News

CA Longman Cup Sussex County v East Dorset

Sussex County travelled to East Dorset for the semi-final of the CA's Longman Cup, a national handicap AC tournament. The result was a 6-1 defeat with Steve Chapman being our only winner. Three of the losses were quite convincing but the other three were by one, two and three points respectively. The last of these was in the doubles where an unfortunate leave after time was called allowed Est Dorset to go two ahead. Our hosts provided a nice lunch and we had an enjoyable day despite the result.


Individual results (ED names first):

Alan Jones & Chris Rice beat David Gillett & Simon Fenn-Tye +3T
Mike Rice beat Chrissie Merrington +20
Chris Weedon beat Steve Chapman +1T
Chris Weedon beat Chrissie Merrington +14
Alan Jones beat David Gillett +2T
Mike Rice lost to Steve Chapman -6
Chris Rice beat Simon Fenn-Tye +14

Very many thanks to the team of David Gillett (Captain), Chrissie Merrington, Steve Chapmen and Simon Fenn-Tye for volunteering to play in this match. It was a long way to trvel to Parkstone and back , and to play competitive croquet in the middle.


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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


AC Annual Midweek Tournament 2023

For the first time in several years we were able to run all three classes in this annual AC competition, one of only two now organised by Sussex County. This sounds good, but it masks an underlying problem I shall return to; first, the competitions.

C Class

SteveChapmanDaldyWinner.jpgThis event was a block of 6 players and was won by Steve Chapman who won all his games. Steve is a relatively recent croquet player; he first appears in our GC competitions in 2019 and in CA events a year later. His overall game win rate in GC competitions since then is 75% which is an impressive start. This was his first foray into 'official' AC competitions and I think one can confidently predict it will not be his last, nor his only competition win either. Congratulations to Steve on his achievement. The trophy now used for this competition is one of the Club's two Daldy Cups; originally a CA trophy for the All England Handicap competition, it was won outright by Miss Margaret J Daldy and later presented to the club of which she was a long term member, winning 18 competitions here between 1932 and 1957. Something for Steve to aspire to!

B Class

StephenWingroveScottCupWinner.jpgThis event was also a block of 6 players and was won by Stephen Wingrove. Stephen plays at Purley Bury and is another improving player, with a 71% game win record this season. He won all his games to take the (not as impressive a cup as the C Class unfortunately!) Scott Cup. Congratulations to Stephen.

A Class

PaulCastellAbbeyChallengeWinner.jpgThe A class event had 8 competitors and was initially started as an American block; however, after the first round the Manager took the decision to convert to a Swiss to reduce the number of games played, rather than risk having to work out the winner of an incomplete block. Given 5 games were played over the two days that was probably the correct decision.

The competition was won by club member Paul Castell who beat all his opponents, including the two players with a lower handicap than his. Paul has been a croquet player at the highest level for decades: his competition record goes back to 1998 with more than 2200 CA competition games played and 17 tournament wins over the period. He has also been a dedicated club supporter and has won 16 club trophies since 1996 - this competition's trophy, the Abbey Challenge Cup being won now for the third time. Congratulations Paul!

Does this competition have a future? I noted at the start that we have not run 3 classes for a number of years. With an entry handicap range this year from -1 to 14, to run fewer than 3 classes would have been impossible as the range in each event would have been too great. The sad fact is that this entry was at the lower limit of viability - you cannot realistically play an AC competition with less that 6 players. I first played in this competition in 1997 and at that time it was a whole week with class events, handicap singles and doubles, and all lawns occupied to fit them in. In 2008 it reduced to a weekend tournament and in 2015 relinquished the weekend to become a midweek event. With fewer (and aging) players of Association Croquet and not so many like Steve Chapman taking up the format I fear it does not have a great future.

John Low (Manager)

Manager with Paul
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Not this Manager's style! CA Gazette Nov 1997

Full results

A Class Wins Results
Paul Castell (-0.5) 5 N.Coote +18,T.Jenkins +8,M.Fawcett +26tp,J.Isaacs +18,L.Farrow +3
Tudor Jenkins (-1) 3 J.Tuttiett +26tp,P.Castell -8,J.Daniels +6,M.Fawcett +24,L.Farrow -17
Neil Coote (0) 3 P.Castell -18,J.Tuttiett -3,J.Isaacs +9,J.Daniels +11,M.Fawcett +3
Liz Farrow (2) 3 J.Isaacs +11,M.Fawcett -3,J.Tuttiett +3,T.Jenkins +17,P.Castell -3
Mark Fawcett (-1) 2 J.Daniels +12,L.Farrow +3,P.Castell -26tp,T.Jenkins -24,N.Coote -3
John Daniels (0) 2 M.Fawcett -12,J.Isaacs +26,T.Jenkins -6,N.Coote -11,J.Tuttiett +6
James Tuttiett (1) 1 T.Jenkins -26tp,N.Coote +3,L.Farrow -3,J.Isaacs -12,J.Daniels -6
Jonathan Isaacs (2.5) 1 L.Farrow -11,J.Daniels -26,N.Coote -9,J.Tuttiett +12,P.Castell -18

B Class CR SW JL TE CM DG Wins Position
Chris Rolph(4.5) +8 +23 +5 3 3
Stephen Wingrove(4.5) +2 +9 +11 +23 +14 5 1
John Low(4.5) +9 +9 +13 3 2
Tony Elliott(5) +9 1 5
Chrissie Merrington(6) +6 1 6
David Gillett(7) +9 +14 2 4
C Class AH TM SC RP ST EP Wins Position
Anthony Hicks(7) +15 +19 +19 3 3
Tony Mayer(7) +6 +8 2 4
Steve Chapman(9) +6 +6 +18 +9 +9 5 1
Richard Platt(9) 0 6
Simon Turner(10) +2 +17 +9 +14 4 2
Elaine Phillimore(7) +3 1 5

Friendly Match against Hove Beach Croquet Club

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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Close outcomes in doubles day competitions

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!

Full results

Block A BA&SC TJ&FP AC&PG RB&DK LD&TJ SA&PH BG&JP AH&LT 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&GT BH&GT 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


Pam Gooders wins High Bisque Competition

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.

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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)


Sussex stay in Division 1 in 2023 GC Inter-Counties but Richard Brooks will stand down as Captain in 2024

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 
 


Championship Report

Friday

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.

Thursday

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.

Wednesday

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

Tuesday

Gabrielle Higgins lost to Maram Nabil 2-7, 7-4, 0-7

Liz Farrow lost to Soha Mostafa 6-7, 5-7

Monday

The WCF Womens GC World Championship kicks off today with play starting shortly on all 11 lawns.

GabrielleHiggins.jpgGood 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.

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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

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(photos courtesy of Ray Hall)

Short video of the Championship here.


Fancy a Trip to Spain - 08/08/2023 12:00

One place available: contact email at the bottom of flyer.

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