The lawns were still like concrete, despite the odd shower, as we welcomed West Worthing for our last game in the SECF handicap league.
Our team, Peter Adams, Ian ”one-I” Taylor, John Bryson and Lynn Edge, had some convincing wins during the course of a very hot morning, culminating in an overall win of 5.5 to 3.5.
Everyone then retreated to the ever decreasing shade for a well deserved picnic lunch.
With 3 wins out of 4 this year, Team B have performed well, although are unlikely to win the league this time (we must give other clubs a chance!) .
Guildford and Godalming Croquet Club, hosted the much anticipated World Croquet Federation’s Golf Croquet World Team Championship Tier 3 2020 (that is correct, 2 years late due to covid).
The tournament was scheduled for 21-23 July 2022 with teams from Czech Republic, Iran, Mexico, and Portugal. Shortly before the tournament was to start it became apparent visas for the Iran team would not arrive in time and only one person qualified for the team would be able to come. It was agreed Omied Hallam would captain the unofficial Iranian team, dubbed “Iran Plus”, and the remainder of the team would be drawn from GGCC members, John Gosden, Jan Honeysett, Andrea Huxley, Andrew Lockwood, Bernie Phillips, Stephen Stuart-Matthews, and Julie Tremble.
The Iranian Plus team did GGCC proud, drawing with Mexico. The official outcome was Mexico gold, Portugal silver and Czech Republic bronze.
At the end of the tournament, the players voiced their appreciation to the club for the welcome, and hosting of the event. It was deemed a success, enjoyed by players, volunteers and spectators alike, which would not have happened without the huge effort put in by GGCC volunteers.
For the second year GGCC hosted a team of 5 players from the Watford club as part of their annual tour. The challenging conditions of ultra-fast lawns resulted in the 9 games having very low scores with often the identity of the player leading changing in the closing moments of a game. The notable exception was Robert who pegged out in the morning and also won his afternoon game. One game failed to finish so with both teams each having 4 wins the fixture was declared a draw. GGCC was represented by Hilary, Peter A, Andrew F, Ian F and Robert B.
An AC Team comprising Stephen Stuart-Matthews, John Gosden, Andrew Fewster and Ian Fugeman played away against Purley Bury in the SECF U League on 28th July and achieved a close and successful result by winning 4:3. The dry weather had created challenging lawns which often took both our and the home team players by surprise. An enjoyable day with an excellent lunch and hospitality.
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.
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.
