Our team travelled to Surbiton today for our third U league fixture.
Thankfully temperatures were lower but strong winds made for less than ideal playing conditions.
The morning session saw us ahead 2-1 , with both David Gillett and Nigel Billingham wining their respective singles matches. We won the afternoon session 3-1 , with David narrowly losing a tight match.
Overall a 5-2 win against tough opposition. So far it’s 3 wins out of 3 for the club's U league squad. Compton up next!
Nigel Billingham
The first of Sussex County’s GC Level Play League matches was played on July 11th at Tunbridge Wells CC in extremely warm conditions.
Our team of Konstantin Yudintsev, Brian Aikens, Simon Ancell and David Dickens found themselves 3-0 up at the lunch interval without dropping a game.
The four afternoon singles matches were much more balanced, with three of the four going to the final game but, when Simon ran the golden hoop in his game, it secured a 7-0 victory for Sussex County.
Our thanks must go to the team members at Tunbridge Wells CC and in particular to their Captain, Michael Gentry, who were excellent hosts. They were most welcoming and, in addition to providing a delicious lunch, rounded off the afternoon by sitting down with us over a welcome cup of tea and slice of cake.
A great start to the campaign, but we all know that ‘It’s not how you start, it’s …………………………….’
Brian Aikens
Konstantin, Simon, Brian & David
Sadly we just missed raising the 48 players needed to play 4 divisions of 6 players which would have been ideal, so the play was arranged in 3 divisions: two divisions of 8 players and one of six; the teams were allocated to each division by joint handicap.
All divisions played 5 games, which seems, by general consent, to be the most popular number of rounds for these events. Divisions A and B were therefore incomplete blocks and the Manager chose the final rounds post lunch to ensure as many of the pairs with better results played each other as possible.
Division A was won by David Dickins & Douglas Shand who convincingly won all their games - only one game went to 7-6.
Division B went to the wire as at the end of Round 5 two pairs had 4 wins each:John Effingham & David Russell and Mike Akester & Philip Harrison. Both also had +10 net hoops. Sadly for John and David, they had been beaten by Mike and Philip who therefore took the prizes.
Division C was a complete block of five rounds and was won by Sue Kilby & Chris Baccarini who won 4/5 games.
Congratulations to the three winning pairs and thanks to all who played. Especial thanks to Linda who kindly baked and donated cake for tea!
Douglas Shand & David Dickins
Phillip Harrison & Mike Akester
Sue Kilby & Chris Baccarini
Full results
| Division A | BA&KY | LF&JI | R&BC | DD&DS | BH> | FP&TJ | AH< | SN&DK | Wins | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brian Aikens & Konstantin Yudintsev | 5 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 3 | |||
| Liz Farrow & Jonathan Isaacs | 7 | 4 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 2 | |||
| Robyn & Bob Clark | 7 | 3 | 6 | 5 | 7 | 2 | 5 | |||
| David Dickins & Douglas Shand | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 1 | |||
| Beryl Hughes & Gavin Taylor | 3 | 7 | 4 | 7 | 5 | 2 | 6 | |||
| Fiona Phillips & Tony Jolly | 6 | 4 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 4 | |||
| Andrea Huxley & Louise Taylor | 6 | 7 | 5 | 3 | 6 | 1 | 7 | |||
| Sue Nicholas & David King | 4 | 3 | 1 | 7 | 6 | 1 | 8 |
| Division B | JE&DR | KM&FA | TM&LM | FB&AB | MA&PH | TK&MC | C&LA | NL&TB | Wins | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| John Effingham & David Russell | 7 | 2 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 4 | 2 | |||
| Kathy McColgan & Francis Ainley | 7 | 6 | 2 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 5 | |||
| Tony Marjoram & Laki Marangos | 5 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 3 | 3 | |||
| Fran Box & Anne Bolland | 3 | 6 | 6 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 8 | |||
| Mike Akester & Philip Harrison | 7 | 7 | 4 | 7 | 7 | 4 | 1 | |||
| Tim Kent & Martyn Cooperman | 2 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 7 | 3 | 4 | |||
| Christine & Les Ardley | 3 | 6 | 1 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 7 | |||
| Neil Lewin & Tim Bick | 5 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 6 |
| Division C | R&RP | AM&MB | LG&RF | H&CM | DR&PH | SK&CB | Wins | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rachel & Richard Pointon | 2 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 3 | |
| Angela Marjoram & Mark Barham | 7 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 6 | |
| Linda Gavigan & Rosemary Falkner | 6 | 7 | 5 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 2 | |
| Helen & Christopher Mabley | 3 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 5 | |
| Diana Rolfe & Pat Harden | 2 | 7 | 3 | 7 | 6 | 2 | 4 | |
| Sue Kilby & Chris Baccarini | 7 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 4 | 1 |
The Alternate Stroke AC doubles on 4th July had a small entry but the play was enjoyable if rather slow!
