On a glorious Autumn afternoon 14 members of the East Dulwich Women’s Institute came to Dulwich Croquet Club for lunch and an afternoon of Golf Croquet. Many had not played before but after a little coaching all were quickly on the lawns in pairs taking on their fellow members.
Three games later (with much chat and laughter) winners were declared (not that it really mattered). We look forward to welcoming you back.
http://www.eastdulwichwi.co.uk/
4 teams took part on a warm sunny day for this tournament where Peter Nash and Val Subsaeng have (almost) acquired rights over the cup- the question was who could best challenge them in the 18 point 2 1/2 hour games?
The participants
First up was John Reddish and Rob Laver who went down fighting -3 on time, on a fast lawn with firm hoops making for challenging conditions. Meanwhile David Collins and Michael Goodman overwhelmed Simon Whiteley and Eric Driver +12 with some steady play from Michael and accurate shooting from David.
The second round saw Peter and Val winning +1oT over David and Michael while Simon and Eric improved on their morning by beating John and Rob +12.
For the third round Pierre Beaudry substituted for John Reddish and Pat substituting for Michael to maintain the Goodman family interest in the partnership with David. At this stage any of Peter and Val, David & Goodmans and Simon and Eric could have snatched the trophy. In the event David and Pat won their game over Pierre and Rob +3T, while Simon and Eric won a close game, with cautious pay and few mistakes togther with accurate shooting on both sides, against Peter and Val +2T, leaving all three pairs on two wins.
Peter and Val being presented with the cup
Peter and Val retained the trophy based on aggregate net points scored.
Woking and Dulwich both fielded strong teams. We had Pierre and Simon Carter with Ken Watson and Simon Whiteley as support. Their team comprised Jeff Dawson, Malcolm Bigg, Mike Town and Bernard Jones.
In the morning, Pierre and Simon C won their (best of three games) doubles match 2-0 and Ken went down to Mike Town 0-2. Simon W came back from 0-1 to win a close contest against Bernard Jones 2-1. Bernard showed excellent touch on an unfamiliar and fast lawn with fine positional shots but Simon responded with good long clearances and long hoops. This put Dulwich 2-1 up by lunchtime. After lunch Simon C beat Malcolm Bigg 2-0 but Pierre was beaten 2-0 by Jeff Dawson, and Simon W lost by by the same score to Mike Town. So it was all riding on Ken’s match against Bernard Jones.
Ken lost the first game but took the second game on the 13th hoop. In the deciding game Ken built up a 5-1 lead with some excellent long hoops. Bernard held on with steady positional play to draw back to 6-4. He then took on a series of long clearances at hoop 11, until Ken was finally given a good shot at the hoop to win the third game 7-4. This gave Dulwich the rubber by 4 matches to 3.
Mark Ormerod continued his strong run this year by winning The Badger with a convincng 5/5 wins, with John Reddish the runner up on 2/4. The Ormerod home must now be short of space for silverware having won both the Elsie King and Ayling cups earlier this year. In practice three of the wins were very close (+3, +1T, +1T) so it was less one-sided than the scoreline would suggest- well done to Mark for holding his nerve with these close games.
Mark Ormerod being presented with The Badger by Michael Goodman
8 players played on both days with 3 others doing one day only. James Benson was playing in his first ever tournament and was unlucky that his first opponent was Simon Whiteley on strong form- who took his first ball to Rover on turn 3 and eventually won +13, conceding 7 bisques. James recovered to win his next game, and was one of Mark’s close matches for the third.
James Benson in play
Full results are:
Mark Ormerod 5/5, John Reddish 2/5, Ray Hall 2/2, Ed Brookfield, Julian Stair 1/2, Simon Gibbs 2/5, James Benson, Rob Burns, Michael Blair 1/3, Simon Whiteley 1/4, David Collins 0/1
Five pairs competed in time-limited 14 point alternate stroke games.
The winners determined on games then hoops scored were Eric & Peter closely followed by David & Pat
| Forecast May 19, 2012 |
day |
Showers 17°C wind speed: 2 m/s NW |
| Forecast May 20, 2012 |
| day |
Showers 17°C wind speed: 3 m/s NNE |
| Forecast May 21, 2012 |
| day |
Showers 18°C wind speed: 3 m/s N |