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PRESS UPDATE Another Triple First Success for Fylde

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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 5th 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.

 

Triple banking can be great fun!

 

James Hawkins goes fishing

Take a look at the drone footage:

Crake Croquet Success with Unique Tournament

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Successful New Tournament – Alternative 18 Point Doubles – by David Lloyd (Tournament Manager) and Elaine Newman (Tournament Secretary).

 

Finalists in the Alternate doubles Crake Valley 8th April 2017- l-r Mike Patefield (Westmorland), Gail Moors (Southport), Peter Wardle (Crake), Tom Griffiths (Crake) and Tournament Manager David Lloyd
Finalists in the Alternate doubles Crake Valley 8th April 2017- l-r Mike Patefield (Westmorland), Gail Moors (Southport), Peter Wardle (Crake), Tom Griffiths (Crake) and Tournament Manager David Lloyd

Crake hosted an inaugural Alternate Doubles Tournament on Saturday 8 April 2017.  The event was fully attended with guests from Pendle, Southport, Westmorland and good representation from Crake with a handicap range of 24 to 0.5 – only a few murmurs about the early start 9.15 for 9.30 am. We got underway promptly with eight pairings seeded into two blocks. After the first two rounds of matches it was all square in both blocks with everyone having played two – won one and lost one. People went into the magnificent lunch feeling optimistic that they could be the pairing that went into the final.

Roger Schofield (Pendle) with another accurate shot.

After the final block match there were 4 pairs on 2 wins.  The final was contested between Gail Moors (Southport) and Peter Wardle (Crake) versus  Tom Griffiths (Crake) and Mike Patefield (Westmorland).  It was still an 18 point game played over two hours, with Gail Moors and Peter Wardle emerging victorious in the late evening sunshine.

A great day out with four matches each, perfect weather and everyone focussed, determined and good humoured. The perfect start to the season for all players.

Update to the Successful Handicap Meeting

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Federation Handicap Meeting – Saturday 25 March

The Federation’s workshop on Handicapping was well attended at Bury with about two dozen Club Handicappers & Team Captains making an appearance to discuss the various changes made by the CA for the coming season and to reinforce the need to accurately maintain our cards . The meeting had four CA Handicappers present to field all the raised issues & questions, led by Don Williamson from the CA Committee. 

Here is a more detailed report from the Federation Secretary, David Walters:

NW Fed Handicap Workshop, 25/3/17 at Bury Croquet Club
Leader: Don Williamson

The Purpose of Handicaps is to provide a level playing field to allow 2 players to have an equal chance of winning. Weaker player gets extra turns.

Automatic Handicapping System provided by CA. Relies on players keeping cards accurately. Requires at least 10 competitive games play per season. Wins increase index, losses decrease index. Trigger points cause handicap to change.

Do all NW Fed Clubs have Club Handicappers for both AC & GC? Please check both NW & CA website are correct.

Club Handicappers should review all cards at least once a year.

Limits on who can make what changes on CA website.

AHS doesn’t cope with rapid improvements- hence need for intervention by Handicapper.

Appeals – Club Handicapper can’t over rule CA Handicapper’s change. Ideally there should be communication between Handicappers re rationale. Should there be an appeals process within Federation? Final arbiter is CA Handicap Committee.

Drift within small pools. Tendency for handicaps to increase should be offset by comparison against players from other clubs / federations.

Setting Initial Handicaps – Don’t default to highest available Handicap. Should use tests laid out on CA website to assess initial handicaps for both AC & GC. Make this part of Introductory Course / on joining / before first competitive game.

Competitive Games vs Social Play. All organised games under CA rules should be recorded on cards.

Do all clubs display the CA poster on how to complete a handicap card? Do all clubs display an up to date list of handicaps?

Index should not decrease below the minimum points (850 AC full lawn, 30 AC Short, 900 GC)

Returning Players – after a break, players should use their old handicap unless medical reasons. If so, a CA Handicapper should be consulted re appropriate change.

Short Croquet – League Rule changes – full bisque play. There is a correlation between full lawn and Short. If full lawn handicap decreases, them short lawn handicap should decrease.

Handicap Changes should be recorded on cards & reported to CA Office. Changes take effect at the end of the day, or at the end of an event held over consecutive days.

Sources
CA Website

Guide for Club Handicappers
https://www.croquet.org.uk/?p=games/golf/handicapping/ClubHandicappers

 

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