The games were handicap, full bisque so there were chances to go round all hoops and peg out! But only 1 pair did peg out!
The contest was close but the final winners were Deborah Marcus & Tony Marjoram. Well done to them and particularly Tony who has not been playing AC long. Wisely, he let Deborah guide him round!!
Runners up were Robyn & Bob Clark.
Thanks to those who played and for all those AC players who offer support.
Frances
Thanks to Frances for organising and managing this event.
Congratulations to Sussex County member, Konstantin Yudintsev, who won the Croquet England GC A Level Tournament at Watford played on 28th and 29th June.
The tournament had a strong field and was played in sweltering heat, which untroubled Konstantin who played exceptionally well.
These GC A Level Tournaments are for players with 0+ GC handicaps so it may be some time before he is eligible to enter again as his excellent run of results reduced his handicap from 0 to -1.
The organisers wasted no time in engraving his name on the shield or did they know something that nobody else knew?
Today Sussex County competed in a last 16 Longmans cup match against Compton Croquet Club. The teams were very evenly matched in handicaps and we played 7 games in the day.
Compton had the best of the morning with Simon Fenn-Tye, Steve Chapman and Robyn Clarke loosing but Nigel Billingham won his singles so we were 2-1 down.
The afternoon started well with Nigel winning again but Steve lost a close match against good opposition. Simon managed to win a very close game to even the games to 3-3.
All now depended on Robyn who won her singles to give us a 4-3 win.
Well done to everyone from both clubs for a competitive match played in a friendly way making it an enjoyable day for all.
Simon Fenn-Tye
28 entries were split into 4 divisions, two of 8 players and two of six players.
Division A was won by Brian Aikens with 5 wins and a hoop count of +10 followed by David Dickens and Bob Clark.
Division B was won by David King followed by Francis Ainley and Mike Gentry.
Division C: Jill Richardson won with five wins out of 5 followed by Kathy McColgan and Robin Wootton.
Division D: Tim Bick won with Five wins out of 5 followed by Fiona Fall and Linda Gavigan.
Well done to everyone who took part.
Roger Sutton
Thanks to Roger for managing the event
| Division A | LF | BC | SA | BA | DS | DD | TJ | JI | Wins | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liz Farrow | 7 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 1 | 7 | |||
| Bob Clark | 5 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 4 | 3 | ||
| Simon Ancell | 7 | 5 | 4 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 4 | 4 | ||
| Brian Aikens | 7 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 1 | ||
| Douglas Shand | 7 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 5 | ||
| David Dickins | 7 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 2 | ||
| Tony Jolly | 6 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 0 | 8 | |||
| Jonathan Isaacs | 2 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 3 | 7 | 2 | 6 |
| Division B | MG | DK | RC | AS | GT | AF | PG | FA | Wins | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mike Gentry | 7 | 7 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 4 | 3 | ||
| David King | 5 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 4 | 1 | ||
| Robyn Clark | 2 | 2 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 2 | 6 | ||
| Andrew Stewart | 7 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 5 | 2 | 7 | ||
| Gavin Taylor | 7 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 7 | 2 | 8 | ||
| Andrew Fall | 6 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 4 | 7 | 3 | 4 | ||
| Paul Green | 4 | 7 | 4 | 7 | 7 | 2 | 3 | 5 | ||
| Francis Ainley | 7 | 7 | 7 | 4 | 5 | 7 | 4 | 2 |
| Division C | JR | RW | KM | RE | MB | PH | Wins | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jill Richardson | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 1 | |
| Robin Wootton | 2 | 7 | 5 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 3 | |
| Kathy McColgan | 6 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 2 | |
| Richard Ellis | 5 | 7 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 4 | |
| Mark Barnham | 3 | 5 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | |
| Philip Harrison | 5 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 7 | 1 | 5 |
| Division D | AM | FF | TM | LG | TB | PL | Wins | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Angela Marjoram | 2 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 6 | |
| Fiona Fall | 7 | 6 | 7 | 2 | 7 | 3 | 2 | |
| Tony Marjoram | 7 | 7 | 5 | 1 | 7 | 3 | 4 | |
| Linda Gavigan | 7 | 4 | 7 | 5 | 7 | 3 | 3 | |
| Tim Bick | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 1 | |
| Paul Lane | 7 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
The 2nd Short Croquet Jamboree was held on 25th June. A record 8 teams entered which was very encouraging.
The format was a round of singles, followed by a round of doubles then lunch - kindly provided by Rachel and Richard.
Afternoon play started with a round of one singles and a doubles. The last round was speed doubles!! Good fun.
