The 2025 GC Veterans Championship was won by Simon Carter.
Play at Sussex County Croquet Club took place over three days. Following the usual programme for this event, the 24 players were arranged into two blocks, each playing 11 single games over the first day and the following morning, followed by a knockout and plate stage.
Conditions were good at Southwick; the Quadway hoops were set to their narrowest standard, which still gave a generous clearance which made the hoops manageable (for Quadways!).
By the end of the first day, of the top seeds Tim Russell had 6/7 losing to Trevor Smith; James Field 5/7 wins losing to Steiner Olsen and John Carr who played like a man possessed all tournament with superbly accurate shooting, and Tournament Referee Ian Shore who was not having a great day despite some excellent clearances and a wonderful jump shot ending to one game, finishing the day with 3/7 wins. The surprise, however,was Simon Carter who lost 3 games on the first day (3 happy players could go home saying they beat the eventual champion!)
Outside of the top seeds, others were having a good day: Phil Davies (ranked in the bottom sixth of the event) won 5/7 games on the first day, and a further 3 on the second to win him a place in the knockout stage.
By the end of the block stage it was Dochniak, Olsen, Russell and Farrow who qualified from the red block (in that order) and Huttley, Davies, Carter and Wise in the blue block.
In the quarter-finals, Simon Carter, finding form which was evading him on the first day, Tim Russell and David Wise made short work of their opponents, with Mark Huttley winning in three hard-fought games against Liz Farrow. A 7-3, 7-2 win for Simon against Mark Huttley and a harder 3 game win for Tim against David Wise set up the final for the afternoon of the final day.
Simon kindly described the final for me:
Old rivals and good friends, Simon Carter and Tim Russell, met in the final. As top seeds in their blocks, this was the expected outcome, but their paths to this point had not been without hiccups and surprises in the block stage. Simon had a particularly scrappy first day, losing three games. Tim’s progress was smoother, though he did lose to the event’s oldest player, Trevor Smith. Simon had then found his form and cruised in straight games to the final, while Tim had a very close best of three with David Wise in the semi to secure his place.
The final began with Simon on cracking form, running hoops from distance and leaving Tim wondering how he’d got to 6-1 down so rapidly. However, Tim showed true grit, guile and talent to claw the game back to 6 all before Simon ran a slightly nervy 13.
The second game was Tim’s from start to finish at 7-3, with Simon never really having a look in, setting up a crowd pleasing third game. This last one ebbed and flowed, with strong long-range clearances from both players, and the score was soon 4 all with every hoop being a tussle. Hoop 9-as so often is the case-was the turning point. Tim had put in what seemed like a narrow blocker that saw Simon prone on the grass in Mulliner fashion, before executing a long, angled shot to squeak past, and straight down to just by hoop 10.
More tussles ensued before Tim levelled the game at 6 all. Simon’s first approach to 12 had perfect weight but was the victim of a sneaky curve that swung it into the back of the hoop. Shoulders slumped, Simon waited for the inevitable jump from Tim to claim the title, but as we all know, a jump from a yard in a friendly is not the same at 13 in a championship. Tim blobbed the shot, but left his ball in front, leaving Simon to have a go, and once again, the nerves showed but Simon did achieve ‘ball swap’ leaving his own ball snugly into the hoop and Tim out of options.
It was a very well fought, good natured final that could have gone either way and Tim will be back next year to try to reclaim it from Simon!
The plate event, with 14 players taking part, was arranged as 7 rounds of cross-block play, in the expectation that it might peter out towards the end, which indeed it did with long journeys beckoning some players and the prospect of a good final to watch for others. At least 5 games were played by all and at that point Ian Shore, the only player to have won all his games, was declared the winner. Sadly, there is no trophy for the plate event, so Ian fashioned his own from a paper plate and ‘engraved’ it himself; hopefully Croquet England can find a proper trophy for future years (and for the shield too).
