As its almost a year since I lost my dearest Pamela to dementia, I felt it would be rather appropriate to join the Brighton Memory Walk organised by the local Alzheimer’s Society at the end of September and at the same time raise a little cash to help with their work to alleviate the effects of this dreadful disease.
I can confirm I am now booked in for the walk and have set up a “Just Giving” web page to make it easy for anyone to contribute. The contact detail for the web page is :
www.justgiving.com/Bill-Arliss-BMW2023
I have to confess that I am having to stretch the walk title rather as any actual walking by myself of more than 50 yards becomes rather dodgy, so hopefully I will complete the 6.5km on my mobility scooter. I understand that the route we will follow takes us right along the sea front by the pier and will include all the journeys we both regularly made together by mobility scooters for several years past.
I do hope you will be able to give our charity some support.
Bill Arliss
Here are a few photos from Friday evening when we played a friendly match against Hove Beach. There was great food & drink and a really welcoming and friendly atmosphere. We also managed to win 5-3! Some of our team left before the photos were taken. They included Steve Chapman, Peter Goldsmith & Carl Gray. Apologies if I've left anyone out.
Thanks to Rosemary for organising the team.
Francis Ainley
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32 players entered the August GC Level Play Doubles Tournament on a somewhat showery August morning which later developed into a lovely sunny afternoon.
The players were split into two competitions based on their aggregate handicap played over 6 rounds.
Both competitions were closely fought with 2 very close finishes.
In the A section 4 of the 8 pairs ended up with 4 wins. Liz Drury/Tony James & Richard Brooks/David King were level on +6 net hoops, however Richard & David beat Liz & Tony and won based on who beat who.
In the B Section the result was also pretty close with 2 Doubles on 5 wins and 2 doubles on 4 wins. Beryl Hughes & Gavin Taylor won based on net hoops from Fran Box & Graham Tucker with a net hoop score of +12 compared with Fran & Graham’s plus 10.
At the beginning of the tournament the Manager put out a special plea to avoid slow play following several complaints that had been made recently.
The players did extremely well and completed 6 rounds in under 6 hours including a lunch break. Well done all.
Jonathan Isaacs
Manager
Thanks to Jonathan for managing what proved to be a difficult event, with withdrawals right until the last minute; PLEASE, we all know it's sometimes unavoidable but do try to withdraw as early as possible if you need to. You will now receive a 4 week warning as well as a 10 day one to encourage everyone to check their dairies for clashes!
| Block A | BA&SC | TJ&FP | AC&PG | RB&DK | LD&TJ | SA&PH | BG&JP | AH< | Wins | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brian Aikens & Steve Chapman | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 5 | 3 | 5 | ||
| Tony Jolly & Fiona Phillips | 5 | 3 | 7 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 8 | ||
| Alan Cottle & Paul Green | 1 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 7 | 2 | 7 | ||
| Richard Brooks & David King | 2 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 4 | 1 | ||
| Liz Drury & Tony James | 7 | 6 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 4 | 2 | ||
| Simon Ancell & Philip Harrison | 7 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 7 | 5 | 4 | 4 | ||
| Bridget Goodman & Jane Powell | 6 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 6 | ||
| Andrea Huxley & Louise Taylor | 7 | 7 | 5 | 7 | 5 | 7 | 4 | 3 |
| Block B | RC&DL | FB> | BH> | RW&PB | R&RP | DR&SK | SG&TE | SN&JM | Wins | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Richard Carline & Diana Langridge | 6 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 4 | 3 | ||
| Fran Box & Graham Tucker | 7 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 2 | ||
| Beryl Hughes & Gavin Taylor | 7 | 2 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 1 | ||
| Robin Wootton & Paul Brown | 3 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 2 | 6 | ||
| Rachel & Richard Pointon | 7 | 2 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 4 | 4 | ||
| Diana Rolfe & Sue Kilby | 1 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 8 | ||
| Susan Gale & Trish Ellis | 4 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 7 | ||
| Sue Nicholas & Jim Mander | 1 | 5 | 4 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 5 |
The Annual High Bisque AC Tournament, run by the Croquet Academy, took place on 22nd August. Unusually, the weather was brilliant! 10 entries this year, well down from the 1980's and 1990's when over 30 competitors took part. This reflects the decline of AC in local clubs.
