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Last call for Southport!

This is a reminder that if you would would like to join one of the Chester teams at this year’s Southport Festival over the weekend of 25-26 June), you need to contact either:

For the AC events     Robin Tasker

For the GC events     Jayne Taylor

by this Wednesday, 25 May, at the latest.

Details of the Festival are shown below.

Looking forward to hearing from you!

Robin Tasker

23 May 2022

Southport Festival of Croquet, 25-26 June

The Southport Festival of Croquet takes place over the weekend 25-26 June 2022 and the detailed programme has now been released.

The following events are scheduled:

• • Advanced rules AC: teams of 2 players playing doubles games (6 rounds)
  • Handicap AC: teams of 3 players playing 18-point singles and doubles games with adjusted full handicaps played to a base of 6  (5 rounds)
  • Short lawn AC: teams of 3 playing 14-point matches comprising of one doubles and one singles games played with gross handicaps (ie no base)  (8 rounds)
  • Level Play GC: teams of 2 per game doubles pairs 13-point games  (14 rounds)
  • Handicap GC: teams of 2 players per game – doubles pairs playing 13-point games with extra turns determined by the difference in full handicaps (14 rounds)

Chester can enter a team into each event, and can bring larger team squads for each event substituting players for different rounds of the competition. So this gives plenty of flexibility around playing, watching and generally catching up … !

If you’d like to take part on either day, or indeed both days,  please can you e-mail:

For the AC events     Robin Tasker

For the GC events     Jayne Taylor

as soon as possible, and certainly no later than Wednesday, 25 May, stating the event you’re interested in playing and the day(s) you’re available.

Lunch and tea, paid on the day, is available; and if you’d like to enjoy this food then please indicate in your reply.

Many thanks

Robin Tasker

13 May 2022

Early Bird Golf Doubles Competition cancelled

Sadly I have decided to cancel the Early Bird Doubles this Saturday.  We have only 6 contestants, which is not really enough to make a decent doubles competition.  There is a lot happening at the moment, and I appreciate that people have a life outside croquet !  It may be possible to try again later in the season.  I will see if there are any dates available.  If not….there is always next year !

And of course there is a fun day on Sunday;  I hope it goes well and the sun shines.  I cannot be there this Sunday, I am afraid,   croquet calls elsewhere.

Jayne Taylor

20 May 2022

Calling for more players!

The Early Bird Doubles Competition is due to be held on Saturday, 21 May.  This is a GC doubles competition for high handicaps (11’s and above) .  So far we have only seven people signed up for this.   We need a few more !

Please let me know as soon as possible if you would like to join in.  You do not need to sign up as a pair.  These are selected randomly on the day.  It would be a shame to cancel it.

Jayne Taylor

14 May 2022

This year’s Early Bird Golf Doubles Competition

Calling all golf croquet players with high handicaps (ie 11 and above).  This year’s Early Bird Golf Doubles Competition will be held on Saturday, 21 May.  Partners will be allocated on the day, so you can sign up singly.  The length of the competition will depend on the number of entrants.  There is a maximum limit of 16 participants and we need to have at least 8 entrants for the competition to take place.

Please let me know if you wish to take part or sign up on the form which is displayed on the GC noticeboard in the pavilion and provides some further information.

This is an ideal competition for the new members who joined last year to take part in , alongside established members with a high handicap.

It’s just a bit of fun really !

Jayne Taylor

24 April 2022

We have three social evenings planned for local groups and need volunteers to come along and help, please.

The first is on Tuesday, 31 May,  with the Chester Deva Rotary Club. We don’t have numbers as yet, but they are coming in the evening at 7.00 – 8.30/9.00 pm.

The second is a big group of 30 guides on Wednesday, 22 June, at 7.30 – 9.00 pm.

The third group is Chester Rambling Group on Tuesday, 12 July, at 7-9 pm. No numbers as yet.

The volunteers are required to welcome the group, fit them with mallets and help guide them through the basics and play a game. We usually finish with refreshments, so servers and washer uppers also helpful.

Please let me know if you can help.

Many thanks

Sally Slater

Chester Croquet Club took to the lawns again on Monday, 9 May, in an enterprising initiative to introduce golf croquet players to association croquet. Like many croquet clubs, Chester embraces both forms of the game and fields teams for both forms in NW Federation leagues and other competitions. However, relatively few members play both forms and many of the more recent members have been introduced to golf croquet and have not ventured into association croquet.

To help  bridge the gap, the aim of the AC-GC Partnership Day was to create doubles teams comprising one association croquet player and one golf croquet player and to have a friendly one-day competition in which the association croquet and golf croquet players shared the shots between them with the golf croquet players learning some of the tactical approaches of association croquet from their doubles partner.

