The AC Spring Weekend Tournament

The Southwick Salver Advanced (AC) Tournament (11-12 Apr 2026) at Sussex County Croquet Club A near-full field of 29 players entered this year’s Salver from far and wide, hoping for an early glimpse of some spring sunshine by the sea and of the newly refurbished clubhouse. Phase 1 of the redevelopment was recently completed, and both club members and visitors are highly impressed. All those who have donated so far were duly thanked, and a sense of anticipation is already building for Phase 2 and the finishing of the job. With a number of events this season in both codes, further visitors from the UK and beyond will have a chance to see the progress for themselves shortly.

On day one, Nigel Polhill was involved in drama at both ends of the day. As the evening spectators looked on through their drinks with a mix of intrigue, entertainment and slight concern about supper timings, Nigel edged out Ged Smolskas for a +1(t) win. However, he had been declared winner of ‘shot-of-the-tournament’ by lunchtime for his bombard peg-out from distance to finish an already adventurous triple peel.

Elsewhere, the players seeded 1 (Dom Nunns), 2 (Debbie Lines), 5 (Gabrielle Higgins) and 6 (Annabel McDiarmid) had progressed to the semi-finals. Sadly, by start of play on Sunday it was apparent that Annabel’s wrist injury was going to prevent her from playing, after she had played so well - particularly in defeating the event’s joint top peeler, Ian Lines. Dom claimed his place in the final against Debbie with a +25tp win against Gabrielle.

By the time the final reached its deciding game, The Egyptian consolation event had bubbled up to one of its most exciting conclusions yet. With large numbers of points available for any upsets, there were several contenders at various stages, including club members Liz Farrow and Jonathan Isaacs, as well as visitors Matt Cook, John Greenwood, Peter Payne and Guy Hewitt. The event is ferociously difficult to win as a minus player, so the fact that Thomas Cullis came so close was hugely to his credit. However, the eventual winner of the red wine was Tim Luke, with three determined wins from five, all against stronger players on paper.

The opening stages of the final were more interactive than either player might have wished, but from a certain point in game two the quality of play went up several notches. Dom, game up, had completed two peels and pegged out Debbie’s forward ball before showing good patience in progressing the 2 v 1 ending. However, one slip was all that Debbie needed to pounce for a decisive three-ball break. Undeterred, Dom won game three with a 7th-turn triple to claim his third Salver win. Whilst early peeling opportunities were spurned, the eventual key was an accurate rush of peelee after 2-back to five feet straight in front of 4-back, allowing an immediate jawsing and a subsequent straight double peel to finish.

Congratulations to Dominic and thanks for also managing the event.

Full results

Salver knockout

First Round	Second Round	Quarter-Final	Semi-Final	Final	Winner
Dominic Nunns	Dominic Nunns	Dominic Nunns 26-5	Dominic Nunns 26-6	Dominic Nunns 26tp -1	Dominic Nunns 26-20, 17-26, 26stp-0
bye
Ged Smolkas	Liz Farrow 26-24
Liz Farrow
John Greenwood	John Greenwood 26-12	John Greenwood 15-13
Jonathan Smith
Richard Platt	Nigel Polhill26tp-1
Nigel Polhill
Gabrielle Higgins	Gabrielle Higgins 26-0	Gabrielle Higgins 26-2	Gabrielle Higgins 26-3
Alex McIntyre
Neil Coote	Neil Coote 26-23
Richard Peperell
Adam Swinton	Adam Swinton	Phillip Eardley 23-22
bye
bye	Phillip Eardley
Phillip Eardley
Ian Lines	Ian Lines 26-12	Ian Lines 26tp-4	Annabel McDiarmid 26-18	Debbie Lines w/o
Peter Payne
Jonathan Isaacs	Mark Fawcett 26-8
Mark Fawcett
Thomas Cullis	Thomas Cullis 26-6	Annabel McDiarmid 26-2
Paul Castell
Michael Bithell	Annabel McDiarmid 26-9
Annabel McDiarmid
Andrew Hobbs	Andrew Hobbs 26-19	Guy Hewitt 26-19	Debbie Lines 26-9
Matt Cook
Andrew Gregory	Guy Hewitt 26-13
Guy Hewitt
Stephen Allen	Tim Luke 17-4	Debbie Lines 26-7
Tim Luke
David Dickins	Debbie Lines 26tp-0
Debbie Lines

Egyptian Plate

(NB, winner is defined by points gained, not direct results so table order has no significance.)

Egyptian Consolation	Games	Wins	Results
Thomas Cullis	4	4	G.Smolskas +13, M.Fawcett +17, I.Lines +13, M.Cook +3
Peter Payne	4	4	P.Castell +1, A.Gregory +3, G.Hewitt +15, J.Greenwood +8
Gabrielle Higgins	1	1	A.Gregory +10TPO
Matt Cook	4	3	A.Swinton +8, D.Dickins +15, J.Greenwood +8, T.Cullis -3
Alex McIntyre	4	3	J.Isaacs -3, L.Farrow +9, P.Castell +9, M.Bithell +1
Stephen Allen	3	2	R.Peperell +19, A.Swinton -18, D.Dickins +5
Jonathan Smith	3	2	M.Fawcett -4, N.Polhill +3, L.Farrow +16
Andrew Hobbs	3	2	T.Luke +25, G.Smolskas +1, P.Eardley -26
Tim Luke	3	2	A.Hobbs -25, J.Isaacs +2, G.Hewitt +5
Neil Coote	3	2	J.Isaacs +10, L.Farrow +19, P.Castell -9
Nigel Polhill	3	2	G.Smolskas +1, J.Smith -3, M.Fawcett +10
Adam Swinton	4	2	M.Cook -8, R.Platt +23, S.Allen +18, G.Smolskas -4
Michael Bithell	4	2	A.Gregory -8, P.Castell +22, D.Dickins +10, A.McIntyre -1
Mark Fawcett	4	2	J.Smith +4, T.Cullis -17, P.Eardley +5, N.Polhill -10
Ian Lines	2	1	T.Cullis -13, R.Peperell +26TP
Philip Eardley	2	1	M.Fawcett -5, A.Hobbs +26
Andrew Gregory	3	1	M.Bithell +8, P.Payne -3, G.Higgins -10TPO
Jonathan Isaacs	3	1	A.McIntyre +3, N.Coote -10, T.Luke -2
Richard Peperell	3	1	S.Allen -19, R.Platt +1, I.Lines -26TP
David Dickins	4	1	R.Platt +4, M.Cook -15, M.Bithell -10, S.Allen -5
Paul Castell	4	1	P.Payne -1, M.Bithell -22, A.McIntyre -9, N.Coote +9
Ged Smolskas	4	1	T.Cullis -13, N.Polhill -1, A.Hobbs -1, A.Swinton +4
Richard Platt	3	0	D.Dickins -4, A.Swinton -23, R.Peperell -1
Liz Farrow	3	0	A.McIntyre -9, N.Coote -19, J.Smith -16
John Greenwood	2	0	M.Cook -8, P.Payne -8
Guy Hewitt	2	0	P.Payne -15, T.Luke -5