04/09/11 - Youth Conquers All in All England
28/08/11 - Pendle August Trophy Goes to Glasgow
25/07/11 - Derek Knight Wins Southport B Level
24/07/11 - North East Keep Pennine Cup
17/07/11 - England CA Win Mcweeney at Fylde
09/07/11 - New Pavilion Opened at Chester
09/07/11 - Results from Pendle Marathon Midweek Tournament
02/07/11 - Heaton Park 2/3rd July, Mid Summer Advanced Tournament 
30/06/11 - Federation 'Roses' Teams Announced
26/06/11 - Bury win Federation Festival 2011
31/05/11 - Inter Counties 2011- May 28/31 at Southwick & Compton
29/05/11 - Terry Vernazza Wins Southport Jubilee Handicap
22/05/11 - Peter Wilson Wins Pendle B Level
11/05/11 - Peter Dowdall RIP  
09/05/11 -John Mawdsley Wins Millenium Short
09/05/11 - John Adams Wins Millenium Golf
09/05/11 - John Mawdsley Wins Millenium Short 2011
09/05/11 - Barry Keen Wins Millenium Handicap 2011
06/05/11 - New interpretation of NWFCC Golf Croquet League Rules 2011
25/04/11 - Matt Holmes Wins John Beech Tournament at Pendle
17/04/11 - Ian Lines Back to Winning Ways at Southport Advanced Jubilee Event
11/04/11 - The Alans Mayne and Pidcock take NWFCC Millenium Advanced Honours
03/04/11 - First Timer takes 11th Lancashire Open Golf Championship

Pendle August Trophy Goes to Glasgow (by Barbara Dutton 28/08/11)
The August bank Holiday tournament took place during Fri - Monday of the holiday weekend. The lawns played well in spite of changing weather which affects the speed of the turf. Fourteen players coped well with the conditions and the Manager Barry Keen from Bowdon thanked them all for speedy play. He was the speediest of all winning the Fastest Game trophy in just 31 minutes(see pic003). Joe Lennon from Glasgow took the overall trophy (see pic 001), Betty Bates from Fylde took the over 10 handicap trophy (see pic 002) and Mike Bowser from Spalding took the under 10 handicap trophy (no pic as he had made an early dart home). Players had travelled from Weston-super-Mare, Bristol and Newcastle as well as the more local contingent from the north west and we thank them all and hope to see them next year, in perhaps more seasonal weather.

Derek Knight Flying High at Southport B Level (by Tony Thomas, 25/07/11)
Players came from as far apart as Scotland, Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire, Shropshire and Warwickshire. The sun was bright, although the lawns were a little heavy and play took place to the accompanying roar of aircraft as the Southport Airshow tumbled and swooped overhead. The B Level Advanced is an open tournament for individuals with a handicap of between 2 and 8, and has been held at Southport for many years. The beautiful trophy is dedicated to the memory Ena and May Hawkins, who were leading members of the club in the 1970s. Southport members Barbara Haslam and Don Williamson came joint second, along with Brian Christmas of Shrewsbury. However, the honours and the trophy were carried off by Derek Knight of Beverley, winning five out of the six games played and reducing his handicap to 4.5.  In spite of the noise and interruptions, players enjoyed the air-show, Derek saying it added to a very enjoyable competition and he is determined to return next year and defend his trophy.
Results: Brian Christmas beat Fergus McInnes +1T; Dennis Graham beat Cliff Daniel +9T; Derek Knight beat Don Williamson +7T; Peter Moore beat Adrian Morris +17; Barbara Haslam beat Tony Thomas +7T; Brian Christmas beat Dennis Graham +6; Derek Knight beat Peter Moore +16; Barbara Haslam beat Fergus McInnes +1T; Don Williamson beat Cliff Daniel +7T; Tony Thomas beat Adrian Morris +16; Derek Knight beat Brian Christmas +3T; Don Williamson beat Barbara Haslam +3T; Dennis Graham beat Tony Thomas +9; Fergus McInnes beat Peter Moore +1T; Adrian Morris beat Cliff Daniel +19; Derek Knight beat Barbara Haslam +3T; Brian Christmas beat Don Williamson +12; Adrian Morris beat Dennis Graham +25; Peter Moore beat Tony Thomas +14T; Fergus McInnes beat Cliff Daniel +8T; Dennis Graham beat Derek Knight +2T; Barbara Haslam beat Brian Christmas +11T; Don Williamson beat Peter Moore +17; Fergus McInnes beat Adrian Morris +17; Tony Thomas beat Cliff Daniel +7T; Derek Knight beat Fergus McInnes +14; Don Williamson beat Dennis Graham +21; Brian Christmas beat Tony Thomas +1; Barbara Haslam beat Adrian Morris +6T; Peter Moore beat Cliff Daniel +17.

