News
Level League win over Merton
Sussex County A entertained Merton at Southwick on 4th July in this SECF level play league match.
We started as favourites with our teams handicap totalling -5 compared to the opposition’s total of +7.
Our visitors had a good journey down from London and we were able to get the match underway a few minutes before the scheduled start time of 10.30.
By 11.30 we had completed the morning games with Sussex holding a 3-0 lead having won the each of the best of threes in two games.
Everyone decided that it was too early for lunch so after a short drinks break we played one game in each of the afternoons four singles. We were leading 1-0 in all of these singles when took lunch but Merton could have still have turned the match around if they won all of the possible remaining eight games!
It wasn’t to be for the visitors as soon after the resumption we had won three of them each by 2-0. Merton did get a consolation by winning the last to finish by 2-1.
So well done to my team for getting this 6-1 victory.
On a personal level I was pleased to reduce my handicap from -1 to -2 a position I’ve not held since April 2020 or three handicap cards back in my case!
Richard Brooks (Sussex A captain)
SCCC start R league with a convincing win at Woking
In the SECF R League, 2021 Champions SCCC got off to a good start with a 6-1 win away at Woking on Tuesday 21st June. A good morning session saw Tony Jolly (2) and David King (3) win their doubles match against Bernard Jones (2) and Max Byfield (4) by 2-0. In the singles, there were 2-0 wins for both Graham Tucker (6) against Maggie Boyd (10), and Linda Gavigan (6) against Richard Blythen (6). In the afternoon singles, Tony beat Bernard 2-0, Graham beat Richard 2-1, and Linda beat Maggie 2-0, while David lost 1-2 to Max. Graham’s two wins brought his handicap down to 5.
Matches are Level Play, best of three games. Total team handicaps must equal at least 16, with the two lowest handicaps on each team playing in the doubles. In the afternoon singles, matches are played between players in their handicap order.
David King
Deborah and David win Doubles at Budleigh
There was a small contingent of four players from SCCC at the Veterans' AC Tournament at Budleigh Salterton this year. Only Deborah and David stayed the week and they won the Gilbert Spoons doubles event. Congratulations to them.
GC Singles Competition 17th June 2022
The competition was in three divisions separated by handicap range.
The winner of Block A was Morgan Case; the winner of Block B was Vincent L’Estrange and the winner of Block. C was David Dickins. This was a first for Vincent and David.
Congratulations to all three and thanks to Fiona Phillips for managing the event.
Full results
| Block A | MC | RB | LF | CM | RW | TJ | DK | AS | Wins | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Morgan Case | 7 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 1 | |
| Richard Brooks | 5 | 4 | 7 | 5 | 7 | 5 | 7 | 3 | 6 | |
| Liz Farrow | 5 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 5 | 7 | 4 | 3 | |
| Chrissie Merrington | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 8 | |
| Robin Wootton | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 7 | 4 | 5 | 2 | |
| Tony Jolly | 7 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 4 | 5 | |
| David King | 1 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 3 | 6 | 3 | 7 | |
| Andrew Stewart | 2 | 4 | 4 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 4 | 4 |
| Block B | GT | GT | RF | LA | FA | VL | RE | Wins | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gavin Taylor | 3 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 4 | 6 | 2 | 5 | |
| Graham Tucker | 7 | 6 | 7 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 3 | 3 | |
| Rosemary Faulkner | 7 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 7 | |
| Les Ardley | 2 | 3 | 7 | 2 | 6 | 7 | 2 | 6 | |
| Francis Ainley | 3 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 2 | |
| Vincent L'Estrange | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 5 | 1 | |
| Richard Ellis | 7 | 6 | 7 | 3 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 4 |
| Block C | CA | PB | CD | DD | TE | DC | Wins | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Christine Ardley | 5 | 6 | 4 | 7 | 7 | 2 | 4 | |
| Paul Brown | 7 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 5 | |
| Carol Driver | 7 | 6 | 2 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 2 | |
| David Dickins | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 4 | 1 | |
| Trish Ellis | 6 | 7 | 2 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 6 | |
| David Comber | 3 | 7 | 4 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 3 |
AS originally published this article incorrectly stated this was a first win for Morgan Case in this event. In fact Morgan has won it several times in the past. Apologies to him for this error.
The MidSummer Short Croquet competition is cancelled due to lack of entries.