Whilst the final was engrossing the crowd at Southwick, Shield finalists Liz Farrow and Phil Davies were quietly battling away on Lawn 4. Liz took the first game easily at 7-0 but Phil pulled himself together for the second, winning 7-6. The last game slipped away from him however, with Liz taking the game at 7-3.
Congratulations to the winners (and especially to club member Liz) and to all who took part. The whole event was played in good humour and with enjoyment. We were sorry that this year, for the first time since the GC Vets was established, Richard Brooks was unable to play in the tournament for family reasons; however, he was able to attend the final and presented the Brooks Vase to Liz Farrow who won it for the second year running as the best-placed player over 75.
Next year is the final year of this run when the GC Veterans is at Southwick. I hope we get more club players entering. Look out for it in next year's CqE fixtures calendar at the beginning of March!
John Low
Manager
Simon playing the winning stroke
Paul Green beat Richard Platt 6-7, 7-6, 7-2 in the final of the Compton 3+ competition on 27th July. He had been in first place in his block earlier, losing only one game.
Congratulations to Paul.
The tournament was split into 4 divisions of 4 players.
The A Division was tightly contested between Martin Cooperman (Sussex County) and Sam Holder of Hove Beach. They both won 2 games with Martin having a net score 1 point higher than Sam.
In the B Division Tim Bick (Hove Beach) and Tony Marjoram both one 2 games but Tim’s net hoop score was +6 compared with Tony’s -2.
In the C Division Chris Baccarini was a clear winner winning all his games comfortably. David Larking came second with one win but a better net score than the other opponents.
Keeping it in the family Sue Kilby won the D Division from Peter Goldsmith, both won 2 games with Sue having the better net score.
Jonathan Isaacs
Thanks to Jonathan for managing the event.
The second of Sussex County’s four GC Level Play League matches, against Cheam CC, was on a knife edge until the very last game.
The team of Brian Aikens, David Dickens, Jonathan Isaacs and Nigel Billingham travelled up to Surbiton, which is where Cheam are playing their home fixtures, and found themselves 2-1 down at the lunchtime break with Jonathan being the sole victor.
The rain, which had been forecast, miraculously held off as afternoon play began. In order to secure the match, three wins out of the four Singles matches were needed.
Brian lost comfortably to Ian Cobold, who played very accurately and, ironically, is also a member of Sussex County. This put added pressure on the three remaining Sussex County players who all had to win in order to secure victory.
David and Nigel both won their matches in two straight games which meant that the outcome of Jonathan’s match was the decider. At one game all, Jonathan and his opponent found themselves being watched courtside by both sets of their respective team members as they began their third and deciding game.
From the off, Jonathan played a solid and controlled game which included two jump shots and a monster angled hoop run on Hoop 11 to secure the game and the match for Sussex County.
Well done the team and, in particular, well done Jonathan with wins both in the morning and afternoon sessions. As Bill Shankly famously said, “Form is temporary, class is permanent”.
Brian Aikens
On Friday, 18 July holders SCCC set off for Dulwich to play a quarter-final match in the Murphy Shield in what proved to be a close encounter.
After an early start, the Sussex team of Ben Harwood (1), Vincent L’Estrange, Paul Green and David King (all 3) arrived in buoyant mood, despite the last 14 miles of the journey through the south London traffic taking about 1 ¼ hours. (same for the return journey).
In the morning doubles, Ben & David lost by 5-7, 6-7 in a very tight match with some amazing hoop runs (some fortuitously), while Vincent scored a good 7-6, 7-4 win. A morning lead then depended on Paul Green, who was level at 1 game all and about to start his 3rd game. All went well and Paul won that 7-2 to give SCCC a lunchtime lead of 2-1.
We all enjoyed a very good buffet lunch, knowing that 2 wins in the 4 singles would give us the match . The first result in the afternoon was a 0-2 defeat for Vincent, reversing his good morning win. Next to finish was David, who was well beaten 0-2. Ben meanwhile had won his first game 7-4, but was 5-1 down in the second – but showing amazing resilience he clawed his way back to pull off a fine win by 7-5! So the match score was now level at 3 all, when we all went off to find out how Paul was getting on.