North East Fed Keep Hold of Pennine Cup (by Paul Rigge, 24/07/11)
North East Federation won this years tie 5-3. After a gap of two years, this match, a legacy of the Confederation of Northern Clubs (under Mike Evans), was restored back onto the calendar. The North East team, lead by Charles Waterfield carried the day 5-3 and retained the trophy they won last time both federations met back in 2008, only this time they remembered to take it with them, it's been kept safe for them at the Pendle club for the last thee years!  After 3.5 hours, Lancashire were only 1-0 up at lunch in the morning doubles, necessitating in the other two games being pegged down to make way for the singles. In which we didn't fair so well, losing the round 5-1. The final NW point coming from a restarted double game before the finishing line had been crossed by Millener in his Hcp game (seen holding the trophy). Pendle again were gracious hosts who set up the lawns and fed us throughout the day. The lawns are now always a pleasure to play on, especially in the warm sunny conditions we had for todays match.
Teams: NW Fed, Paul Rigge (-.5), Mat Holmes(1.5), Rob Essler(2), Terry Vernazza(5), David Pollitt(7) & Dave Holland(9); NE Fed: Charles Waterfield(.5), Derek Watts(2), Phil Errington(2.5), Dennis Scar (6), David Millener (7) & Sheila Watts (10).
Results:
Doubles: Rigge & Holland v Waterfield & S Watts (unfinished); Holmes & Pollitt beat D Watts & Millener 26-15; Essler & Vernazza beat Errington & Scarr 26-21.
Singles: Rigge beat Waterfield 26-0; Holmes lost to D Watts 10-26; Essler lost to Errington 14-26; Vernazza lost to Scarr 09-26; Pollitt lost to Millener 21-26; Holland lost to S Watts 13-26.

England CA Team Win The 29th McWeeny Trophy (by Paul Rigge, 17/07/11)
Fylde hosted the 29th Mcweeny Trophy between the CA and the CAI. The Vera McWeeney Trophy is travelling back down to Cheltenham, after being retained by this year's CA squad at Fylde CC. This was the 29th time that England has played Ireland with both having previously held the title fourteen times, England now having the bragging rights 15-14. With the overnight score of 13-10 in our favour, it should have been an easy morning's work to secure the final point required for victory in the last round of doubles outstanding before the visitors left for the airport for their lunchtime flight. However they seemed to dominate most of the play and it appeared at times that only Irish players had turned up since they were occupying all three courts, indeed there was much speculation that if the three doubles went the wrong way, to level the score, the 'dead' singles game from Saturday would have to be played after lunch (Burnett vs Morrison). This proved unnecessary with the final three scores all being secured in timed games, final result; 15-11 after some very nervy play with single yard roquets being missed and wrong balls being played.The weather was cold, windy, wet and miserable, just the opposite in fact of Fylde CC's hospitality, that was nothing short of superb; They acted as taxi's from/to the airport. The club was bedecked with appropriate bunting and national flags. Local press came down for interviews and pictures that made both the front page and all of page 3 on Saturday (do not ask who modelled for the p3 shot! - no don't!). They billeted all the visitors with club members including feeding and watering them for the weekend. New solid friendships were made this weekend. The Irish were a delight and both teams played in excellent sprit.

