Author: David Guyton

Chester Croquet Club was drawn to play against Southport and Birkdale in the first round of the 2023 Longman Cup, a national inter-club knockout competition. This was played at Chester on Friday, 19 May. Chester was represented by David Boyd (captain), David Guyton, Nigel Worthington and in his very first Association Croquet match, John Hampson. Despite having ‘home advantage’, the morning session of the doubles and two singles did not go in Chester’s favour and by lunchtime Southport had taken a lead of 2 games to 1, Nigel being Chester’s only winner.

Apart from one of the four singles in the afternoon, the scoring remained very  tight with the final scores being within one or two points between the winners and losers. But Chester prevailed and managed to turn the tables on Southport, so, including a vital win by John, who was giving away 2 extra points to an experienced opponent, this gave Chester a victory of 4 games to Southport’s 3.

Chester now goes through to the second round to play against the winner of the Fylde v Tyneside match.

The next day on  a sunny and warm Saturday, 20 May, the Chester Tribunes croquet team were hosts to Southport in a North West Croquet Federation handicap golf coquet match. The team was Lawrence Cole, David Johnson, John Hampson and Brian Lussey. Both teams were fairly evenly matched at the start and Southport took an early lead. But as the day progressed Southport were gradually worn down by the consistency of the Chester players. After lunch Chester drew steadily ahead to finish the day with a solid victory winning  12 games to Southport’s 6. Chester’s Laurence Cole swept the board by winning all of his singles games.

On Sunday, 21 May, another Chester Tribunes golf croquet team of Sarah Clements, Kerry Dadson, Doreen Curtis and Arnie Bamford welcomed the golf croquet team from Craig-y-Don. The day started warm although overcast and gave way to blue sky and cooling winds in the afternoon. A perfect day to play croquet and the competition was very closely fought with Chester Tribunes finally winning 10 games to 8.

The morning session started with doubles games and Chester’s Arnie and Sarah beat husband and wife team Linda and Alan in a close match. Meanwhile Roger and Nick from Craig-y-Don won another closely fought match against Chester’s Kerry and Doreen. The singles games were all closely contested and special mention goes to Alan from Craig-y-Don and Arnie and Kerry from Chester Tribunes who all won three games each.

As well as the 6 – 1 win against Tyneside in the first round of the national Mary Rose competition for advanced association croquet, there were some great individual successes during the week, with Richard Smith winning the 14 point advanced association silver salver at Shrewsbury. This was  Richard’s fifth win of the trophy. Sarah Clements won the shield competition at a golf croquet C level competition held at Ryde on the Isle of Wight, with Tom Grievson winning the shield at the B level.

After winning the final of the national Secretary’s Shield association croquet competition on Saturday, 29 April, Chester made an excellent start in another national competition beating Tyneside 6-1 at Pendle on Tuesday, 9 May, in the first round of the Mary Rose knock-out competition for advanced association croquet. Playing for Chester were David Boyd, Elmyr Hughes, Mark Lloyd and Brian Walton.

Despite heavy overnight rain which left the lawns a little heavy and slow the match started in pleasant weather conditions which continued to improve as the day progressed, finishing in bright sunshine. The score does not reflect how close the match was, despite having lost all the morning games Tyneside came out invigorated after lunch and pushed Chester hard with two games decided in the last few strokes. During the whole match there was only one game that finished before time.

Having won this hard-fought game Chester progress to the second round when their opponents will be Nottingham.

Thanks to Pendle for their hospitality.

Individual scores were:

Morning session
Mark Lloyd (0.5) & Elmyr Hughes (1) beat Derek Watts (2) & David Millener (7) +4T
David Boyd (5) beat Derek Johnson (10) +12T
Brian Walton (6) beat Don Wright (8) +9T

Afternoon session
Mark Lloyd lost to Derek Watts -10T
Elmyr Hughes beat David Millener +1T
David Boyd beat Don Wright +1T
Brian Walton beat Derek Johnson +18

 

Chester met Chester in a level play golf croquet match held at Chester on Thursday, 4 May !

The club has two level play golf croquet teams and they were drawn against each other in the North West Federation league.

The Chariots, Jude Wise, Brian Lussey and Chris Thomas played the Centurions, Mark Lloyd, David Boyd and Sally Slater on a lovely sunny day and it was a more closely fought contest than the final score of 12 (Centurions) to 6 (Chariots) shows. Many of the games were taken to the golden hoop, and everyone enjoyed a great day’s croquet.