Short croquet is played on short courts and is a 14 point game with full bisques in singles. A good learning curve. Our doubles is alternate stroke so again it can be used by newer players to learn from more experienced ones.
The play was very competitive with 3 teams in contention until the last round. It ended with a win by 1 point for Chichester 2, followed by Sussex 2, and Sussex 1 and Littlehampton following in 3rd place.
I think everyone enjoyed the day! Thanks to the teams for entering: Sussex 1, Sussex 2, Littlehampton, Rother Valley, Rottingdean, Reigate, Chichester1 and Chichester 2.
Do contact me if you would like to try Short Croquet. I aim to do some introductions in the autumn. If there is interest of course! Don't miss out!
Frances Low (Manager)
Thanks to Frances for organising and managing these Short Croquet events.
Photo of the winning Chichester team with the manager, and their chocolates!
It was the longest day of the year, but fortunately, the competition did not take all of it!
Played in pleasant sunshine for most of the day, the event was in two divisions: a division of 8 teams with average lower handicaps, and a division of 6 teams for the higher average handicaps. Not the best ebtry for doubles we have had this year, and a number of players had to be dragooned in.
Expected to be very hot, the Manager amended the higher division from a division of 7 games to 2 blocks and knockout, reducing the number of games to 5/6. This division results in a final between Richard Brooks & David King and Gavin Taylor & Richard Ellis. Some excellent play from both teams resulted in a 7-6 win for Gavin and Richard. Congratulations to them.
The second division had a pleasant day of 5 games with every team winning at least one game. Only one team won all their games however: congratulations to Mike Akester and Philip Harrison.
Division A winners Richard Elliss & Gavin Taylor
Division B winners Mike Akester & Phillip Harrison
| Division A-1 | RB&DK | TJ&PG | RF&MD | GT&RE | Wins | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Richard Brooks & David King | 7 | 7 | 5 | 2 | 1 | |
| Tony Jolly & Paul Green | 2 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 4 | |
| Rosemary Faulkner & Martin Daniels | 5 | 7 | 7 | 2 | 2 | |
| Gavin Taylor & Richard Ellis | 7 | 7 | 4 | 2 | 3 |
| Division A-2 | JP&MC | LD&TJ | BH&MH | LT&AH | Wins | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jane Powell & Morgan Case | 7 | 7 | 4 | 2 | 3 | |
| Liz Drury & Tony James | 6 | 7 | 7 | 2 | 2 | |
| Ben Harwood & Mark Hmilton | 6 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 4 | |
| Louise Taylor & Andrea Huxley | 7 | 6 | 7 | 2 | 1 |
| Quarter-Final | Semi-Final | Final | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Richard Books & David King | Richard Books & David King 7-3 | Richard Books & David King 7-4 | Gavin Taylor & Richard Ellis 7-6 |
| Liz Drury & Tony James | |||
| Louise Taylor & Andrea Huxley | Rosemary Faulkner & Martin Daniels 7-5 | ||
| Rosemary Faulkner & Martin Daniels | |||
| Gavin Taylor & Richard Ellis | Gavin Taylor & Richard Ellis 7-5 | Gavin Taylor & Richard Ellis 7-3 | |
| Ben Harwood & Mark Hamilton | |||
| Jane Powell & Morgan Case | Jane Powell & Morgan Case 7-4 | ||
| Tony Jolly & Paul Green | |||
| Division B | F&WA | MA&PH | TM&TK | EB&SG | SK&CB | AM&JL | Wins | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Francis & Will Ainley | 6 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 4 | 2 | |
| Mike Akester & Philip Harrison | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 1 | |
| Tony Marjoram & Tim Kent | 3 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 2 | 3 | |
| Elizabeth Bell & Susan Gale | 1 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 1 | 6 | |
| Sue Kilby & Chris Baccarini | 4 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 2 | 4 | |
| Angela Marjoram & John Low | 6 | 5 | 7 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 5 |
It was a real pleasure on Friday to welcome Hove Beach for a very enjoyable match. We had the perfect weather for it, and surely there can't be many better ways of spending a summer's evening than having good food, lovely weather, beautiful surroundings, great company & croquet.
We played two rounds of 8 doubles games, separated by a lengthy break for refreshments. Our volunteers produced really tasty food & drink and a special mention to Denise J. & Angela A. for providing that; also Peter G. for his delicious pavlova (I must get the recipe for that).
Also, thanks to everyone else who stepped up to help with all the other chores an event like this inevitably entails.
Our home advantage obviously paid off and it was nice for us to win 12-4, but the evening was about so much more than that. Hove Beach can get their revenge in August maybe when we play them on their home turf! I will be posting details of that event in the next few weeks.
Francis Ainley
