The 4 last news
GC half day competition 19 May 2025
A full complement of 24 players enjoyed perfect weather on 19 May for an afternoon’s GC: dry, and neither too hot nor too cold.
Divisions C and E made the manager’s life easy with clear wins for Tim Bick and Rita Dona respectively, both of whom were undefeated.
Divisions A, B and F all produced multiple players on 2 wins out of 3, but two very convincing 7-2 victories meant a convincing win for Nigel Billingham in Division A, with a narrower win for Les Ardley in Division B, and very narrow win by 8 net points to 7 for Chris Baccarini over Angela Jones in Division F.
Division D meanwhile produced the ultimate manager’s nightmare, with Tony Marjoram, David Larkin, and Nira Scutt all on 2 wins out of 3 and all with 3 net points. Resolving the tie by looking at the net points in the games between only the three of them resulted in a win for Nira with 1 net point against 0 for Tony and -1 for David - and the need for a gin on the part of the manager.
Full results on CroquetScores: https://croquetscores.com/2025/gc/sussex-county-open-half-day-singles-2
Gabrielle
Thanks to Gabrielle for managing this event.
Visit from Hyde Park Adelaide Croquet Club
On Sunday, 18 May the club hosted a party of 12 touring Australians. It was a friendly, not-too-competitive, day of doubles with 12 SCCC members pairing up with the visitors in the morning and a different 12 pairing up in the afternoon. The day started overcast and cool but the sun soon came through and provided some warm sunshine.
The Aussies really enjoyed the day and were impressed with our splendid lawns (and who wouldn't be). They presented the club with a lovely plaque which is already on display in the clubhouse.
The top SCCC players, winning all their three games, were Rosemary Faulkner (a.m.) and Mike Stanton (p.m.) and each was presented with a HPCC cap.
We have already been invited for a return trip 'down under' and I will circulate a note in due course to gauge interest.
Special thanks to Rachel, Richard, Nira, Judith and Rosemary W for a delicious fish and chips lunch and to whoever made the afternoon cakes.
Vincent
Short Croquet Jamboree
The Short Croquet Jamboree for local clubs was held on 12th May at Southwick. 6 half courts were available so a lot of people could participate. 18 AC players did!
There were entries from 6 clubs: Sussex, Rottingdean, Rother Valley, Littlehampton, Chichester and Hove Beach. 3 players from each team took part, and It was a lovely day with a lot of friendliness, and some players were kind and helped those who had not played for very long. Points were awarded for wins, draws and extra ones for peg outs! Some good croquet and peg outs! We had 4 rounds: Singles, Mixture of Singles and Doubles, Mixture of singles and doubles, Speed Doubles! I made up the Speed Doubles so may think again on that round!
The winners were Littlehampton (Robyn and Bob Clark, and Andrew Baxter) who led all the way but were nearly pipped at the last post! Sussex caught up and were only 1 point behind in the end. The 3 peg outs by Littlehampton were the deciding factor. Extra points for those! So congratulations to Littlehampton (and chocolates as a prize!) and grateful thanks to all who came and supported. Well done captains for getting your teams together.
Also many thanks to Ben and his team for setting up the 6 short courts. Lawns played so well.
The next Club Short Croquet Jamboree is on 25th June so I will be in touch before that. Several other clubs have expressed an interest . The event may grow bigger and bigger! Enjoy your croquet! Photo of Littlehampton receiving their prizes!
Frances Low
And thanks to Frances for organising this event and others which are encouraging players to take up or keep up AC croquet, both at Sussex and other local clubs
Doubles Tournament 9th May 2025
The tournament was divided into two blocks with eight teams in each block. A fine sunny day help to make the day enjoyable with close matches in both blocks.
Block B was won by our Super Vets Les and Christine Ardley. they won 5 of their 6 matches and were followed by Francis Ainley and Kathy McColgan and Mike Akester and Philip Harrison.
Block A was won by David King and Richard Brooks who won all of their matches they were followed by Simon Ancell and Vincent L'Estrange with 5 wins and a superior net hoops over David Dickens and Douglas Shand.
All scores and results are on Croquet Scores
