Sussex County Croquet Club

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Club Christmas Lunch - by AdminJohn 05/12/2022 19:01

Season ends with Festive Cheer

Still one event to go (The Christmas GC Doubles on the 30th December - two places left!) but the Club Christmas Lunch was a good way to (nearly) finish. The canteen was filled with two rows of tables (better than three as we have had sometimes in the past) and the result was a colourful and enjoyable meal.

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Pre-lunch drinks in the canteen

Thanks to Fran Box, a raffle took place between main course and pudding and there was a succession of prize winners visiting the prizes table.

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Fran organising the raffle prizes

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Who's going to be next to win?

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Calling the raffle winners

The main event, the three course meal, was unsurpassed: lovely soup choices for starters, followed by Turkey or Ottolenghi’s Mustardy Cauliflower Cheese and choice of puddings. All excellent - your correspondent had extra helpings to make sure!

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Pudding time!

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The ice cream bombe going down well

Club get togethers with meals like this couldn't happen without the expertise and dedication of our members who take on the huge task of preparation and cooking: the Working Party decorated the Canteen the Tuesday beforehand and prepared the furniture; all the food had to be bought and stored; a whole team was present on Saturday to do laying of tables and preparing the food and again on Sunday for the final stages of cooking, presentation and serving (and clearing up afterwards). A huge thank you to everyone involved.

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Washing up - unsung work behind the scenes

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Clap for the cooking team

Compliments of the Season to all Club members and best wishes for 2023.


New Academy programme - by AdminJohn 28/11/2022 16:11

CROQUET_ACADEMY_LOGO-mid.pngCroquet Academy Programme for 2023 released.

Next season's programme of courses is now available on the Academy website and course are open for bookings.


Winter sun graces GC competition - by AdminJohn 25/11/2022 17:33

GC one-day competition 25th November 2022

After a lot of rain and squally winds this week, players in today's competition found they could ditch the scarves and coats and play most of the day in very pleasant sunshine.

As usual, play was in three separate blocks. Congratulations to Richard Brooks who won the A Block, winning all of his 6 games; to Ian Stewart who won the B Block with 4 out of 5 wins; and to Graham Tucker who won all his games in the C Block.

Thanks to Fiona for managing the competition and to Rachel and Richard Pointon for providing the lunch. 

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Richard Brooks A Block winner
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manager Fiona Phillips with B Block winner Ian Stewart>

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Block C winner Graham Tucker

Full results

Block A RB IC LF JH TJ NH CM CH Wins Position
Richard Brooks 7 7 7 7 7 7 6 1
Ian Cobbold 6 3 7 7 7 5 3 4
Liz Farrow 4 7 7 5 7 5 3 3
Jane Humphreys 6 5 2 7 5 6 1 8
Tony Jolly 3 3 7 7 7 7 4 2
Neil Humphreys 1 2 5 2 7 7 2 7
Chrissie Merrington 4 4 7 5 6 7 2 6
Chris Heath 7 7 7 5 4 6 3 5
Block B AS JP Jl FL JR DS DK AG Wins Position
Andrew Stewart 7 7 7 7 4 4 1
Jane Powell 2 6 7 6 7 2 4
John Low 4 7 7 5 3 2 7
Frances Low 5 5 7 7 6 2 5
Jill Richardson 3 6 6 4 7 1 8
Douglas Shand 7 7 7 6 7 4 2
David King 5 7 6 7 7 3 3
Alan Grundy 7 5 7 6 3 2 6
Block C VL FA GT MD LG RE TE SC Wins Position
Vincent L'Estrange 7 3 3 7 6 2 6
Francis Ainley 6 5 7 7 7 3 3
Graham Tucker 7 7 7 7 7 5 1
Martin Daniels 7 5 7 7 7 4 2
Linda Gavigan 7 4 7 5 7 3 4
Richard Ellis 6 4 3 7 7 2 5
Trish Ellis 2 0 2 3 1 0 8
Susan Caulfield 7 5 6 6 3 1 7

Why are so few players entering tournaments? - by AdminJohn 06/11/2022 00:00

ca3-sml.pngWhy are so few players entering tournaments?

