wins each, Andrew and Fiona Fall (Compton), from the yellow block and John Bryson and Iain Richardson (GGCC) from the Black. In the red block there were three pairs on two wins each. Steve and Debra Hayns (Ryde) and Jason Carley (Watford) and Des Taylor (Newport) went through to the knockout stage on net points. All 5 couples from GGCC made it through to the afternoon knockout phase.
At the semi-final stage Steve and Debra had a close match against Jan Honeysett and Ian Taylor (GGCC) beating them 7-6. The other semi-final was between Andrew and Fiona against Sarah Patton and Mike Huxley (GGCC) with the Falls winning through 7-4.
The final was a close and exciting event. Both teams competed for every ball and every hoop! Debra Hayns kept her team in the game with a tremendous jump shot at hoop 11 and unsurprisingly the game went to the golden hoop. The result, 7-6, a well-deserved win for the couple from Ryde.
The manager, Andrea Huxley, presented the winners with the Doubles Dish – known as the Bird Bath – to Steve and Debra and also bottles of wine for each of the finals couples. The whole group thanked the catering team for providing an excellent lunch and keeping everyone fed and watered for the whole day!
