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Croquet South East GC Ladies Day
The 2026 SE Fed GC Ladies Day was held at Southwick on Wednesday 1st July with a full house of 14 teams competing for the trophy.
Congratulations to Chichester for winning the tournament by just 1 game, with last year's winners Dulwich in 2nd place and Hove Beach 3rd. Well done to Sussex County who finished 5th. The team, captained brilliantly by Rosemary W, consisted of Sandra, Angela A, Linda F, Sue K and Rachel P.
It was good to see so many familiar faces back and also to welcome new ones to Southwick. Returning players were all very complimentary about our new clubhouse.
We probably couldn't have asked for better weather conditions, mostly sunny, but not as hot as last week!
Many thanks to everyone who helped with the day, in the kitchen and the bar, cake makers, and a special thanks to Bob Clark for acting as referee of the tournament and for all his help on the all-important spreadsheet keeping track of the results. Thanks also to David Larkin for acting as referee on the day and Linda for her work on the bell and hooter.
Jo, Diana and Nira
Club Open Afternoon
The weather was wonderful and we had 35 guests to look after!! Because it was Fathers day we had whole families having a go!! We had lots of comments about the wonderful lawns and the quintessential, calm and peaceful atmosphere
Thank you to all the helpers on the lawns and in the kitchen and bar and also to all the people who donated delicious cakes. There were too many helpers to thank individually, but I would like to say the kitchen helpers headed by Jo Mander, and Deborah in the bar, worked tirelessly and were greatly appreciated, especially as the weather was so hot.
Jo handed out 10 subscription forms to potential new members!!
Thanks to Fran for organising the afternoon. Photos by Bill Arliss.
GC singles 19 June 2026
A fine day at Southwick greeted 24 player who were divided into 4 divisions.
Division A was a close run event with Brian Aikens just beating Tony Jolly for first place, with 4 wins and plus 13 hoops against Tony's 4 wins and plus 12 hoops. Chrissie Merrington was third with 3 wins.
Francis Ainley was a clear winner of Division B with five wins, followed by Beryl Hughes - 3 wins and Kathy McColgan - 2 wins.
Division C again was close with Phil Harrison just winning with 4 wins plus 9 against John Low 4 wins plus 5. Jane Powell was third with 3 wins 2 hoops.
Our visitor from Bromley Gloria Perez-Vertiz won Division D with 5 wins against Tim Weller 3 wins and Jim Mander also with 3 wins.
Thanks to Roger for managing the event
Full results
| A | TJ | BA | MT | JR | MG | CM | Wins | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tony Jolly | 4 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 4 | 2 | |
| Brian Aikens | 7 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 4 | 1 | |
| Marc Trevere | 3 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 2 | 4 | |
| Jil Richardson | 5 | 2 | 6 | 7 | 5 | 1 | 5 | |
| Micheal Gentry | 0 | 2 | 7 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 6 | |
| Chrissie Merrington | 5 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 3 |
| B | BH | FA | KM | SN | AF | GO | Wins | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beryl Hughes | 6 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 7 | 3 | 2 | |
| Francis Ainley | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 1 | |
| Kathy McColgan | 5 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 7 | 2 | 3 | |
| Sue Nicholas | 5 | 3 | 7 | 3 | 7 | 2 | 5 | |
| Andrew Fall | 7 | 4 | 2 | 7 | 4 | 2 | 4 | |
| Gerald O'Brien | 6 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 7 | 1 | 6 |
| C | RE | TT | PH | JP | MB | JL | Wins | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Richard Ellis | 7 | 6 | 7 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 5 | |
| Truida Trevere | 2 | 5 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 2 | 4 | |
| Phil Harrison | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 4 | 1 | |
| Jane Powell | 5 | 7 | 3 | 7 | 6 | 2 | 3 | |
| Mark Barnham | 7 | 4 | 3 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 6 | |
| John Low | 7 | 2 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 4 | 2 |
| D | JM | TE | RL | TW | MS | GP | Wins | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jim Mander | 7 | 7 | 5 | 7 | 6 | 3 | 2 | |
| Trish Ellis | 3 | 7 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 6 | |
| Richard Law | 5 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 2 | 4 | |
| Tim Weller | 7 | 7 | 1 | 7 | 6 | 3 | 3 | |
| Mike Sims | 6 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 5 | |
| Gloria Perez-Vertiz | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 1 |
Summer club competitions
Changes have been made to the menu for club competitions to improve accessibility on some devices.