Following from an earlier editorial on this subject, CLICK here to read a view from Bill Arliss

You can read:


Scam Emails - by AdminJohn 22/11/2022 09:18

Scam Emails

This week a fairly clever email has been sent to some of our club addresses:

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There is no reason for anyone other than the website administrator to receive any email purporting to come from Ionos, 1and1 or 1und1 (old company names for our internet provider) so if you do, it is a SCAM and should be deleted. 

As you can see there is a big blue button to click and this will add your details to a verified list of email addresses and will result in more spam for you and a payment to the website - which is in Russia in this case.


What one-day competitions have I entered? - by AdminJohn 08/11/2022 11:01

What one-day competitions have I entered?

Players do occasionally forget they have entered a competition so it is useful to be able to check what you have entered. That has always been possible with the Club's open one-day competitions but the feature has been improved: you can now look at a specific competition or (a new and trial feature) you can see all your competition entries in one list. Both these can be found here, which is in the menu Play croquet - Open competitions - One-day competitions - Check one-day competition entries.

If you are on a reserve list (these competitions are popular) it will tell you where you are in the queue. If you don't want to be on the reserve list, please email opentournaments@sussexcountycroquetclub.org.uk to withdraw.

Please note that this only covers one day competitions; if you are looking to see what CA advertised competitions you have entered you must use the CA website; all entries for internal club competitions which are open to entry can be seen on this page.


Winter one-day Doubles Competition - by AdminJohn 04/11/2022 18:22

Winter one-day Doubles Competition

Three blocks based on handicap competed separately. Block A was won by Beryl Hughes and Gavin Taylor  with 4 out of 6 wins; Block B was won by Elizabeth Drury and Tony James with 4 out of 5 wins; and Block C was won by Fran Box and Anne Bolland with 4 out of 5 wins.

Thanks to Frances Low for managing the event, to Richard Brooks for being RoT, to Roger Sutton for assisting the Manager and to Rachel and Richard Pointon for preparing the lunch.

Block A TJ&FP AS&CK RB&DK T&SN JP&BG CM&NG CH&LG GT&BH Wins Position
Tony Jolly & Fiona Phillips 3 7 2 7 7 5 3 6
Andrew Stewart & Cathy Kirkby 7 3 6 7 7 6 3 5
Richard Brooks & David KIng 7 6 7 7 6 4 3 4
Tony & Sue Nicholas 3 7 6 2 6 7 2 7
Jane Powell & Bridget Goodman 7 7 3 7 6 6 3 3
Chrissie Merrington & Noel Gill 5 4 7 7 7 7 4 2
Chris Heath & Linda Gavigan 6 3 7 7 6 4 2 8
Gavin Taylor & Beryl Hughes 7 7 5 7 4 7 4 1
Block B DL&SR JR&DS TJ&ED PA&HB LT&AS SC&PM Wins Position
Di Langridge & Sue Rice 5 7 7 7 5 3 2
Jill Richardson & Douglas Shand 7 4 7 6 1 2 4
Tony James & Elizabeth Drury 5 7 7 7 7 4 1
Peter Adams & Hilary Bird 4 5 2 7 7 2 5
Louise Taylor & Alan Sugarman 4 7 3 5 7 2 6
Steve Chapman & Pat Mechen 7 7 6 5 6 2 3
Block C FA&IJ RG&LP R&TE VL&AG FB&AB FL&KH Wins Position
Francis Ainley & Ian Johnson 7 5 6 7 5 3 2
Rosemary Gebhardt & Linda Pini 1 6 7 6 7 3 3
Richard & Trish Ellis 7 4 2 4 7 2 5
Vincent L'Estrange & Anne Gill 7 6 7 5 6 2 4
Fran Box & Anne Bolland 6 7 7 7 7 4 1
Frances Low & Ken Hughes 3 5 5 7 3 1 6