Paul had won his first game 7-4, but his opponent was fighting back hard, and went on to win the second game to level it up. All now depended on the final game. After a good start, Paul was 5-2 up, but it was not over yet – his wily opponent would not let up and was inching back, and only at the 12th did Paul manage to clinch the hoop and give us a Semi Final place with an overall 4-3 victory.
Well done team, and our thanks to Dulwich for their hospitality, and a very tough but enjoyable match.
Our semi-final will be against Guildford & Godalming or Hamptworth who have yet to play their quarter-final.
David King & Vincent L'Estrange
Play was divided into 4 divisions but, as the numbers were tricky, the first three divisions were divided into 2 4-player blocks which then played knockout semi- and final rounds for the top 2 and bottom 2 players to get places 1-8.
Congratulations to all four winners and thanks to Linda for managing the event.
| Division A-1 | BA | RB | DS | JR | Wins | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brian Aikens | 6 | 7 | 7 | 2 | 1 | |
| Richard Brooks | 7 | 5 | 7 | 2 | 2 | |
| Douglas Shand | 6 | 7 | 7 | 2 | 3 | |
| Jill Richardson | 2 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 4 |
| Division A-2 | SA | DD | MG | TJ | Wins | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Simon Ancell | 7 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 1 | |
| David Dickins | 6 | 7 | 7 | 2 | 2 | |
| Michael Gentry | 3 | 2 | 7 | 1 | 3 | |
| Tony Jolly | 5 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 4 |
| Places 1-4 | Final | Winner |
|---|---|---|
| Brian Aikens | David Dickins 7-6 | David Dickins 7-1 |
| David Dickins | ||
| Simon Ancell | Simon Ancell 7-4 | |
| Douglas Shand | ||
| Places 5-8 | Final | Winner |
|---|---|---|
| Tony Jolly | Tony Jolly 7-6 | Jill Richardson 7-5 |
| Richard Brooks | ||
| Jill Richardson | Jill Richardson 7-5 | |
| Michael Gentry | ||
| Division B-1 | DK | PG | MC | PH | Wins | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| David King | 3 | 6 | 7 | 1 | 3 | |
| Paul Green | 7 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 1 | |
| Martyn Cooperman | 7 | 6 | 7 | 2 | 2 | |
| Peter Hill | 4 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 4 |
| Division B-2 | NB | FA | AF | LM | Wins | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nigel Billingham | 2 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 4 | |
| Francis Ainley | 7 | 7 | 5 | 2 | 1 | |
| Andrew Fall | 4 | 6 | 7 | 1 | 3 | |
| Laki Marangos | 7 | 7 | 5 | 2 | 2 |
| Places 1-4 | Final | Winner |
|---|---|---|
| Paul Green | Paul Green 7-4 | Paul Green 7-4 |
| Francis Ainley | ||
| Martyn Cooperman | Martin Cooperman 7-6 | |
| Laki Marangos | ||
| Places 5-8 | Final | Winner |
|---|---|---|
| Nigel Billingham | Nigel Billingham 7-3 | Peter Hill 7-6 |
| David King | ||
| Peter Hill | Peter Hill 7-6 | |
| Andrew Fall | ||
| Division C-1 | KM | TM | MB | TK | Wins | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kathy McColgan | 7 | 5 | 7 | 2 | 2 | |
| Tony Marjoram | 5 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | |
| Mark Barnham | 7 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 1 | |
| Tim Kent | 6 | 7 | 6 | 1 | 3 |
| Division C-2 | JL | FF | JC | SG | Wins | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| John Low | 7 | 3 | 6 | 1 | 3 | |
| Fiona Fall | 6 | 4 | 7 | 1 | 2 | |
| Joanne Crosby | 7 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 1 | |
| Susan Gale | 7 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 4 |
| Places 1-4 | Final | Winner |
|---|---|---|
| Fiona Fall | Fiona Fall 7-3 | Joanne Crosby 7-3 |
| Mark Barnham | ||
| Joanne Crosby | Joanne Crosby 7-5 | |
| Kathy McColgan | ||
| Places 5-8 | Final | Winner |
|---|---|---|
| Tim Kent | Tim Kent 7-3 | Tim Kent 7-5 |
| Sue Gale | ||
| John Low | John Low 7-5 | |
| Tony Marjoram | ||
| Division D | SK | CB | PC | LD | EB | AM | Wins | Net Hoops |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sue Kilby | 3 | 7 | 4 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 6 | |
| Chris Baccarini | 7 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 4 | 9 | |
| Peter Cave | 3 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 3 | |
| Linda Davies | 7 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 5 | |
| Elizabeth Bell | 1 | 6 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 1 | -11 | |
| Angela Marjoram | 4 | 1 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 1 | -12 |
Division A 3rd/4th place: Brian Aikens beat Douglas Shand 7-6
Division B 3rd/4th place: Francis Ainley beat Laki Marangos 7-4
Division C 3rd/4th place: Kathy McColgan beat Mark Barnham 7-5
Today (19 July) we played the quarter final of the AC Longman cup against High Wycombe.