We saw some excellent play with breaks being attempted and some successfully made. Good use of bisques. Well done everyone and I hope you enjoyed the day.
Our worthy winner was Pam Gooders, an SCCC member, and long time supported of the event. Pam narrowly beat Richard Ellis to take the Salver.
Many thanks to the wonderful coaches who helped and advised the players - Chrissie Merrington, Clive Hayton and Katharine Minchin. They were a great support to me. Many thanks to Steve Chapman who filled a gap!
Next year? Maybe have a combined coaching/playing AC day?? Any ideas, please let me know.
Frances Low (Manager)
The Sussex team competed at Cheltenham in division 1 over the weekend of 19th/20th August. We managed to retain our div 1 status by finishing 9th out of 12 counties.
A report by the manager is available on the CA website and the full results can be viewed on croquetscores.com
This is a good result for us considering the strength of opposition provided by some of the other counties. My main objective this year was to remain in the first division and get the benefit of playing at Southwick in 2024 (the div1 and div2 venues switch over every two years).
The teams are being canvassed at the moment on their opinions about some possible changes to the format in two years time.
Whatever the future holds I’ve decided after representing Sussex for seventeen years and the last five as captain, the time has come for me to find a successor.
My intention is to continue as organiser/captain for 2024 whilst working alongside my successor who would take over in 2025.
I welcome any low handicap player who would like to take on the roll to contact me to discuss what’s involved.
Anyone who meets the qualification requirements to play for Sussex can apply. It isn’t necessary that they are a member of SCCC.
I will consider the views of the current team before making any decisions.
Richard Brooks
One place available: contact email at the bottom of flyer.
A photo display of the recent GC Carnival Day is now in the Gallery (in main menu). Thanks to Ray Hall for the photography.
Gabrielle Higgins will play Liz Drury and Liz Farrow will play Virginia Arney in the first round of the championship knockout stage. Sorry there appears to be no published information on times and lawns at present.
If you play in the Sussex County one-day GC competitions you will know Liz Drury who is a member at Compton. In June she was a 6 handicap; she played in the qualifier event at Compton and took the 4th and last place available for the championship. Taking the 4th place in her block this week - described by Chris Clarke as the "standout performance" in the block, she is now playing in the knockout. A fantastic achievement!
Liz Farrow lost to Virginia Arney 2-7, 7-5, 3-7. In the subsequent Bowl Knockout she lost to Begona Elzaburu 5-7, 4-7.
Gabrielle Higgins beat Liz Drury 7-6, 7-3 but lost to Pouline Salib 1-7, 4-7.
Gabrielle Higgins beat Pamela Barnwell 7-4, 4-7, 7-6
Both Gabrielle and Liz have 4/6 wins and will play in the championship knockout.
Gabrielle Higgins lost to Susanna Romero 2-7, 2-7 and beat Jessica Bullen 7-4, 7-5
Liz Farrow beat Diana Wilson 7-6, 7-6 and Beverly Cardo 7-5, 7-3
Gabrielle Higgins lost to Maram Nabil 2-7, 7-4, 0-7
Liz Farrow lost to Soha Mostafa 6-7, 5-7
The WCF Womens GC World Championship kicks off today with play starting shortly on all 11 lawns.
Good luck to our two club members competing: Gabrielle Higgins and Liz Farrow. If you want to watch them play their block match schedule is here.
| Name | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gabrielle Higgins | 09:30 on Lawn 9 pm on Lawn 8 |
11:00 on Lawn 1 |
11:00 on Lawn 2 late pm on Lawn 7 |
09:30 on Lawn 8 |
| Liz Farrow | 09:30 on Lawn 6 pm on Lawn 10 |
11:00 on Lawn 7 | 09:30 on Lawn 3 pm on Lawn 5 |
11:00 on Lawn 11 |
Timings: play starts at 09:30 each day. There are 4 match sessions each day so the start times of later sessions are dependent of the length of earlier matches.
Gabrielle Higgins beat Margot Engstrom 7-2, 7-6 and beat Perihan Elwy 7-5, 7-2
Liz Farrow beat Anne Lehmann 7-3, 7-3 and lost to Manal Khodeir 2-7, 7-3, 2-7
(photos courtesy of Ray Hall)
Short video of the Championship here.