GC Doubles competition 6th June 2022
| A | RB&DK | FL&CM | AH< | BA&IS | TJ&FP | CK&AS | GT&RW | SN&BH | Wins | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Richard Brooks & David King | 7 | 1 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 2 | 6 | ||
| Frances Low & Christine Merrington | 3 | 7 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 6 | 2 | 7 | ||
| Andrea Huxley & Louise Taylor | 7 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 7 | 6 | 2 | 5 | ||
| Brian Aikens & Ivan Segal | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 1 | ||
| Tony Jolly & Fiona Phillips | 7 | 7 | 1 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 2 | ||
| Cathy Kirkby & Andrew Stewart | 7 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 3 | 4 | ||
| Gavin Taylor & Robin Wootton | 6 | 2 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 8 | ||
| Sue Nicholas & Beryl Hughes | 4 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 7 | 3 | 3 |
| B & C | AB&TJ | A&NG | SC&PM | DS&JR | A&FF | SF&FA | LG&RF | R&TE | GT&FB | Wins | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anne Bolland & Tony James | 7 | 7 | 7 | 4 | 7 | 4 | |||||
| Anne & Noel Gill | 4 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 7 | 4 | |||||
| Sue Caulfield & Pat Mechen | 5 | 2 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 2 | |||||
| Douglas Shand & J.Richardson | 6 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 1 | |||||
| Andrew & Fiona Fall | 7 | 4 | 7 | 2 | |||||||
| Simon Fenn-Tye & Francis Ainley | 3 | 1 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 3 | |||||
| Linda Gavigan & Rosemary Faulkner | 5 | 5 | 3 | 0 | |||||||
| Richard & Trish Ellis | 5 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 2 | |||||
| Graham Tucker & Fran Box | 7 | 7 | 5 | 4 | 2 |
Sussex County visited Parkstone on Wednesday to play this match having only just been able to field a team due to holiday commitments and one player being prevented by Covid.
Having posted an appeal on both of the clubs low handicap WhatsApp groups we were very grateful when Ben volunteered to be our fourth player. With Ben’s recent inactivity due to his workload the rules stated that fifty points had to be deducted from his ranking total. This meant our player order was:-
1 Richard -1
2 Liz -1 Capt.
3 Roger 0
4 Ben 2
East Dorset were able to field a much stronger team on paper:-
1 Jonathan Powe -4
2 Steve Leonard -3
3 David Kendrick -2
4 Keith Southern 1 Capt.
For those unfamiliar with the format the top two on each side play a doubles then a singles against their opposite number. The third and fourth each play two singles crossing over the opponents for the second round.
Each round consists of a best of three games.
Although East Dorset’s doubles pairing had a considerable handicap advantage, the Sussex pair had more experience having played more than double the total number of GC ranking games and they were able to put this to good use.
After a tight first game which Sussex won 7-6, I think we took command of the second at the fifth hoop which Richard scored with a good jump shot over both opponent balls to lead 4-1. East Dorset fought hard to recover but we held on to win 7-4.
We went into the lunch break with a 2-1 lead in the match, Roger having won his match 7-2, 7-6 but unfortunately Ben losing 4-7, 3-7.
The afternoon session began with us needing two wins
After a good start Richard lost his singles 7-3, 6-7, 3-7.
Liz had a very good win against her -3 opponent 7-6, 3-7, 7-4.
Roger lost his singles 7-3, 4-7, 5-7.
Ben was our saviour winning 7-6, 3-7, 7-4.
This was an unexpected win for us and we owe thanks to Roger for his commitment in travelling down and playing with his knee causing him a lot of discomfort. Also thanks to Ben for coming in at short notice and with little recent playing experience getting a vital win!
Well done everybody
Richard Brooks
100 CLUB WINNERS
Summer Draw
1st Prize £100 No. 32 ……Jim Mortell
2nd Prize £75 No. 8…….Paul Brown
3rd Prize £50 No. 57…..Nick Hamilton
EVENING ROLL UPS IN JUNE WILL BE ON THESE WEDNESDAY EVENINGS
Wednesday June 8th;
Wednesday June 15th;
Wednesday June 29th.
I need someone to manage the roll up on Wednesday 29th when I shall be away.
There will be no evening Roll Up on Wednesday 22nd June.
There will be no evening Roll Up on Tuesdays in June.
WE WILL REVERT TO TUESDAY EVENINGS ON 5th JULY
Graham Tucker
Wins for Reigate Priory and Royal Tunbridge Wells
16 teams from 14 clubs took part in this year's GC Teams Day at Southwick. The competition reverted to the format used successfully by Bill Arliss (who was able to visit briefly in the afternoon) for many years but unfortunately did not attract as many entries as was hoped. Nonetheless a successful and enjoyable day.
The morning was devoted to doubles play with the competition in 4 rounds. The event was won by Royal Tunbridge Wells with 3.5 wins in 4 rounds; Sussex A, Sussex B and Roehampton all had 3 wins.
A light lunch was available and Linda Gavigan, who was leading the catering team in between playing for Sussex B, thanked the clubs for their strong support as most players used the service. Thanks to Linda, Fran Box, Frances Low and Trevor Wright for all their hard work preparing the lunch.
The singles competition in the afternoon comprised of 6 rounds; the weather, which had been by turns sunny and chilly throughout the day, gave us a nasty shock in the last round when the heavens opened, fortunately only for ten minutes.
The competition went down to the wire, with Compton and Reigate Priory both ending up with 9.5 wins out of 12 games. Reigate Priory was the winner with 2 net points more than Compton.
Thanks to Martin Peacock who was the Supervising Referee for the day, assisted in the afternoon by Roger Sutton, Robin Wootton and Frances Low (who was also a formidable parking attendant!). The day was managed by John Low who enjoyed his moments of power wielding Pam Arliss' foghorn to start and end the games.
More photos here