Club Competition Winners at End of Season Dinner - by AdminJohn 29/10/2022 11:11

Club Competition Winners 2022

Association Croquet

Winners Runners Up
Bush Cup Richard Ellis Chris Heath
Daldy Cup Bruce Carr Robin Wootton
D’Esterre Bowl John Low Deborah Marcus
Franc Cup Anne Bolland Bruce Carr
Freddy Reynold Cup Alan Cottle Pam Gooders
Hazel Parker Salver
(Short Croquet)
Chris Heath Robyn Clark
Millennium Shield Paul Castell Liz Farrow
Moore Cup Tudor Jenkins Paul Castell
New Challenge Cup Deborah Marcus Anne Bolland
Shine Salvers Liz Farrow & Simon Fenn-Tye Frances & John Low
Sussex Gold Cup Paul Castell Dominic Nunns

Golf Croquet

Winners Runners Up
President’s Cup Richard Brooks Liz Farrow
Chairman’s Cup Fiona Phillips David King
Committee Cup Anne Gill Angela Avis
Handicap Singles Nira Scutt Simon Fenn-Tye
Handicap Doubles Liz Farrow & Simon Fenn-Tye Morgan Case & Rosemary Faulkne
Diana Brothers Drawn Pairs Graham Tucker & Fran Box Roger Sutton & Mike Stanton
Quaich Trophy Dominic Nunns Morgan Case
Southwick Cup Christine Ardley Rachel Pointon
Supervets (Dawson Cup) Christine Ardley Gerald Gooders
GC Improvers Competition Simon Fenn-Tye Vincent L'Estrange
GC Level Play Doubles Division 1 Liz Farrow & Jonathan Isaacs Di Langridge & Paul Castell
GC Level Play Doubles Division 2 Robyn Clark & Di Langridge Jenny & Roger Sutton
Victor Ludorum (AC) Paul Castell
Victor Ludorum (GC) Simon Ancell
Most Improved GC Player shared by Simon Ancell and Simon Fenn-tye

Most Improved AC Player
(The Chandler Shield)

Simon Fenn-Tye
Rookie of the Year Paul Green

Awards ceremony and winners in pictures

Pictures courtesy of John Low, Liz Farrow and  Ray Hall

The trophy haul

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The Winners

Paul Castell had another excellent season, winning the Millenium Shield and the Sussex Goild Cup, as well as reaching the final in the Moore Cup. He was also AC Victor Ludorum.

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Millenium Shield
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AC Victor Ludorum
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Sussex Gold Cup
 

Simon Fenn-Tye was a major winner this season

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GC Improvers Competition
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Most Improved AC Player
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Simon and Liz Farrow won the GC Handicap Doubles competition
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and the AC Shine Salvers Doubles competition

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Richard Elliss won the Bush Cup
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John Low seems surprised to win the D'Esterre Cup!
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Deborah Marcus won the New Challenge Cup
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Fran Box and Graham Tucker won the Diana Brothers Drawn Pairs 
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Christine Ardley won the Southwick Cup
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and the new Dawson Cup for Supervets
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In the GC Level Play Competitions, Liz Farrow and Jonathan Isaacs won Division One
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and Robyn Clark and Di Langridge won Division Two
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Anne Gill won the Committee Cup
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Not all winners were at the ceremony. Many thanks to Graham Tucker for organising the competitions and the presentations and to Chrissie Isaacs and her team for the excellent dinner.