Singles:
Nathaniel Healy beat James Hawkins +15; Bob Burnett beat Robert Barklie +9; Lee Hartley beat Jane Morrison +16; Michael O'Shaughnessy beat David Roe +16; Ben Reeves Smith beat Brian Lewis +8; Peter Wilson beat Jack Clingan +5; Lee Hartley beat Nathaniel Healy +8; James Hawkins beat Robert Barklie +14; Michael O'Shaughnessy beat Brian Lewis +22; Peter Wilson beat Ben Reeves Smith +10t; Jack Clingan beat David Roe +11; Bob Burnett beat Nathaniel Healy +5; Lee Hartley beat Robert Barklie +8; Jane Morrison beat James Hawkins +2; Peter Wilson beat Michael O'Shaughnessy +26; David Roe beat Ben Reeves Smith +8; Jack Clingan beat Brian Lewis +13.
Doubles:
Healy & Clingan beat Hartley & Roe +26; Hawkins & Wilson beat Barklie & Reeves Smith +22; Burnett & Lewis beat Morrison & O'Shaughnessy +19; Healy & Clingan beat Burnett & Lewis +17; Barklie & Reeves Smith beat Hartley & Roe +14; Hawkins & Wilson beat Morrison & O'Shaughnessy +12; Healy & Clingan beat Alan Pidcock* & Wilson +2t; Burnett & Lewis beat Barklie & Reeves Smith +1t; Hartley & Roe beat Morrison & O'Shaughnessy +1t;
*Alan Picock was substituted for James Hawkins on Sunday Morning.

From Left: Jane Morrison (I), Alan Pidcock (E), Brian Lewis (E), Robert Barklie (I), Ben Reves Smith (I), Bob Burnett (ECapt), Jack Clingan (I), Michael O'Shaughnessy (I), Lee Heartley (E), Peter Wilson (E), David Roe (E), Nathanial Healy (ICapt). (The McWeeny trophy is named after Vera McWeeny, an irish journalist who championed womens involvement in sport.  She represented Ireland in Hockey, Squash, Tennis and Croquet).       Return to top

Results from Pendle Marathon Midweek Tournament (by Barbara Dutton 09/07/11)
The marathon 4 day Midweek Tournament in which 23 players from all the over the country finished on Friday just before another deluge. Players were alternately baked and drenched over the 4 days but only the thunderstorm on Tuesday drove them temporarily from the lawns, possibly because modern mallets have metal shafts, or possibly that the comment that the nearby metal chimney would probably be an easier target for the lightning was not believed. There were 8 trophies to be competed for and the results were as follows:
Block A advanced  for the Pendle Rose Bowl - Lionel Tibble from Northampton:
Block B advanced  for the David Jenkinson Trophy - Peter Moore from Nottingham:
Low bisque Handicap for the Pennine Trophy - Barry Keen from Bowdon:
High bisque Handicap for the David Hoyle Trophy - Joe Lennon from Glasgow:
Doubles for the Woodlands plates - Peter Hallet from Bowdon and Fylde and David Turner from Pendle and Belsay Hall
Fastest singles game in 23 minutes for the Egyptian Cup - Barry Keen from Bowdon:
The Addicts trophy for most games played - David Marsh from Wrest Park:
The Highest Overall Egyptian for the Irish Cup - Peter Moore from Nottingham.
The managers Peter and Liz Wilson thanked the club for the hospitality, wonderful state of the lawns and the catering. The club can only thank the managers for keeping this complicated and marathon event on track and in such good humour.

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Heaton Park 2/3rd July, Mid Summer Advanced Tournament (by Paul Rigge 02/07/11)
Hosted by Bury CC and managed by Bury member Geoff Young. Only Ten players finally turned up after the build up over the last two weeks of 'hokey-cokey'. Players were in, players were out, some applied, other withdrew.  Again Manchester was blessed with soaring temperatures and blue skys over both days, because of the numbers attending only three lawns were needed but the three we used were all running fast! The Cup was played as a flexible swiss with Alan Mayne still being the 'in form' player not only winning the silverware but also hitting his next trigger point - now a minus one. The B Class Trophy was won by another Bowdon Member, Mike Steer.

	Bury Club Chairman Barbara Young presenting the Trophys: Left - Advanced Summer Silver Trophy - Alan Mayne. Right - 'B' Level Trophy - Mike Steer.   Return to top

Federation 'Roses' Teams Announced (by Paul Rigge 30/06/11)
On Sun 24th July at Pendle & Craven CC this year's annual AC Pennine Battle with the NE Fereration is being held. Pendle & Craven CC will again be providing the catering, so a little Croquet may be possible between courses.

