Sun and hoops in July

On Thursday, 15 July, a Chester golf croquet team comprising Edward and Liz Baskerville and Sandy and Tom Grievson travelled to Bowdon for a North West Federation handicap match. The sun shone brightly and the heat intensified relentlessly as the day progressed. The Chester teams got off to a good start by winning their respective doubles games but then fortunes were reversed as the singles got underway. By lunch Bowden had pulled ahead by one game. Chester was rejuvenated in the afternoon session to win 9 games to 6 with 3 drawn games, with each member of the team contributing to the match result.

Sunday,  18 July, was another glorious day, but not a brilliant day for the club. Chester played away against Bowdon in the second round of the national Mary Rose competition for advanced croquet. The Chester team of Mark Lloyd (captain), Jerry Guest, David Guyton and Robin Tasker found themselves facing a strong team from Bowdon which had won the competition in 2019 and were determined to do so again. The doubles game in the morning finished very quickly in Bowdon’s favour followed by the two singles games which went to time but still finished in Bowdon’s favour. Two more singles games in the afternoon also finished quickly in Bowdon’s favour and the remaining two eventually fell to Bowdon giving them an overall 7 – 0 victory.

Chester’s fortunes were reversed on Wednesday, 21 July, when the Chester Centurions level play golf croquet team played away against Pendle and Craven. Another glorious sunny day saw Garry Greenwood, Sally Slater and John Hampson,  who was playing in his first league match for Chester,  cruising to an 18-0 victory.

Three Chester members played in the North West Millennium short lawn tournament held at Chester on Sunday, 25 July,  Sally Slater, the 2017 winner, James Thomas who won in 2019, and Robin Tasker who also managed the event. The other three competitors were from Bury and Bowdon croquet clubs. All six competitors played 4 games throughout the day in more lovely sunshine. The overall winner by a narrow margin of just one point was Brian Storey from Bowdon. James Thomas was the runner up.

Chester Chairman Jayne Taylor presenting a special bottle of Chateau Sloping Lawn to winner Brian Storey of Bowdon …
… and another bottle to runner-up James Thomas of Chester and Llanfairfechan

For another report on the Millennium short lawn tournament, see the North West Federation website.