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Last club match of season played - by AdminJohn 24/10/2022 09:52

Dominic beats Morgan in Quaich

This match, which I think was the last of the Club finals to be played this season, took place on the morning of Sunday 23rd October. 
In spite of the gloomy weather forecast the contestants, Dominic Nunns and Morgan Case agreed to go ahead with this rescheduled event. A postponement had been needed owing to Dom falling victim to Covid recently. This meant to ensure everything was completed before the presentation evening next Friday, Dom had two finals to fit in over the weekend. Having been unsuccessful in his AC Gold Cup match yesterday against Paul Castell, was Sunday going to reward him?
As previously arranged with the Competitions Organiser Graham, I was to be the on call referee of this final.
We had a slight delay to the start time when Morgan’s train from Hove was cancelled. After being contacted Dom kindly diverted on his way from Burgess Hill to pick up Morgan at Hove station. It was dry and overcast at the start. A heavy downpour half way through the first game caused an interruption in play for a few minutes but we were soon able to continue and the match finished in bright sunshine.
The croquet was to a high standard from both players who produced an entertaining spectacle worthy of a final. It was a shame there weren’t more spectators to witness the precision clearing, hoop running and good tactics on display. 
Game 1 was level at 3-3 then Dom edged ahead to win it 7-4
Game 2 followed a similar pattern this time level at 4-4 before Dom was able get ahead to win 7-4.
The games were closer than the final score line suggest and Morgan can be proud of his efforts. In my opinion Dom’s advantage came from his ability to clear a considerable distance whilst advancing his own ball towards the next hoop on more occasions than Morgan.
As referee I was only called upon once, to clarify the options available after a wrong ball had been played.
Well done to both players I really enjoyed the morning as the referee and sole spectator!

Match report by
Richard Brooks 


One-day GC Singles Competition 22 October 2022 - by AdminJohn 22/10/2022 17:43

Wins for Tony Jolly, David King and Martin Daniels.

Congratulations to Tony Jolly, David King and Martin Daniels for winning the three blocks in the GC one day competition. Thanks to Vincent L'Estrange for managing it and to Karen Hayton and Anne Stanton for the lunch.

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Full Results

Block A RB LF MH MC TJ CM JI CH Wins Position
Richard Brooks 7 7 7 5 7 6 4 2
Liz Farrow 5 7 5 6 7 6 2 7
Mark Hamilton 4 4 7 7 7 7 4 3
Morgan Case 6 7 4 7 7 6 3 5
Tony Jolly 7 7 6 5 7 7 4 1
Chrissie Merrington 5 4 6 7 7 7 3 4
Jonathan Isaacs 7 6 5 1 5 6 1 8
Chris Heath 7 4 7 4 2 7 3 6

TonyJolly.pngTony Jolly, Block A winner

Block B FL AS SA BG JL DK SC VL Wins Position
Frances Low 7 7 7 5 4 3 3 6
Andrew Stewart 5 6 7 7 3 3 2 8
Simon Ancell 5 7 4 7 7 4 3 3
Bridget Goodman 6 4 7 7 5 6 2 7
John Low 7 4 4 5 7 7 3 4
David King 7 7 3 7 4 7 4 1
Steve Chapman 7 2 7 4 7 7 4 2
Vincent L'Estrange 7 7 7 4 2 4 3 5

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David King, Block B winner

Block C PH AG JR DS MD KY PG RR Wins Position
Phil Harrison 4 6 5 7 5 7 2 6
Alan Grundy 7 7 7 5 3 7 4 3
Jill Richardson 7 5 6 7 7 4 3 4
Douglas Shand 7 6 6 7 7 7 4 2
Martin Daniels 6 7 7 7 7 7 5 1
Konstantin Yudintsev 7 7 3 5 6 6 2 7
Paul Green 7 3 1 5 7 5 3 5
Richard Relf 1 6 7 5 3 4 1 8

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Vincent L'Estrange, Manager

Why is Mark's picture here?

No money earned from Betfred for the Club! Mark is here because he was able to play as it's a Saturday. More of these competitions at the weekend was the request of a good number of players - calendar organisers, please note!

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