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Paul Wiger wins Regional All England Heat

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Paul Wiger Wins All England Regional Final (6 Sep 09) by Barbara Dutton

Fourteen players who all won their own club’s internal competition, battled it out to represent the North West (which for some quirk includes Lincolnshire) at Roehampton in the All England Finals on 19th & 20th September.

Saturday was a miserable day, with rain coming across the lawns in successive sheets, but the good lunch fortified the players for the afternoon session. The weather cleared in the evening and Sunday was cool but with hardly any wind and dry.

Over the two days the players played against each other and finally the winner was declared as Paul Wiger from Bowdon, with Betty Bates from Fylde, Eileen Gallagher from Southport and Janice Muir from Bowdon also going forward to the finals. Francois Garcia of Bowdon was named as reserve, in case any of the others couldn’t make the final.

Four players won CA merit awards.

Abdul Ahmad wins 2009 Millenium Golf

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Abdul Ahmad wins 2009 Millennium Golf (23 Aug 09)

Abdul Ahmad, representing Pendle and Craven, was undefeated in all 7 matches and won the trophy.  Catherine from Fylde, who had triggered down to handicap 10 in the previous day’s play at Chester, came second with 5 wins, triggering a handicap of 9.

Although a rainy day was forecast, 8 players were greeted in morning sunshine for a great day of Golf Croquet at Heaton Park. All played all, as the weather freshened with some short showers interspersed with sunshine. By the end of round 6, Abdul had won 6 matches and Catherine 5. The final match between the pair would decide the outcome of the tournament. The score was 5-3 in Abdul’s favour at hoop 9. Abdul scored the hoop and his ball ran some way to the left of Hoop 10. Catherine sent the yellow ball to the Hoop and using the last bisque, managed to place it into the jaws. With a tremendous shot, Abdul dislodged the ball. Catherine’s red ball had been sent earlier to the West boundary just in front of hoop 1. If she could miss the peg on the left there was a chance to get near to hoop 10. Disappointed at the wasted bisque with the yellow ball, she determinedly struck the ball diagonally across the lawn (just about 2 inches right of the peg) and incredibly lodged the red ball into the 10th hoop.

Abdul then played his shot as Catherine walked back across the lawn. Catherine played yellow then after some confusion over ball order, Abdul smashed his blue ball from the North boundary at the red ball. The blue hit the upright and Catherine successfully ran the 10th hoop. Some minutes later, Abul ran hoop 11 taking the match 7-4.

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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