The Club runs a wide variety of association croquet and golf croquet competitions to suit all abilities from beginners to more experienced players. The majority are open to members of all levels of ability and use a handicapping system to help give broadly equal opportunities to players of differing standards. Other competitions are level play where handicapping does not apply.
Association Croquet
Fletton Trophy: A trophy for an advanced level play competition, donated by Anne Fletton in memory of her husband, Malcolm Fletton, who was Chairman of the Club when he died from a heart attack on 19 October 2001. The competition is played throughout the season.
Mason Cup: A trophy for a full lawn handicap competition open to all members and played throughout the season, named in memory of Bert Mason who was a founder member and the first secretary of Chester Croquet Club when it was founded in 1977 and who died in 1987 after an operation.
Hastings Wang Short Lawn Trophy: A trophy presented to the Club on 5 August 2012 by Hasting Wang, a founder member of the Club, for a short lawn handicap competition played throughout the season.
Hibiscus Tournament: A one day short lawn handicap competition played at the end of the season for beginners and all members with a short lawn handicap of 8 and above (“high bisquers”) who have not previously won. The aim is to give relative newcomers to the game a chance to play in a competition against players of a similar standard. It was started in 1992 but was held for only one year. It was revived in 1999 when Malcolm Fletton designed and made a unique trophy from stainless steel and African Mopane wood.
Croaky Trophy: A trophy donated by Alan Stubbs, a former Chairman of the Club, in 2006 for the winning ‘teen and twenty’ doubles team in alternate shot doubles games played throughout the season and first awarded in 2007.
Rabbits Trophy: A short lawn handicap completion for members with a short lawn handicap of 8 and above based on games played through the season. The winner is the player achieving the highest number of points (1 for playing, 2 for a win and 3 for pegging out).
Golf Croquet
Christine Long Trophy: A trophy named in memory of Christine Long, a fomrer Treasurer of the Club who died in 2005 , and first awarded in 2006 for a one day full lawn singles handicap tournament played at the end of the season.
Early Bird Golf Doubles: A one day full lawn level play competition for beginners and high handicap players played early in the season.
Hasting Wang Knockout Trophy: A trophy donated by John Adams in 2012 in memory of Hasting Wang, a founder member of the Club, and awarded to the winner of a full lawn singles handicap competition played throughout the season and open to all handicap levels.
Hermitage Trophy: A full lawn doubles handicap knock-out competition played through the season. The trophy is named after the Club’s initial location at the Hermitage garden and bowling greens at the Groves next to the River Dee in Chester. First played at our present location in Westminster Park in 2013.
Level Play Ladder: A singles level play ladder played through the season.
Mollie McBride Rats Trophy: A novel Chinese trophy donated by Mollie McBride, a former longstanding member of the Club and a keen proponent of golf croquet, in 2010 as the golf croquet counterpart of the Rabbits Trophy for association croquet and awarded to the player winning the highest points in the monthly mini-leagues for golf croquet by the end of the season.
Peter Bingham Award: Named after Peter Bingham who died in 2015 and awarded for the first time in 2016 to the player who scores the most points throughout the season in the Tuesday morning golf croquet sessions
Association Croquet and Golf Croquet
Improvers’ Cups: Awarded to the two members of any standard in association or golf croquet who in the judgement of the Committee have achieved the greatest improvement by the end of the season.