On Sunday, 7 May, once again Chester played Chester, this time in the North West Federation handicap golf croquet league where Chester also fields two teams, the Senators and the Tribunes, who battled for seven hours on the warmest and sunniest day this year.

A set of doubles games between the four player teams set the pace for the day with the Senators captained by Edward Baskerville winning both games. This early lead by the Senators was strengthened as the 16 games of singles got underway with their four good wins against a valiant Tribunes effort. The new ‘ Advantage’ handicap system provided tightly-fought and well balanced games and exciting finishes. The final match score of 12 to Senators and 6 to Tribunes belies the closeness of most of the games and no player suffered the ignominy of a crushing defeat. Honours go to Tribunes captain Brian Lussey and Senators captain Rick Davies, with a special mention for newcomer Doreen Curtis who was not fazed by her more experienced opponents.

19 May 2023

This is a final reminder if you want to play GC or AC at the Southport Festival on 24/25 June. The details are shown in the appended email, and if you do wish to play please contact either Tom or myself no later than Wednesday 24 May.

Many thanks

Robin Tasker

7 May 2023

The 2023 Southport Festival takes place over the weekend 24-25 June with the following events being played over the period:

Advanced Rules AC
Handicap AC
Short Lawn AC
Level Play GC
Handicap GC

Clubs can enter a team in each of these events but are allowed to rotate the team membership through the weekend. This allows individuals the opportunity to play over both days, on just the Saturday, or just the Sunday; and a team’s composition can also vary through the day to accommodate the numbers who wish to play in an event.

It is a tremendous fun weekend where a serious amount of croquet – and some serious chat! – takes place. It’s a chance to catch up with old friends and to make new acquaintances across the croquet clubs of the North West.

If you are interested in taking part please can you contact either

Please contact Tom Grievson for both GC competitions or Robin Tasker for all AC competitions saying which competition you’re interested in playing and on which day(s); and also please tell us if you want to take the lunch provided (at your cost) by Southport which is payable on the day(s).

Please we need to know by Sunday, 21 May, to allow us to organise the Chester teams and to submit our application to the Festival organisers.

I do hope you can play!

Many thanks

Robin Tasker

In a hugely exciting match on Saturday, 29 April, Chester won the re-arranged 2022 Croquet Association Secretary’s Shield competition beating Newport, Essex, 4-3 on a warm and mostly sunny day. To reach the final Chester had defeated Middlesbrough, York and, in a gripping semi-final, Sheffield with the very last shot of the match.

The first attempt to play this game at a neutral venue in Nottingham had been washed out in October with Chester leading 2-1 at lunchtime. Although by the competition rules Chester could have claimed the trophy, the team felt a replayed match to be more appropriate, and Newport graciously agreed to the match being played at Chester.

The replayed final was hard fought. In the morning session Robin Tasker and David Boyd won the doubles, Richard Smith won his singles game and David Guyton lost his by just one hoop, giving Chester a 2 – 1 lead by lunchtime. The afternoon matches were shared 2-2 with Richard Smith and David Guyton winning their singles games but David Boyd and Robin Tasker losing theirs, Robin by just one hoop in the final golden hoop after a draw when time was called. The final result was a narrow 4 – 3 win for Chester, the first victory for the club in this national competition.

Detailed results were as follows:

Morning Session

Robin Tasker (4) and David Boyd (5) beat Fran Lambert (9)
and Andrew Gregory (1.5) +9 T
David Guyton (5) lost to John Richardson (16) -1 T
Richard Smith(-1) beat Dan Neale (0.5) +20

Afternoon Session

Richard beat Andrew +15 T
Robin lost to Dan -1 GH
David G beat Fran +14T
David B lost to John -16

But thanks must in addition be given to Brian Walton, Nigel Worthington and Paul Watson who played in some of the earlier rounds. And so this represents an all round team effort!

Many thanks are also due to the catering team who provided a splendid lunch which was enjoyed and appreciated by all.

As a postcript, the Secretary’s Shield has been retrieved and is now in the possession of the club’s secretary, Robin Tasker. Close inspection reveals that the club previously won the trophy in 1980 when a team of Bert Mason, Andrew Collin, George Collin and Hasting Wang beat Wallingford 5-1 at Edgbaston. So it has taken 43 years for Chester to regain the award!

