David Artingstall (Bury) won the GC ‘C’ Level tournament at Bury beating John Bowes (Crake Valley) in the Final (10-6)

12 players were welcomed to Whitehead Park, Bury on a lovely warm sunny day.

Play consisted of two blocks, both producing some exciting closely fought matches.

Block A was dominated by David Artingstall (Bury) who won all 5 of his matches, followed closely by John Bowes (Crake Valley) who won 4 of his matches, both players gaining their places in the Semi Final.

Block B was closely contested with 3 players each winning 4 games – Brenda Knight, Karen Bowes and Ray Hodgson (all Crake Valley), but it was Karen and Ray who went head-to-head in the semi-final

David beat Ray (7-5) and the ensuing husband and wife battle between John and Karen Bowes was won on this occasion by John (7-4), Karen went on to beat Ray (7-4) to take 3^rd place.

The Final was a 19- point match between David and John, an exciting and, at times, nail-biting match with some excellent play by both competitors. David emerged victorious and took the Bury ‘C’ Level GC Tournament Winner’s prize of The Golden Eagle Trophy (10-6), presented by David Barrett, the Club President.

Doreen Curtis (Chester) won the Plate and Sharon de Maine (Pendle) the Shield.

Full results can be seen on https://croquetscores.com/2024/gc

Thanks go to Referee John Crossland, the Tournament Manager and Admin team, the Grounds Team and the all-important Refreshments Team.

Despite heavy rain overnight on Monday the lawns on Tuesday were very damp but playable.  18 players with handicaps from 16 to -2 competed.  Most were “Northerners” but we were grateful to see Dave Kibble, Linda Shaw, and Bob Thompson from South of Stoke!  The whole 4 days was played in good spirits with the better players offering advice freely (after the event!).  Many trophies were on offer and won as follows.

Pendle Rose Bowl (A Class Adv) Paul Rigge

David Jenkinson Trophy(B Class) Bob Thompson

Pennine Cup (Handicap under 12) Fiona Crompton

David Hoyle (Handicap over 12) Alison Larrard

Woodlands Doubles – Lee Hartley and Libby Dixon

Irish Cup – Highest Egyptian Rating – Betty Bates

Egyptian Cup (Fastest Game) Peter Wilson 43 min 28 secs

Addict (Most Games Played) – Paul Rigge

The shortened 3^rd games of the day (handicap – 18 points 2^nd ball goes to 3 back) tempted the big boys to go for a quad peel on partner ball.  Many attempted and one success for Dave Kibble who also celebrated his birthday and getting his bus pass.  The winner of the overall handicap highest rating went down to the last game and as luck would have it all other games finished in time to watch a stressful (for the competitors) 3 ball ending which saw Betty beat Andrew Gould +1 with many unfortunate misses and one amazing hit in the last 5 minutes.  Congratulations to Andrew Gould on achieving his Bronze Medal in an earlier game.  And special mention to the 5 “Feisty” ladies who competed – such a determined bunch.

Pictures show the agony of missing a crucial shot

Report from Manager Liz Wilson

Champion Club – Fylde

The 2024 North West Festival of Croquet Champions are Fylde with a total of 74 points accumulated over the 5 different formats of Croquet played at Southport this weekend. In second place were Crake Valley with 67 points from just 4 formats and third were Bury with 64 points. Ten Clubs entered 32 teams with approximately 100 people each day, playing in challenging wet weather conditions. The lawns dried out well (and the ducks went away) to allow play to be completed by 3.15pm on Sunday. 

A change from the traditional Advanced AC format saw the 4 teams play “all play all” AC on Saturday, followed by 6 rounds of “One-Ball” on Sunday. Three of the teams ended the weekend level on 14 points but the winners with 9 wins out of 15 available were Bowdon. Angharrad Walters & Ed Cheetham represented Bowdon on the Sunday.

The Handicap Golf used the Advantage scoring system and saw all games finished before time. Two teams won 5 out of their 7 games. Based on “who beat who” and a slightly better hoop difference Crake Valley pipped Pendle & Craven to the Shield. This was Crake’s first win in any format since 2018 – congratulations to John & Karen Bowes who played in all games.

Handicap Association saw the fastest game of the weekend (possibly ever at the Festival) with Richard Leach (Bury) beating his Bowdon opponent in just 30 minutes. Bury finished in third place and Southport were runner-up. Fylde however, were extremely strong performers winning 9 and drawing one game to take that Shield (photo Phil Snowdon and Barry Broughton).

In the Short Lawn Llanfairfechan (under Sarah Andrew’s leadership) were the strongest team with 10 wins out of 14. Bowdon second, with Fylde and Southport joint 3rd.

The Level Play Golf saw a much closer contest than in previous years. Due to the weather the first 2 rounds were 13-points games but after that we reverted to 19-point games. Crake Valley and Chester both recorded 5 wins out of 7 but lost out to Mike Bradbury and Paul Dowdall (Pendle & Craven) who had a 100% record.

The Chair of the Federation, John Haslam, thanked David Cornes for his contribution as Festival Manager over the last 3 years. John made an appeal for a new Manager to come forward as soon as possible so planning for 2025 can commence.

Advanced AC Winners – Bowdon

Handicap Golf Winners – Crake Valley

AC Handicap Winners – Fylde

Short AC Croquet Winners – Llanfairfechan

Level Play Golf Winners – Pendle