Millenniums — Page 8 — Croquet in the North West

Federation Golf Croquet Trophy Goes to North Wales

15 July 2017 by Jean Hargreaves

FEDERATION HANDICAP GOLF TOURNAMENT – WHITEHEAD PARK 15^th JULY 2017

Ten players from six clubs took part in the 2017 Federation Handicap Golf tournament at Bury.

Manager David Barratt presents trophy to Roger Edwards

The day started fine but shortly became rather damp with the almost constant drizzle, and occasional heavy shower. The format was block play with the winners of one block playing the second place from the other block. The remaining players also had other games to play. Seventeen of the original block play of twenty games went at least to hoop eleven with three of those going to the Golden Hoop.

In Block A – Roger Edwards from Craig Y Don gained 1^st place with Janet Smith from Fylde in second place. In Block B – John Gilmartin from Bury came first with Terry Dunbar from Southport in second place.

Semi-finals: Roger beat Terry on the Golden Hoop and John beat Jan at hoop 11.

Final: Won by Roger 7-4 whilst the play off for 3^rd and 4^th places was won by Jan 7-5. Well done and Congratulations Roger.

Roger Edwards receives trophy from Manager David Barratt

All enjoyed the day despite the weather. Thanks to all the Bury members who helped on the day.

Chester Player Snatches NW Croquet Trophy

15 May 2017 by John Dawson

Sally Slater (Chester) receives the NW Federation Millennium Short Trophy from Club Secretary John Dawson. (Photo: Pat Clare)

Ladies Day at Chester

Not at the Racecourse but at Chester Croquet Club where ten players (from Fylde, Bury, Bowdon, Southport, Craig-y-don and Chester), gathered on a beautiful May morning – 5 gentlemen and 5 ladies, (handicaps 3-9), all set for the NW Millennium AC short lawn competition. The first two rounds were closely contested but by lunch the ladies were on top with Barbara Young (Bury), Gail Moors (Southport) and Sally Slater (Chester) all having won two matches.

After lunch, in the first semi final, Gail held her nerve in her concluding break to beat Barbara whilst Sally needed a Rover Peel (her first ever) to beat Jack Pattenden in the other semi final. The final was a bit scrappy with both players affected by tiredness or nerves. Gail used most of her bisques making a 5 hoop break with only 3 balls on the lawn; Sally responded by taking her first ball round using only 3 bisques and after some further skirmishing Sally took her second ball round to make a nervy but effective peg out to win the title (her first major title). Barbara secured the third place to make it a clean sweep for the ladies.

Overall an excellent day with some very good play on the slick lawns. The benefits of the full bisque format (i.e. no base as in previous years) were evident in that two thirds of the games finished in peg outs.

Thanks go to David Boyd for managing the event and to Pat Clare and her catering team for providing an excellent lunch and tea.

Players in the 2017 Federation Millennium Short Tournament at Chester *(photo: Pat Clare)*

PRESS UPDATE Another Triple First Success for Fylde

9 April 2017 by Liz Wilson

North West Federation Millennium Association Advanced – 8/9 April 2017 at Fylde

David Walters receives the Federation Millennium Trophy from Fylde Chairman Martin Bradshaw

Ian Hall receives the Millennium Adv B Level trophy from Fylde Chairman Martin Bradshaw

Six B class and eight A Class players assembled at Fylde for this event

The B Class was played as all-play-all (5 games over two days) with players from Keswick (Ian Hall and Jim Wilson), Bury (David Barrett), Southport (Alan Pidcock), Fylde (Nathan Baker) and Bowdon (Charles Harding). The 5^th game on Sunday afternoon turned out to be the final between Ian Hall and Alan Pidcock with Ian Hall winning and thus winning the B Class Event. A special mention to Jim Wilson playing in his first ever Advanced Match and only forgetting one lift!

The A class had players from Pendle (Peter Wilson and Robert Essler), Bury (Paul Kenworthy), Liverpool (Paul Rigge and James Hawkins), Crake (Dave Nick), Bowdon (David Walters) and Fylde (Lee Hartley) who again played all-play-all (7 games over two days). Players triple banked on one of the lawns which seemed to cause few problems and much delight. Going in to the last round it looked like it might be a three way tie with 3 players on 5 wins all of whom had beaten each other. David Walters had beaten Lee Hartley who had beaten Paul Rigge who had beaten David Walters! However in the final round the A Class Manager (Paul) lost which resolved the dilemma. Lee Hartley and David Walters finished on 6 wins each and David won as he had beaten Lee.

The event was held in glorious sunshine and raised £70 for the Federation. Thank you everyone for coming to Fylde and supporting the club and the Federation.