Nouvelles des Amis -
Premier croquet club in the South East.
Croquet England AC Inter-Club Championship
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
Croquet South East U League: Sussex County v Compton
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
CqE Secretary's Shield Competition
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
U league Match versus Surbiton
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
Sussex County have emphatic win Against Tunbridge Wells in GC Level Play League
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
GC Doubles Competition 7 July 2025
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 |
AC Alternate Stroke Doubles 4th July 2025
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.
Konstantin Wins Watford GC A Level Tournament
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?
AC Longman Cup: Sussex County v Compton, 28 June 2025
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
GC level play singles in divisions 27 June 2025
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
Full results
| 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 |
Last import : 19/07/2025 23:17