The match start was delayed due to rain and lawns being very wet. After several hours of delays we started and Sussex County had a good morning with Nigel Billingham and Steve Chapman having good wins in their singles but Simon Fenn-Tye and David Gillett lost in the pairs. We ended up 2 - 1 at the break.
The afternoon was a series of 14 point matches and unfortunately despite Simon winning we came second in the other matches to lose 4-3 overall.
I would like to thank everyone for making this an enjoyable day despite the weather and to wish High Wycombe good luck in the next round.
Simon Fenn-Tye
Sussex County secured another tight win, this time over Bristol, in the AC Inter-Club Championship to earn a place in the semi-finals for only the third time this century, and the first time since 2008.
The match went to the wire. With the games scores standing at 3-2 to Southwick, Bristol’s David Goacher embarked on a triple peel against Southwick’s Dom Nunns, always looking under control.
Meanwhile on the adjacent lawn, the innings was exchanging hands multiple times between Southwick’s Paul Castell and Bristol’s Dom Aarvold. As David was lining up his short range peg out, Paul clattered into partner while trying to get his own rush to the peg. Moments after David levelled the match at 3-3, Paul played his 5 yard peg out … and missed. But Dom narrowly missed his hit in, and Paul clinched the fourth point for Sussex.
Congratulations to the Sussex team of Dom Nunns, Gabrielle Higgins, Tudor Jenkins and Paul Castell. Commiserations to the Bristol team of David Goacher, Dave Kibble, Dom Aarvold and especially Richard M Smith who didn’t take croquet all day.
And huge thanks to High Wycombe Croquet Club for sacrificing a weekly roll-up session to host us, offering lawns that were a delight to play on, exemplary hospitality, and perfect weather to boot.
Gabrielle Higgins
Sussex County had another excellent win today in the U league, beating Compton 6-1.
We only lost the doubles and there were some excellent wins by the team comprising Steve Chapman, Deborah Marcus, Simon Fenn-Tye and Nigel Billingham.
That’s 4 wins out of 4 in this year's competition which puts us in a strong position to once again win the Croquet South East U league.
Nigel Billingham
Sussex and Compton teams
Sussex County played Caversham in the semi-final of the Secretary's Shield (a Croquet England competition for last season's winners of each region's AC handicap league) on Sunday 13th July.
Caversham, in contrast to Sussex County, is a one-lawn club and so the match was played at Southwick. All of Sussex's players were giving bisques to their opposite number which gave rise to fears of banditry which were largely unfounded.
David Gillett and Robyn Clark lost the doubles by one point and Steve Chapman also lost but Simon Fenn-Tye kept Sussex in touch at lunchtime.
Wins for Simon and Robyn and a loss for David made the score 3-3. Steve's game went to extra time and he scored to put Sussex County into the final against either Peterborough on Middlesbrough.
David Gillett