Highlights from the AGM held on 15 March 2014

• Liz Farrow was elected as the club’s new chairman.

• Jonathan Isaacs stood down from the committee after many years’ excellent service as chairman and as a member of the committee.

• David Gaitley also stood down from the committee and Roger Sutton joined the committee.

• Jonathan and Chrissy Isaacs and David Gaitley were warmly thanked for all their work for the club.

• The accounts showed a deficit for the year of £2,286 which was after expenditure on relaying lawn 8 (net of a grant of £4,000 from the CA) and the cost of a new gearbox for the mower which came to over £5,000 between them.

• Income from the Academy was well up on the previous year. Other areas showing improvement were catering, bar and corporate. Subscriptions and tournament income were down. Expenditure other than on lawn 8 and the mower was steady.

• 2014 should see good income from tournaments with the World Team Championships (AC tier 2.2) being held at the club in May plus the return of well attended tournaments – Seniors AC, Golf Open and the Challenge & Gilbey.

• The lawn maintenance contract was tendered and new contractors (SJK) were appointed. SJK work with a number of croquet and other sports clubs and come well recommended. They will be using their own extensive range of equipment.

• Member numbers rose from 134 to 144 in the year to December 2013 as new member recruitment produced a good number of new members.

• Internal coaching was well-received and has contributed to an increased buzz around the club.

• Volunteers are sought for assistance with catering and other tasks (contact Liz Farrow or Clive Hayton).

• A major new initiative was announced to raise funds to completely renovate the lawns which have become compacted from over 100 years of use with a thick layer of thatch causing unevenness and poor drainage. The intention is to strip down and re-seed 3 to 4 lawns each winter to improve their drainage and evenness. A target of £50,000 has been set for the Lawn Improvement Fund whose steering group will be chaired by Jonathan Isaacs. Jonathan stated that the cost should not fall on members. The offer of a limited number of life memberships was proposed and agreed by the meeting. Further funds will be sought from grants from the CA, SECF and other bodies as well as other initiatives like car boot sales. Members were requested to contribute items to sell.

The new season of coaching under our Croquet Academy starts at the beginning of April so expect to find a number of lawns in use for this purpose.

The programme is available on the Academy website.

Alternate Strokes Doubles Day, March 2014

A day of mixed weather: a little rain to start then several hours dull but fair, ending with some cold wind and rain.  Still an enjoyable day's croquet.

The event was organised as a Swiss competition of 14 players.  Liz Farrow led through the early rounds but was narrowly beaten by Goran Norberg and Luc Berthouze with 6/7 wins each.  Goran was declared the winner, having earlier beaten Luc.  Given that Goran had come all the way from Sweden for a few days croquet, it seemed a fitting outcome!

Results

Order of Play

The first tournment of 2014 was played on a dull and windy day, but NO RAIN!!

In fact, the sun came out towards the end of the afternoon which was a good finish to an excellent day.

The competition was played in a very loose Swiss format of 6 rounds and was won by Luc Berthouze and Dominic Nunns with 5 out of 6 wins.  Runners-up were Richard Brfooks and the Manager (standing in for a late withdrawal)

Sorry I forgot to take a photo of the winners!

Full results:

It is with deep regret that I have to pass on the very sad news that John Constable, beloved husband of Chris, passed away last night.

Clive Hayton
Hon Secretary 

John supporting Chris at one of their famous quizzes.

The Quiz is cancelled.

The newsletter subscription box has been removed from the website.  It was felt to be no longer useful as club communications have been re-organised and it was unlikely further website-based newsletters would be produced.

Virtually all subscribers have other connections to the club so they can expect to continue to receive communications from us.

8 teams came for a day's play in pleasant if chilly sunshine today.  The event was won by Janet Hoptroff and Robin Wootton.

Full results:

A great evening, excellent company, brilliant food!

Thanks Chrissy and team.  

Lots of cups to present.

Congratulations to all the winners - and thanks to Alan for the excellent organisation and presentation.

Well done (?), the Official Club Runner-Up!

A final few words for the Chairman.

Photos of cups being presented to follow, hopefully.