Paul Rigge, turned out again for the fourth time for his county, Lancahire, and after four full days play, they are still top class material (!) stuck mid table in Division 1. That not quite the way this year's campaign went, in fact we were stuck in the relegation zone and due to drop, but by beating Middlesex in our last rubber 2-1, by the margin +1t in the third game, just crawled out in time.
In line with previous years the weather was cold and windy but this year we didn't get any rain at all over the full four days, in fact sun appeared on the last afternoon.

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Peter Wilson Wins Pendle B Level (by Barbara Dutton 22/05/11)
Fifteen players and a dog came to contend for the 'B' level trophy on Saturday 21st May. Sadly the dog proved to be too fond of the balls to be allowed to stay so he and his owner went home. This left 14 to compete in indifferent weather conditions, a mixture of sun, rain and hail accompanied by a fierce wind which also managed to interefere with the balls occasionally. However, the contest, ably managed by Fergus McInnes, finally drew to a close around 5pm on Sunday evening in sunshine.  Peter Wilson from Pendle and Fylde clubs, having won 6 of his 6 matches played was the outright winner, with Phill Scarr from Middlesboro taking second place and Matt Holmes from Bury coming third. The picture is from left to right: Fergus McInness (Manager), Phill Scarr, Peter Wilson and Matt Holmes.
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John Mawdsley Wins Millenium Short
Twelve players from six clubs played in three blocks. In the Semi finals, Fylde's own Ken Harper was beaten up by Bury's Bob Whittle who was playing dazzling Croquet and John Mawdsley steady and accurate style from Southport was enough to get the better of Howard Bowron from Penrith. Ken went on to win the plate event and was presented with a wonderful 'plate' of Blackpool rock. There had been a a cloudburst (conveniently) after round one, and this gave the club the chance to show off (and the players to avail) the new canopy which has been generously funded by the CA. The sun then came out and for the final the spectators drew up their chairs and settled in to watch Bob and John play.
After an entertaing and close battle John pegged out. Fylde's Chairman, Martin Bradshaw presented the trophy to John. The general tennor of the event was relaxed and fun and several players made their tournament debuts, which was one of the aims of the event.
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Barry Keen Wins 2011 Millenium Handicap (by Barbara Dutton 09/05/11)
This two day handicap tournament drew players from all over the north west and 16 contenders took part. The weather held until the final minutes when a short hailstorm drove players from the lawns, however, by that time the result was already known. The tournament was managed by Geoff Young from Bury. Barry Keen from Bowdon took first prize and the trophy from Terry Vernazza from Fylde who was second. Runners up were Alan Farrell from Southport and David Boyd from Chester. The picture shows all the players with the two winners either side of the Chairman, Ron Welch, in green top with Maureen Whitaker presenting the trophy.
Report by Geoff Whittaker:
16 players from six clubs assembled at Pendle for the annual NWFCC Millenium Handicap Tournament, this year managed by Geoff Young, playing to base 8, in three hour double banked games.  They were set into four blocks with handicaps equally spread whilst avoiding clubmates.  The block winners were: David Boyd (14, Chester); Alan Farrell (10, Southport); Barry Keen (14, Bowdon); Terry Venazza (8, Fylde).  The two round knockout saw Barry defeat Alan 26-5 in short order and then 26-0 over Terry, even faster, to take the trophy.  Alan beat David for 3rd place.  Pendle were congratulated on the condition of the lawns and the efficient and enjoyable catering.