Earlier in the week the club held the first golf and association croquet partnership day. This is designed to give golf croquet players the chance to experience and participate in association croquet games. Along with many other croquet clubs, the majority of members play golf croquet and association croquet is at risk of dying out. Brian Walton led the day where four association players partnered four golf players who played a series of games. The winners were Helen Brophy and Doreen Curtis. A second partnership day is planned at the end of May.

North Wales was the destination for the first matches of the new season for two of Chester Croquet Club teams playing in North West Federation leagues this weekend.

On Saturday, 22 April, the Chester Senators golf handicap team played their first golf croquet handicap match against Craig-y-Don. Jude Wise was captain, with Gail Thomas, Rick Davies and Ian Shaw. They used the new advantage golf handicap system and had a good day away at the friendly club of Craig-y-Don. The weather was mostly very pleasant and sunny, until a downpour for the last game of the day.

Chester Senators emerged victorious with a final result of 13-5.

The association croquet short lawn team of Sally Slater, Robert Jones, Nigel Worthington and David Boyd travelled to Llanfairfechan on the following day, Sunday, 23 April, for their first match. Although very cold, the rain stayed away and there was even some sunshine towards the end of the afternoon.

It was a closely fought match with both teams neck and neck every round and after a nail biting finish to the very last game, it finished a draw of 8 all.

Chester Croquet Club opened its doors to new members on Sunday, 16 April,  with two successful taster sessions. 17 people braved the wet weather to come and have a go at croquet and ten of those signed up to become members.

The club is one of the leading croquet clubs in the north west, and this season looks to be as exciting as the last, with the club hosting an All  England association croquet final in September.

The season started at the end of March, but wet weather has delayed some of the practice activities. League matches in the North West Federation start next week and Chester is fielding 8 teams in both association and golf croquet, as well as competing in three national competitions.

It is our first social get together of the season on Sunday April 2nd.

Please come along from 2.00 pm, bring friends and family and have a social game of croquet, AC or GC.

We may run a fun one ball competition and there may be scones and Prosecco – come and see!

Sally Slater

 

19 May 2023

Unfortunately, due to insufficient players, it has been decided  to cancel the AC – GC partnership day planned for Monday, 22 May.

But do not despair, Monday, 26 June, is the next date, so hopefully we will have more players available to take part, albeit in a shorter version and a slightly different format.

Due to the above event being cancelled, why not come along on Monday morning for the AC short lawn roll-up sessions, you will be very welcome to still try and have some fun with other short lawn members.

Best wishes

Elmyr Hughes

25 April 2023

Now the season is underway and the grass is growing and the sun is shining and you have all played a few games, I’m sure that GC players would welcome an opportunity to have a go at association croquet. See what it is all about in a gentle, fun way.

We are running three AC – GC partnership days this year and the second one of these is on Monday, 22 May.

A GC player partners with an AC player and plays 4 rounds of croquet, learning about the AC strategy and shots as they go.

It’s a good day’s play. Members who have joined in before are more than welcome to have another go.

It is a serious concern that our pool of AC players is dwindling and we really need to encourage others to take it up or the beautiful game will die out.

Please let me know if you would like to join in on 22 May.

Sally Slater

9 April 2023

We are holding our first GC/AC partnership day on Monday April 24th.

This is a great way to have a fun, non-threatening way of learning what AC is all about.

At the moment we only have 3 GC players signed up, and we can have 8.

Don’t worry, you won’t be press ganged into anything!

Please sign up if you can by e-mailing me  using the link below.

Last year’s players are more than welcome to have another go if they want to.

Sally Slater

30 March 2023

Last season we held a very successful GC/AC partnership day, and by popular demand we are proposing to hold three more days this season. Monday April 24th, Monday May 22nd, Monday 26^th June.

An AC player partners a GC player all day during which four rounds of AC croquet are played, with each round increasing the range of shots made by each player, finishing with a round of alternate shot doubles.

This format has encouraged the GC players to increase their range of shots, which will help their GC play, and also understand better the AC game. It is also very good fun!

In the first instance we require 16 players – 8 GC players and 8 AC players. If you have participated before you are most welcome to come along again.

Please let me know if you are interested in the day on Monday April 24^th by e-mailing me using the link below. There are prizes!

Many thanks

Sally Slater