Altogether, sixteen players took part, eight from each form of the game, and each team of two played four other pairs during the course of the day with each game lasting 1¼ hours. It was a grey but relatively mild and pleasant day, and the lawns were relatively dry and fast. The main challenge was the difference in tactics between the two forms of the game and the wider variety of strokes needed for association croquet. Overall, it was a friendly and enjoyable event and by the end of the afternoon the golf croquet players clearly had a better appreciation of the strokes and tactics of association croquet.

Robert Jones (AC) and Ian Shaw (GC) emerged as overall winners of the competition with Elmyr Hughes (AC) and Kerry Dadson (GC) as runners up. As the winning team, Robert Jones and Ian Shaw both received a bottle of wine for their successful endeavours. Thanks are due to Robin Tasker and Sally Slater, who organised the event, devised the playing format, kept track of the scores and also took part in the competition.

 

 

Chester Croquet Club fielded teams in three more NW Federation league matches over the weekend.

On Saturday, 7 May, Chester hosted a team from Crake Valley in the association croquet weekend handicap league. The team was Robin Tasker (captain), Sally Slater, Paul Watson and Richard Smith. Chester was 2-1 up at lunch but struggled in a couple of the games in the afternoon and the final score was a 4 – 3 win for Crake Valley.

On the following Sunday, 8 May, there were two golf handicap matches in the NW Federation league.

A Chester Tribunes team led by Jude Wise with Brian Lussey, Keith Dixon and David Johnson played at home against Llanfairfechan Dragons in the club’s second golf croquet handicap match of the season. All the Tribunes played much more confidently winning both doubles games and each team member achieved more wins than previously, resulting in a victorious win of 12 games against Llanfairfechan’s 5 wins with 1 draw.

On the same day, the Chester Senators team had a much more challenging time away at Southport and lost 13 – 5. The first challenge was to find the delightful club well concealed on Rotten Row opposite Beach Road. Senators were greeted warmly by veteran Terry Dunbar and his team who had had little match experience. However, Southport proved to be a well coached group with excellent position and clearing skills. The Chester team of Edward Baskerville (captain), Liz Baskerville, Sarah Clements and Arnie Banford had an average handicap of 8 against 10 for Southport but were unable to make any significant impact despite running 83 hoops against Southport’s 108.

Sarah Clements did well running out a 7-3 win against impressive newcomer to the game, Paul Greenwood, who had slaughtered Edward Baskerville 3-7! Arnie Banford, for the Senators, also achieved a 6-3 victory over Sue Wilkie. The Senators captain saved face winning three, including the last game of the afternoon against Terry Dunbar 7-5. Despite a number of games won on narrow margins, Southport ended the day well deserved winners with 13 games to 5.

It was a cool, overcast and windy morning as play opened on the extensive lawns at Rotten Row but after lunch blue skies emerged and the match finished in warm sunshine to accompany tea and biscuits.

 

 

I am hoping to take an order into Darts at the end of this coming week.  So if you have any requests  (including those you have already mentioned to me!), whether items from the Dart catalogue or any garments of your own for embroidering the Chester logo, please let me know by emailing me on the link below by Thursday, 9 May, and bring your own items in to the club clearly labelled with your name by that date.  I will not be at the club during the day on Thursday, but will call in early evening to pick up any items.

Jayne Taylor
Mobile: 07810 892311

4 June 2022

 

Now that competitions have begun and some players are playing in a team for the first time  it is opportune to ask if anybody is interested in acquiring white clothing bearing the club logo. Others may wish to refresh their wardrobe.

We have an arrangement with DARTS at Stamford Bridge for embroidering our logo on either garments purchased from them (eg polo shirts and fleeces) or on your own items.  Their catalogue can be viewed on line or last year’s edition is in the pavilion.

Let me know if you want further info when I get back next week.

Jayne Taylor
Mobile: 07810 892311

6 May 2022

On Wednesday, 4 May, Chester was host to Bury in a NW Federation Advanced B Level League match in what turned out to be extremely inclement weather, not exactly ideal for a summer sport!

Chester was represented by Elmyr Hughes (Handicap 1), Jerry Guest (2) and Robin Tasker (4). Bury’s team was David Barrett (3½), Roger Schofield (5) and Phillip Nuttall (10).

In the morning Elmyr Hughes and Robin Tasker won 10 – 8 against Roger Schofield and Phillip Nuttall in a low-scoring doubles game, whilst Jerry Guest overcame a very resolute David Barrett 22 – 13.