Matt Holmes wins the Pendle Easter Handicap Tournament (by James Hopgood 25/04/11)
The Bury Bandit, Matt Holmes, won the Pendle Easter Handicap for a second season in a row, clearly playing above his handicap with solid break-play and some occasional flamboyant cockiness just to rub it in.   The manager was tempted to "rigge" a final round to give some close runner-ups a chance of pipping Matt in the Egyptian system (see later in the report). However, the grape-vine suggests that Paul Rigge might come out of handicap-tournament-retirement next Easter to prevent Matt winning the trophy three years in a row, thereby breaking consecutive-win record jointly held by Riggee and the Beast.
Ten players, five from Scotland, played in this years tournament, with two local club members playing at the start and end of the tournament to bump up numbers. The Pendle lawns have improved dramatically over the past few years, and more so over the past year; they are now definitely a very good surface to play on. Even so, conditions were easonably
easy, evenly paced, and I am guessing at around 10 Plummers or so (although I never measured it). The hoops were firmish but generous in width; nevertheless, some truly awful hoop strokes were seen to spin through (including one by the reporter) -- see the recent discussion on the Nottingham board.
There were several players, in addition to Matt, obviously playing better than their handicap, including Terry Vernazza, who earned himself the Silver Merit Award badge for an all-round break without bisques against David Turner, and Peter Dewhurst, who had some canny tactical battles with his opponents. However, as Peter only played for part of
the weekend, he did not qualify for any trophies in the tournament as he played fewer than five games.
Alice Fleck entertained us on and off the lawns, with two amusing on-lawn incidents. First, after a long-break, Terry (9) narrowly missed his peg-out against Alice (10) and decided to peg strikers ball-out; Alice, now substantially behind, came onto the lawn somewhat deflated and asked Terry why he didn't just use his bisque to finish the game. Terry duly pointed out the bisque was Alice's! Second, in her game against Joe Lennon (Glasgow), Alice was Rover and Rover versus Peg and Box, and Alice laid up with a tight rush behind rover with Joe having a long shot on the peg. After Joe failed to peg out, Alice set up for a perfect peel which went through cleanly with strikers ball able to get a rush on partner. After the continuation stoke, Joe correctly pointed out it was the end of turn since she had peeled and run hoop five, not rover. Joe hit in to win.
James mopped up after some early season jitters by his opponents who failed to beat him in the sixth or seventh turns, and the only games he lost where no croquet when giving five bisques to the Bury Bandit (who also won the toss), and 8.5 bisques to David Turner. There are few opponents of handicap 7 who can still win 9th turn despite trying to run
hoop three twice thinking it was hoop one (once first turn to peg-high from B-baulk, and again fifth turn thereby wasting 3.5 bisques), set a tea-lady with no bisques, play the backward ball seventh turn and get away with a decent leave, and still win with a bisque standing!
At lunchtime on Monday, Matt had lost to Peter, but hadn't yet played Terry who was clearly also playing well, leaving James and Matt on equal points in the Egyptian system with the same number of wins. James had played Terry, and so the natural final round was that James played Peter, and Matt played Terry, the latter being a battle of the bandits.
If Peter beat James, and Terry beat Matt, Terry would have been the overall winner of the tournament. If James beat Peter then independent of the Matt and Terry result, James would have won the trophy. Otherwise, if James lost and Matt won, Matt goes home winner. Good tournament management, eh?
In the end, no one could be bothered and we wanted to go home. So since Matt, with his unnecessary field of bisques, beat James, Matt took the trophy for a second year in a row. Bandit. Those North-West folk really should get their handicapping sorted out ... ;-)
As usual, Pendle is a superb club to visit thanks to the overwhelming hospitality of the club members. Pendle not only has high quality catering, but also high quality lawns. Two reasons to sign up to their tournaments this season.
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B Class:
PIDCOCK, Alan bt LLOYD, Mark +1; SCHOFIELD, Roger bt BARRETT, David +11; WILSON, Liz bt WILSON, Peter +5; LOWE, Ray bt SMITH, Richard +1Schofield bt L Wilson +11; Pidcock bt Lowe +17; Smith bt Lloyd +8; Barrett bt P Wilson +10; Lloyd by P Wilson +24; Lowe bt L Wilson +18; Pidcock bt Barrett +13; Smith bt Schofield +11; Pidcock bt L Wilson +11; Schofield bt Lowe +12; Barrett bt Lloyd +14; P Wilson bt Smith +2; Pidcock bt Schofield +10; Smith bt Barrett +2; Lloyd bt L Wilson +16; Lowe bt P Wilson +4; (Pidcock 4/5; Lowe, Schofield, Smith 3/5; Barrett, Lloyd, L Wilson 2/5; P Wilson 1/5).

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First Timer Takes 11th Lancashire International Open Golf Championship (Heaton Park, 2/3 April 2011)
Hosted by Bury CC and mangaged by Bury member Geoff Young, another great early season curtain raiser as 17 contenders met in kind mild spring sunshine, last year's winner couldn't defend the title, due to injury, so honours went this year to Lionel Tibble, playing golf for the first time! After scraping his way out of the block phase he won the quarter and semi stage in 2 games at a canter until Paul Rigge took him into a third game as befitting a final.  The consolation doubles was taken by Ray Mountfield and Bob Connop.

Bury Club Chairman Barbara Young presented the Trophy:

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