Sussex County Open Evening Singles – 16 June
The weather improved to give us a pleasant (if slightly chilly) few hours of croquet for our first evening event of the summer. 12 players were grouped into 3 divisions of 4, and some excellent croquet was enjoyed by all.
Division C was the first to finish. Tim Weller dominated proceedings, winning all 3 games with a net +13 hoops.
The other two divisions, A and B, were much closer, with net hoops required to establish the winners. In Division B, both Phil Harrison and Mark Barnham secured 2 victories, but Phil’s superior net hoops score of +4, gave him the win.
Finally. Division A went right down to the wire. Tim Bick was leading after 2 rounds, but had to play Morgan Case in the final round to claim victory. Morgan won 7-3 putting both on 2 wins and +2 net hoops. However, as Morgan had won the head to head, he took home the much prized chocolate bar (aptly named “Sweet and Salty”).
Thank you to everybody who made it such a good natured and enjoyable evening.
David
Thanks to David for managing the event
Sussex County v Guildford & Godalming
Another U League win for Sussex County today at Guildford.
Our team comprising Deborah Marcus, David Dickens, Rob Harper and Nigel Billingham won the match 5-2 on difficult playing surfaces - it certainly brought home just how good our lawns are!
We won the morning session ( 3-0) and convincing wins by David and Nigel in the afternoon secured the win.
That's now 3 out 3 so far , with just Ealing to come in a few weeks.
Nigel Billingham
GC doubles competition 13 June
After a week’s bad weather the sun finally shone on Saturday for the one day GC Doubles Competition, although there was still a chilly wind.
22 pairs took part (including five married couples and one father and son team). Because of the numbers involved there were four divisions but two of the divisions only had five pairs each. This meant that divisions C & D were put into a crossover division in effect playing the opposing division so they could still have five games each during the day without byes etc.
Division A had six pairs and the winners were Steve Chapman and Paul Green with four wins. There were three pairs with three wins but Konstantin Yudintsev and Brain Aikens took second place with +8 net hoops. All players were from Sussex County.
Division B again had six pairs. Stephen and Debra Hayns from Ryde and Philip & Julie Tremble from Guildford tied with 4 wins each. However Stephen & Debra took first place with +10 net hoops.
In the C & D Crossover Division Tony Marjoram and Laki Marangos took top spot with five straight wins and therefore won Division C. Kathy McColgan and Davide Cogrossi were in second place with 3 wins and as they were from Division D they took the prize for that division.