The afternoon singles games proved to be very difficult for both teams coping with the dreadful conditions of continual wind and rain until approximately 4 pm. However local knowledge of lawn conditions proved to be the telling factor as Chester took all the matches: Elmyr Hughes v David Barrett 26 – 7, Jerry Guest v Roger Schofield 26 – 8, and Robin Tasker v Phillip Nuttall 26 – 5.

So the overall result was a satisfying  5 – 0 clean sweep for Chester in the Club’s first Advanced B Level match of the season.

Chester were in action again on the following day, Thursday, 5 May. A  handicap association croquet team of David Boyd, David Guyton, Robin Tasker and Nigel Worthington travelled to Pendle to play Middlesbrough in the first round of the national Secretary’s Shield competition.

In the morning session Chester won both singles games with David Guyton winning by the narrowest of margins by just one hoop and Nigel more straightforwardly. A close doubles game was eventually lost after Middlesbrough opened with a spectacular fourth turn round to rover.

In the afternoon, the top two singles were lost, the first following further stunning play by the Middlesbrough top ranked player and the second narrowly in the last few minutes of play.  Fortunately both David Boyd and Nigel Worthington won convincingly which took Chester over the line for a 4-3  victory, and a second round tie against York.

Despite a somewhat chilly start and rather damp lawns in the morning, the weather improved significantly during the afternoon. The outcome was a successful day with thanks due to the Pendle and Craven Croquet Club for hosting the match on neutral ground midway between the two clubs and for a competitive but enjoyable encounter with the Middlesbrough side.

 

 

 

Calling all GC players interested in playing in the RAT League this year.

I have the following names on my list of participants :

Mel Hagan, Kerry Dadson, Pat Wheeler, Jill Foley, Jude Wise, David Booth, Chris Slater, Liz Baskerville, Edward Baskerville, Arnie Banford, Keith Dixon, Ian Meadows, Sandy Grievson, Lesley Newman, Sarah Clements, John Walker, Brian Lussey, David Johnson, Giles Pepperell.

If you are not included, but wish to join in, please let me know asap, similarly if you are included incorrectly. My apologies if you have requested inclusion and I have missed you.  But hence this email.

The list will be pinned up in the pavilion, along with contact emails and phone numbers.  You can also get these from the website (members section, members list).  Could Brian Lussey, John Walker and David Johnson let me have their preferred contact phone numbers please.

I also attach revised guidance notes for the competition this year.  There are some changes so if you are re-joining please do read them again. In particular, please note that this year the results should be included on your handicap cards, and your index adjusted accordingly. The notes will also be pinned up on the notice board.

The competition runs till the end of October, so you have six months to play as many games as you can, or indeed want to. Start as soon as you like.

All the best

Jayne Taylor

The team of Derek Bell-Jones, Nigel Worthington, Robert Jones and Jayne Taylor finally played their postponed play-off final against Westmorland in the North West Federation short lawn league.

The match was supposed to be played last season, but was called off due to bad weather, not a problem on Tuesday, 26 April, when the weather was sunny and dry giving perfect playing conditions at the neutral venue of Southport.

It was a tight match, each team keeping pace with the other. The first round ended 2-2, the second round was 1-3, third round 3-1 then final round was 2-2, giving the final score of 8 all. Then the team with the most hoops is the winner. The hoops were nervously totalled up. Westmorland ran 139 hoops and Chester ran 158 hoops, giving Chester the championship.

The  new season got underway on Saturday, 23 April, in glorious sunshine with a local Derby between the two Chester teams in the NW Federation golf croquet handicap league. Chester Tribunes were led by Jude Wise with David Johnson, Brian Lussey and Keith Dixon. Chester Senators captain Edward Baskerville led Liz Baskerville, Ian Shaw and Kerry Dadson.  Despite an understandable hesitant start due to the long winter lay-off the Senators gradually drew ahead and were comfortably in front by lunchtime with Kerry Dadson showing good form. This trend continued in the afternoon with both Kerry and Edward shining for the Senators. The clash of the captains came in the final game where Jude reclaimed some Tribune pride by convincingly beating Edward. However Senators emerged as sound victors with 11 points to Tribunes 5 and two draws. Senator Kerry Dadson claims the laurel wreath as the only unbeaten player of the day.

On the following Sunday, 24 April, again with lovely weather, 24 aspiring croquet players came to the club to have a go at croquet. In a three hour session with coaches they learnt all about the skills needed for the sport and finished by playing a game of one ball, which was enjoyed by all. Anyone interested in croquet is always welcome to get in touch with the club and come and have a go.