Crake Valley Inaugural Golf Croquet Invitation Event
Sunday 30 August 2020 at Crake Valley Croquet Club

Ten players from five clubs competed in Crake Valley’s first ever Golf Croquet Invitation event.

The players handicaps ranged from 12 to 5 and many of the group games went to the 13th hoop. The semi finals saw Frank Sharps (Crake Valley) beat Bernard Lord (Bury) 7-4 and Sandy Grievson (Chester) beat Phil Snowdon (Fylde) 7-3. 

The final saw Frank go ahead to lead 6-3 but Sandy fought back using her extra turns well to level at 6-6. On the deciding hoop Frank tried a clearance, only for Sandy’s ball to run the hoop for victory. She was presented with a wonderful glass trophy by the President of Crake Croquet Club, Jim Allcock.

All players commended the club for the excellent condition of the lawns. The tournament showed how competitive croquet can be played in a pleasant manner and good company.

Golf Croquet B-Level Tournament – Mon 17 August 2020 – Wrest Park Croquet Club

Crake Valley’s David Cornes has qualified for the national B level Golf Croquet finals after winning 6 out of 6 games at Ashby on 15th August. He also finished 3rd at Wrest Park qualifier on the 17th August.

He will play at Roehampton in early September.

Picture shows David left foreground with red mallet at wrest park.

Here is some further information which may be of interest to other clubs running events, showing how the tournament was organised in order to comply with Covid restrictions:

Dear All
I look forward to welcoming you all to Wrest Park for this tournament, which is being run under the latest CA general and tournament guidance and in compliance with the Club’s guidance following a risk assessment.

I am attaching an Order of Play for the morning and afternoon sessions with a very rough sketch plan of the site. 

FORMAT: I would like play to start at 9.30am, please. It would be helpful if you would aim to arrive by 9.15am. As we cannot use any of the buildings (apart from toilets) or congregate together in a large group, I would be grateful if each group of 4 would make their way immediately and already changed to the base I am establishing for each of our 4 lawns. All your “group” (block) games will be played in the morning on the same lawn on an all-play-all level play basis. Please stay at your base for lunch.

After lunch, I propose to invite the winners of each group to assemble at Lawn 1, the runners up at Lawn 2, the 3^rd places at Lawn 3, and the 4^th places at Lawn 4. There will be a mini-league of 3 rounds of games on each lawn to decide finishing places.

The winner of the tournament will gain a place at the National Final at Roehampton on 5^th/6^th September and players finishing in 2^nd,3^rd and 4^th positions will earn points towards also securing places. In order to keep the tournament moving, I propose a time-limit of 50 minutes for each game. If the scores are level at that point, each player will have 2 extra shots for each ball. If the scores remain level, I will in my discretion take that as the result. 

PRACTICALITIES:
Parking. Please park in the area shown beside the Pavilion.
Toilets: For this tournament, the Ladies Toilet is accessed from the main room of the Pavilion and the Gents Toilet is in the North Changing Room. Dry and wet wipes and hand sanitiser to be available in each location. Please also bring your own hand sanitiser with you for use at your bases.
Catering. No catering is being provided, so please bring a packed lunch with you with all utensils, and an ample supply of water. There is no tea party after the tournament (unfortunately). Please take your rubbish home with you.
Shelter. Present indications are that the heatwave may be over by Monday but it will still remain hot and humid with a risk of showers. I am aiming to provide temporary cover, but please bring a brolly with you. If it does rain hard, I may suspend play and request players to shelter in their own cars.
Chairs. Please feel free to bring your own chair. Cleaned and labelled Club chairs will be available on request for exclusive use throughout the tournament. 

General Precautions:
If any player is symptomatic or suspects he or she has been exposed to the Covid-19 virus, please do not take part in the tournament and remain at home. If for the above reason, or any last -minute difficulty, a player has to withdraw from the tournament , please notify me at the earliest opportunity as I have reserves on stand by until shortly before the tournament. 
Please maintain social distancing during play and at all other times, and wash your hands when you change bases/lawns.
Please handle the balls as little as possible. Arrangements are being made to wash/clean the balls regularly.
Players are requested to referee their own games, but I can be called for if necessary.  
I will not require the production of handicap cards on the day of the tournament, but please check that your handicap as recorded on the Order of Play is correct.
I will circulate a full set of results after the tournament and , on the day, I will circulate the bases from time to time to obtain the results of games. In spite of the restrictions in place, I hope you all have an enjoyable day of croquet. 
Best wishes Richard Keighley Tournament Secretary/Manager

FROM THE CA WEBSITE:

Marilyn Robinson wins Wrest Park GC B-Level

[<<] [>>] by Richard Keighley  21st August (GC)

A full field of 16 players looked anxiously skywards as they made their way to their group bases for the start of the tournament. When would the downpour arrive?

4 groups of 4 players contested the morning session on an all-play-all basis. In 3 of the groups, the top seeds prevailed. David Cornes (3) of Crake Valley and Aston Wade (3) of Hamptworth won all their games and Peter Adams (3) of Caversham held off the challenge of Simon Draper on hoop count. However, the final group produced a surprise winner in Marilyn Robinson (6) of Northampton and Wrest Park pipping Gill Hindshaw (4) of Beckford by a single hoop after Bridget Goodman(3) of Ealing failed to find her best form.

The anticipated cloudburst arrived in the early afternoon but not before Aston had defeated David (7-2) in the Winners mini-league. When play resumed, Aston beat Peter (7-3) but Marilyn continued to defy her handicap by beating both Peter (7-6) and David (7-3). Her clearances were consistent and convincing from a range of distances.

These results meant that the winner of the tournament would be decided on the final game between Aston and Marilyn. Aston, an excellent 18 year-old prospect, had impressed all with his skilful shot-making but found himself facing the challenge of an experienced player on peak form. At 3-3, it was difficult to pick a winner but Marilyn’s relentless clearing put pressure on Aston’s positional play and she moved to a 6-3 lead. To his dismay, Marilyn put her next ball in the jaws of Hoop 10 from afar, and his attempted distanced jump shots did not succeed. It was a victory and a day to remember for her (as well as an estimated 70 points on her card) but also a pleasure for all participants to watch Aston in action and to appreciate what a fine young player he was likely to become.

Manager, Richard Keighley warmly congratulated both players and presented them with engraved glasses. He in turn was grateful to his fellow members John Bevington, George Collin and Peter Aspinall for their help in staging the tournament.

Finishing Order:

1. Marilyn Robinson
2. Aston Wade
3. David Cornes
4. Peter Adams