Andrew Stewart
Thanks to Andrew for managing the event
Full results
| Division A | KY&BA | RB&DD | SC&PG | BH&IC | VLA | DS&DW | Wins | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Konstantin Yudintsev & Brian Aikens | 6 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 2 | |
| Richard Brooks & David Dickins | 7 | 5 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 3 | 3 | |
| Steve Chapman & Paul Green | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 4 | 1 | |
| Beryl Hughes & Ian Cobbold | 3 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 6 | |
| Vincent L'Estrange & Simon Ancell | 2 | 7 | 3 | 7 | 6 | 2 | 5 | |
| Douglas Shand & Dominic Webb | 6 | 4 | 7 | 5 | 7 | 3 | 4 |
| Division B | RF&RC | PT&JT | SH&DH | LT> | SN&TN | FB&MJ | Wins | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rosemary Faulkner & Robert Clark | 6 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 2 | 4 | |
| Philip Tremble & Julie Tremble | 7 | 5 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 4 | 2 | |
| Stephen Hayns & Debra Hayns | 7 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 4 | 1 | |
| Louise Taylor & Gavin Taylor | 7 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 3 | 3 | |
| Sue Nicholas & Tony Nicholas | 3 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 0 | 6 | |
| Fran Box & Michael Jay | 0 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 7 | 2 | 5 |
| Division C & D Crossover | FP&JC | MT&TT | FA&WA | TM&LM | MA&PH | KM&DC | CB&SK | DR&DF | JB&GP | PH&JS | Wins | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fiona Phillips & Jo Crosby | 1 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 3 | 5 | |||||
| Marc Trevere & Truida Trevere | 7 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 4 | |||||
| Francis Ainley & Will Ainley | 4 | 4 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 2 | 7 | |||||
| Tony Marjoram & Laki Marangos | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 1 | |||||
| Michael Akester & Philip Harrison | 2 | 2 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 3 | |||||
| Kathy McColgan & Davide Cogrossi | 7 | 6 | 7 | 1 | 7 | 3 | 2 | |||||
| Chris Baccarini & Susan Kilby | 6 | 5 | 7 | 4 | 7 | 2 | 6 | |||||
| Diana Rolfe & David Funnell | 2 | 7 | 7 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 9 | |||||
| John Butler & Gloria Perez-Vitez | 6 | 3 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 10 | |||||
| Peter Hill & Jane Sims | 7 | 7 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 8 |
Sussex win 4-3 at Ramsgate
Our U League team , comprising Jonathan Isaacs, David Dickens, Rob Harper and Nigel Billingham recorded a hard earned away win ( 4-3) at Ramsgate today. This means we are 2-0 so far this year.
The home team won the morning games 2-1, with our doubles pair of Jonathan and Rob recording the only win.
Sussex won the afternoon singles (3-1) with excellent wins by David , Rob and Nigel. This was despite an hour of really poor weather comprising thunder, lightning , hail storm, high winds and biblical rain!
Ramsgate were excellent hosts and despite the poor weather a good time was had by all.
Next up Guildford away.
Thanks to Nigel for report and photos
There was an early 8am start on Sunday, 7th June for Francis, Morgan, John and Jo. A smooth journey to the ULEZ zone and Roehampton club (thank goodness for an EV), to find that the weather was kinder in London than it was on the coast.
Overcast skies, no rain, the occasional glimpse of the sun and a gusting wind that took the ball off its perfect line. Perhaps. All this accompanied by very large jets going overhead at incredibly short intervals. The perfect way to clear your head before the next shot – was that Emirates? Qatar? BA?
The morning consisted of three close morning matches (all going to three), of which the doubles was won by John and Morgan, with Morgan running a tricky hoop in added time and Jo winning her singles. 2-1 up at lunch.
A delicious sandwich (with chips!) and brownies were very welcome by 1:15pm.
The afternoon session consisted of four more tight singles matches – all bar one going to three games. Sussex County had three more wins (Morgan, Francis and Jo).
During the day, six games went to golden hoops, four of which were won by Sussex County, and crucially two by Francis in one three game match. Gritty stuff.
So Sussex County won the match 5-2 and are into the quarter finals, where Guildford await.
The journey home to the south coast was remarkable in that Jo was so busy chatting that despite familiar roads, she missed two turnings and ended up doing some sight-seeing in Surrey. She will never live it down!
Thank you to Roehampton for the hospitality and a match played in good spirit.
A big thank you to Jo for captaining on the day, driving the tem both ways and writing a report as well - with a picture too.
Croquet South East GC Level Play League 2026
Sussex County started their campaign in the Croquet South East GC Level Play League 2026 with a hard fought home match against Hove Beach CC.
The team of David Dickins, Douglas Shand, Brian Aikens and Simon Ancell found themselves 1-2 down at lunchtime after some excellent play by the members of the Hove Beach team. This meant that, of the four Singles matches to be played in the afternoon, Sussex County needed to win three of them to clinch victory.
Whatever was in the home team’s lunch seemed to do the trick, as Sussex County managed to secure the three required wins to turn the tables and run out winners of this very close match, 4-3.
Brian Aikens
