Sussex County Annual Tournament 26-27 August 2025

24 players from across the country (and indeed, the world, as we welcomed back Dennis Bulloch from New Zealand) gathered for the annual AC tournament. Sufficient players this year for the three classes of advanced level play in near perfect weather for croquet.

The August dry conditions had made the hoops tough to run and a lot of games went to time as a result; there were no recorded peels. An easy schedule of five games over the two days meant a fairly relaxed competition with time to chat between games.

Thanks to Linda Gavigan, aided by Rosemary Faulkner, Robyn Clark for the excellent BBQ which was very popular with the players and did a very good trade.

With 8 players in each of the three classes, the format for each was the same: each class was divided into two blocks of four; the top two players in each block played semi- and final for the trophy and the lower two played in a notional plate knockout, so the class was to be played out to all 8 places. In practice, the non-championship players preferred to play someone they hadn't already met in the last round so there was a general mix-up rather than a strict order.

The A Class trophy, the Abbbey Challenge Cup, was won by Thomas Cullis who beat Antipodean visitor Dennis Bulloch in a tight match which ended +2. Thomas was previously a club mamber and has now return so we welcome him back.

The B Class trophy, the Scott Cup, was won by Simon Turner who beat David Houston by one point in the final. David had won all his games in his block, whereas Simon, in the same block, had only one win and got through on net hoops (the remaining three players all on 1 win were not resolvable by matches won between them). Simon met the winner of the other block Tony Elliott in the semi-final and beat him, setting up the very close final victory.

The C Class tropy, the Daldy Cup, was won by up-and-coming Sussex member David Dickins. Both David and his opponent, Adam Newbould, had won all their games in their blocks; Adam was probably favourite to win but was convincingly beaten +12. 

It was a pleasure to manage such a friendly group of players and I hope to see everyone back again for next year's competition.

John Low
Manager

Thomas Cullis with the Abbey Challenge Cup

Simon Turner with the Scott Cup

David Dickins with the Daldy Cup