The 4 last news
GC singles competition, 28 April 2026
A full house of 36 players enjoyed a fine if somewhat cold and windy day’s croquet in six divisions of six players ranging in handicap from -1 to 11.
Many of the visitors were seeing the refurbished club house for the first time and there were many admiring comments.
Three players made the manager’s life easy by winning all their games. Special mention must go to Rob Harper, one of the three undefeated players, doing so in Division C in his first ever tournament. The other two were Stephen Wingrove in Division B and Tim Weller in Division F. The runners up, all tying with another player on three wins but coming out ahead on net hoops, were David King (Division C), Richard Brooks (Division B) and David Larkin (Division F).
Stephen Collett was the clear winner of Division D with four wins, followed by three players on three wins, of whom Sue Nicholas had the best net hoop score.
In Division A, Konstantin Yudintsev dropped only one game, to Brian Aikens. Both finished on four wins but Konstantin was awarded the prize with +10 net hoops to Brian’s +6.
Division E had three players on four wins, again resolved by net hoops. Tim Bick edged out ahead of Peter Hill, also recording an excellent first ever tournament, pipping Kathy McColgan to the runner up spot by 2 net hoops.
Thanks to Gabrielle Higgins for managing this event.
Full results
| A | KY | SA | BA | DS | DD | DB | Wins | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Konstantin Yudintsev | 7 | 4 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 4 | 10 | 1 |
| Simon Ancell | 2 | 7 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 1 | -8 | 5 |
| Brian Aikens | 7 | 4 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 4 | 6 | 2 |
| Douglas Shand | 6 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 2 | -2 | 4 |
| David Dickins | 2 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| David Boyd | 5 | 7 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 1 | -9 | 6 |
| B | JI | RB | MC | TJ | SW | PG | Wins | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jonathan Isaacs | 3 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Richard Brooks | 7 | 2 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 2 |
| Morgan Case | 6 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 1 | -6 | 6 |
| Tony Jolly | 6 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 |
| Stephen Wingrove | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 9 | 1 |
| Paul Green | 1 | 2 | 7 | 7 | 4 | 2 | -10 | 4 |
| C | JR | DK | FA | RH | BH | GT | Wins | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jill Richardson | 4 | 7 | 6 | 4 | 7 | 2 | 4 | |
| David King | 7 | 7 | 3 | 7 | 6 | 3 | 2 | |
| Francis Ainley | 5 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 6 | |
| Rob Harper | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 1 | |
| Beryl Hughes | 7 | 5 | 7 | 3 | 7 | 3 | 3 | |
| Gavin Taylor | 4 | 7 | 7 | 4 | 6 | 2 | 5 |
| D | SB | SC | SN | JM | JP | AF | Wins | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Steve Baldwin | 7 | 2 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Stephen Collett | 3 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 4 | 7 | 1 |
| Sue Nicholas | 7 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 8 | 2 |
| Jim Mander | 3 | 4 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 2 | -5 | 5 |
| Jane Powell | 5 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 0 | -15 | 6 |
| Andrew Fall | 7 | 6 | 4 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 4 |
| E | KM | PH | MB | PWH | TB | TM | Wins | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kathy McColgan | 7 | 7 | 2 | 7 | 7 | 4 | 5 | 3 |
| Philip Harrison | 5 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| Mark Barnham | 2 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 1 | -11 | 5 |
| Peter W Hill | 7 | 7 | 7 | 2 | 7 | 4 | 7 | 2 |
| Tim Bick | 6 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 4 | 12 | 1 |
| Tony Marjoram | 5 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 0 | -15 | 6 |
| F | DL | TW | LG | FF | MB | AM | Wins | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| David Larkin | 6 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 12 | 2 |
| Tim Weller | 7 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 11 | 1 |
| Linda Gavigan | 3 | 5 | 6 | 3 | 7 | 2 | -6 | 5 |
| Fiona Fall | 7 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 7 | 2 | -4 | 4 |
| Maggie Boyd | 2 | 4 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 3 |
| Angela Marjoram | 2 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 0 | -14 | 6 |
B and C Level Series Tournaments 25th and 26th April
Over a very sunny weekend two Croquet England Tournaments were held at the Club
On the Saturday it was the turn of the B Series Tournament for competitors below a D grade of 1700. 32 players took part using nine lawns.
The first part of the day was playing in 8 blocks of 4 with the top two players from each block going forward to the main knockout and the remaining 16 playing for the plate and other places.
There were many hard fought matches but eventually Matthew Parsons from Bradford upon Avon and our own Vincent L’Estrange got through to the final with Matthew winning overall by 7 games to 4.
Thanks to the catering team for producing a welcome lunch during a very long day’s play.
The C Level Tournament was a slightly more sedate affair with twelve competitors competing for the trophy.
This time they played in two blocks of 6 with the top four players going forward for the knockout and the remainder playing for places.
Several Sussex County players did well during the day and Diana Rolfe got through to the final against Tim Weller from Worthing. Diana was the winner in the final beating Tim 7 games to 3.
Thanks to Andrew Stewart for managing both events.
Full results to be found on CroquetScores for the B level and separately for the C level tournament.
Charity One-Ball local heat
The Charity One-Ball took place on Friday 25th April under bright sunshine.
There were eight entrants, so an all-play-all format meant seven games for everyone.
The charity was Save The Children this year and everyone was invited to wear something red.
The heat was won by Tony Marjoram with 6 wins followed by Nigel Billingham on 5. Rosemary Faulkner and Richard Ellis were third and fourth respectively on 4 wins.
David Marcus
Thanks to David for managing the event.
Full results
| DM | RF | RE | MA | CH | TM | TE | NB | Wins | Position | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Deborah Marcus | +4 | +2 | 2 | 7 | ||||||
| Rosemary Faulkner | +2 | +6 | +3 | +6 | 4 | 3 | ||||
| Richard Ellis | +1 | +5 | +5 | +4 | 4 | 4 | ||||
| Mike Akester | +7 | +4 | +4 | 3 | 5 | |||||
| Clive Hayton | +3 | +1 | 2 | 8 | ||||||
| Tony Marjoram | +8 | +4 | +4 | +7 | +2 | +6 | 6 | 1 | ||
| Trish Ellis | +6 | +3 | 2 | 6 | ||||||
| Nigel Billingham | +7 | +2 | +3 | +7 | +8 | 5 | 2 |
We hosted a great day playing Bradford on Avon today. A mixture of doubles and singles were played in the morning with some very close games.
Southwick just came out on top 9-6.
The group from Bradford on Avon then joined Fran’s Croquet and Cakes for a very enjoyable afternoon. Encore!
Thanks to Diana and Fran for organising the day.