The annual New Year’s Day tournament was well attended and rewarded with a fine day. A selection of the 26 members who turned out posed in the winter sun before enjoying the innovative alternate stroke doubles one-ball competition. [Ray]
The Apps-Heley award
October 20th, 2009
The Croquet Association AGM at Hurlingham on 17 October saw the presentation of many Diplomas and awards. The citation for Apps Heley Award (worth £250 to the Club) said that “the Development committee was impressed with the progress the club has made in the last few years…This has taken a united effort from the membership and some determined leadership“. Simon and Ray collected the cup and cheque from the CA President, Bernard Neale.
2009 Dulwich Cup
October 5th, 2009On Saturday 3 October the weather was cool and uninviting and manager Michael Goodman had to drop out. This left six high bisque Club members to compete in 3 shortened AC games each. Honours were fairly even but, by a narrow margin, Eric Driver added a new name to the cup - the first for several years. Acting manager Ken Watson presents the trophy.
Golf Handicap match vs Surbiton- 26th September
October 4th, 2009On a lovely sunny day Dulwich, represented by Michael Goodman, Pat Goodman, Dick Cooper and Sallyann Johnson, visited Surbiton to play them in the SECF Golf Handicap League. Lawns 6 and 7 (the others were in use for a large tournament) were a bit like ours after the foxes have got at them and one was allowed “lifts” if it was going to be like playing out of a pothole!
We played Doubles in the morning, Michael and Sallyann losing to the first Surbiton pair 4-7, while Pat and Dick won 7-4. Four Singles were then played, Michael winning 7-6, whereas Sally lost 4-7, as did Pat 2-7 and Dick also 2-7. So Surbiton were leading 4-2 in games at lunchtime
Lunch was provided, as always, by Surbiton’s cordon bleu chef George Noble and was much appreciated by the war-weary Dulwich players. Sad to say, lunch did not improve our play and we lost all three remaining matches, Michael going down 5-7, Pat 4-7 and our doubles pairing of Dick and Sallyann 3-7. Surbiton therefore won the match 5-2
Nevertheless we greatly enjoyed the day and the warm welcome we received from the Surbiton team and others we met during the day.
Better luck next time!
East Dulwich WI come to Dulwich Croquet
September 28th, 2009
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/
Fairbairns Cup Association doubles 19th September
September 20th, 20094 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.
Golf Croquet SECF Level League vs Woking at Home, 17th September
September 17th, 2009Woking 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.
“The Badger” Association Handicap tournament- 12th-13th Sept
September 14th, 2009Mark 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
Goodman trophy 2009
September 6th, 2009
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
BURBAGE BOWL AND GOBLETS/4,5 JULY
July 24th, 2009This event has been growing in popularity over the past few years, and I even had to turn a couple of late hopefuls away this year. With the maximum of 12 players for the singles, play was divided into two blocks with an all-play-all structure of five 13 point games I didn’t make last year’s mistake of turning up on the day with a few rounds sketched on the back of an envelope. Instead, I picked Ray’s brains and plundered the Oxford Croquet website and made sure everyone knew exactly who they were playing and when.
The tight schedule meant games were timed to 45 minutes, but most completed. At the end of the blocks, David Collins was winner of Block A, with myself as runner-up, and Simon Gibbs came out top of Block B with Ken Watson close behind. This set up the semi-finals of David v Ken, and a grudge match between old rivals the two Simons.
Despite a strong performance from Ken, David went through to the final to face myself, having seen off the redoubtable Mr. Gibbs.
The final was a close fought game with myself winning 7-5. To sustain interest there was also an Egyptian running simultaneously which was won by Simon Gibbs.
Next day saw 8 pairs compete for the beautiful Goblets. This was played as a straigtforward all-play-all. It was great to see relative newcomers such as Debbie, Peter and Eileen take part and Debbie’s partnership with David Collin’s was very effective with great play from both. They came a creditable third. In the end a final emerged between husband and wife team Ken and Gloria and Peter and me. Despite some aggresive play from Ken, we managed to win 7-2 and I ignored the cries of ‘it’s a fix’.
The weather held up very well and I think everyone who took part would agree it was a fun and enjoyable tournament.
Simon Carter.
