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Festival of Croquet – June 2011

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BURY WIN FED FESTIVAL CHAMPION CLUB TROPHY FOR 2011

What an excellent tournament the Federation Festival at Southport was this year.  Great weather (for most of the time), wonderful company, excellent catering, over 300 games as 10 clubs competed in Golf, Short, Handicap and Advanced formats.  Even the infamous North Lawns were winning praise as players who were critical in the past were promising to return next year.  It is estimated over 100 players participated in the two day event.  The festival once again brought north west players together, creating new friendships and renewing friendly rivalries.

For the record – Fylde won the Advanced event, Crake Valley the Handicap, Bury the Short and Llanfairfechan (for the first time) won the Golf.  In a very close analysis of all the results, Bury emerged as champion club for the fourth time in their history, fiollowed by Fylde as Runners Up.

The obvious enjoyment experienced by everyone made this a festival to remember and  feel so much pride in our Federation.  Thank you everyone who attended and thank you to Southport for all their hard work in making this event so successful.

Festival of Croquet – June 2010

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Chester Gain Historic Victory in Jamboree Championship 2010 by Tony Thomas (27/06/10)

Alan Mayne Wins Bury Advanced Tournament by Geoff Young (4 July 10)
Barry Keen presents the Champion Club Trophy to Chester

On the hottest day of the year can there be anywhere better than Southport?  Once again the Southport club hosted the wonderful croquest fest that is the Federation Jamboree Weekend.  For those who did not attend this year, you missed a treat –  beneath  glorious blue skies,  we basked in mediterranean like conditions, enjoying great company and the usual ‘food par excellence’ of the Southport catering team.  No wonder we love croquet! Although not as well supported as in previous years, this unique event still attracted 19 teams representing six clubs, who competed in Golf, Short, Association and Advanced Croquet formats.  As always, this annual event provides a broad platform for players of all abilities –  there was some excellent croquet played by some of the A and B class players but how marvellous to also see new members participating and enjoying tournament play.  About 150 people were catered for over the weekend and once again this event reminds us that together we can take our enjoyment of Croquet to new levels.  The South Lawns were a delight to play on (speed in the high Plummers), whilst in contrast, the North Lawns presented their usual frustratingly tricky challenges (speed low Plummers – very low!) – the event was organised this year so that all formats had similar times on both sets of lawns. For the first time in their history, Chester were crowned Jamboree Champions for 2010, winning the Association, Short and Golf events, beating Fylde to the title, who won the Advanced event.  Congratulations to Chester who also  entered teams in all four competitions for the first time.  The Red Arrows even ‘flew past’ to add to their celebrations.  Congratulations also to Abdul Ahmad who won all his eleven games and gained a golf handicap reduction from 5 to 4.

Thank you to managers Alan Mayne and Terry Foster, ably assisted by Ray Lowe, Brian Lewis, John Taylor and Don Williamson.  CA vice chairman, Barry Keen thanked the Southport club for hosting the event, paying tribute to the many home club members who prepared the lawns, set out fourteen courts each day and catered for so many people.  He also stressed the need for regional clubs to continue to support this event if they wished it  to continue in its present format.

See you all again next year – same place, about same time?

 
Adv Pts
Hcp Pts
Sht Pts
Glf Pts
Total Points
Position
CHESTER
3
5
4
6
18
1
Fylde
4
4
3
5
16
2
Bury
2
2.5
1
3
8.5
3
Southport
1
2.5
2
1
6.5
4
Culcheth
0
0
0
4
4
5
Bowdon
0
1
0
2
3
6

 

      

Exhilerating Festival of Croquet 2009 in Sunny Southport

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Fed Jamboree Thrills Croquet Crowds (28 June 09) by Tony Thomas

 

Federation clubs can feel proud of a wonderful Croquet event this weekend. Eight clubs contested Golf, Short, Handicap and Advanced Croquet over two days of tournaments involving 228 games in glorious sunny Southport (well, apart from the odd thunder storm). The South Lawns were resplendent, demonstrating the large investment in maintenance by the Southport Club. Even the notorious North Lawns played better than ever and gained praise. As always, the catering was ‘par excellence’, about 150 excellent lunches being served to an appreciative gathering. It is nice to be reminded occasionally how strong croquet in the north west really is and how it binds us together in pursuit of a sport we love – the camaraderie, obvious friendships and competitive rivalry makes this event an unforgettable experience.

It is estimated nearly 200 people attended over the weekend and David Barratt, Federation Chairman, thanked everyone at the Southport club for the tremendous hard work involved in organising a club championship, unique in the croquet world which demonstrates the importance of why members matter. Alan Mayne and Barry Keen managed the tournament over the two days, ably assisted by Southport members Terry Foster (organisation), Carol Lewis (Advanced), Brian Lewis (Short), Keith Roberts (Handicap) and Don Williamson (Golf).

The Advanced competition was a tie between Southport and Crake Valley, resulting in a nail biting ‘Peg hitting’ tie breaker in front of an enthusiastic crowd of about 80 people. David Barratt presented trophies to the event winners: Southport (Advanced); Fylde (Handicap); Bowdon (Short); Bowdon (Golf); concluding with the Federation Championship for 2009 being awarded to Bowdon. As people departed in excellent spirits, the talk was how can we surpass this event next year? We will – don’t miss it!

     Final placings:

TEAMADVANCEHANDICAPSHORTGOLFTOTAL POINTSFINAL POSITION
BOWDON1157141
SOUTHPORT4415142
CHESTER-346133
FYLDE-534124
BURY222175
CULCHETH---336=
CRAKE3---36=
LLANFAIRFECHAN---228

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