Westminster Park becomes International Croquet Venue

The good citizens of Chester were all agog this weekend. Was it the Queen’s 90th? No. Was it Shakespeare’s 400th ? No. Was it the Everton/ Man U. Semi Final? No. It was the debut of Chester Croquet Club on the international stage with a match against Zurich.

Early on St George’s Day the Swiss team of five turned up at Westminster Park more promptly than Roger Federer’s Rolex and during a day of informal play with the host club members, they set about familiarising themselves with the intricacies of Chester’s infamous sloping lawns.  Bright and sunny described not just the weather but also the style of golf croquet played. After a brief foray into Chester city the teams and their spouses settled down to a buffet supper with the occasional glass of wine.

On Sunday the teams were out on the lawns early; the weather was dull and overcast but this did not deter a steady stream of spectators – club members and interested Cestrians. The Swiss team was truly international coming from as far afield as Sydney, Kansas and Liverpool. The Chester team, solidly British, was forced into a late change due to an overnight injury to one of the team. The morning format was “level play, all play all”. The matches were closely fought but Chester managed to sneak the majority so that they went into lunch 15-4 ahead.

The afternoon play followed a similar vein with close matches ending in narrow Chester wins. A final round of doubles eventually gave overall victory to Chester 21.5 to 6.5. However as the Swiss scooped the last match it was clear that they had at last got the measure of the pace and slope of the lawns.

John Dawson, Chester club secretary, presented the inaugural trophy to David Crawford, the Chester captain. As dusk gathered Arthur Graf, the Zurich captain said “It has been an exacting but enjoyable challenge for us. The lawns have been in great shape and a pleasure to play on. We have enjoyed the generous hospitality of the Chester club and tomorrow is a day for enjoying the sights of Chester. To misquote General MacArthur slightly – ‘We shall return’.”

Overall a very enjoyable weekend for both the Chester and Zurich teams.

The Chester team: David Crawford (Captain); Pat Clare; Sally Slater; Chris Slater; Trevor Farrell.
The Zurich Team: Arthur Graf (Captain); Neil Thomas; Erika Wurth; Kerstin Lorenz; Kevin Collins.
Photos by Sally Slater.

All England AC Finals at Westminster Park, Chester.

The eight finalists from as far afield as Penrith and Guildford and with handicaps varying from 2.5 to 16 converged on Chester over the weekend of 19/20 September.  By the end of Saturday Jonathan Lambton of Watford ( off 16) was the only player to achieve 3 wins with Nathan Baker of Fylde( off 9), Paul Wolff of Blueberry ( off 2.5) and Julie Sheahan of Merton ( off 12) in hot pursuit with 2 wins apiece. The weather was excellent and the lawns were in outstanding condition. Play was challenging for all with hoops set reasonably tightly and the sloping nature of the lawns demanding accurate placement of pioneers, consistent  roquets and precise hoop approach shots. It was not surprising that after 9 hours play the players were ready for a good night’s sleep.

Sunday was overcast but still pleasant. Nathan carried on where he had left off- careful shot selection and a steady approach to building and sustaining breaks enabled him to register 2 more wins on the Sunday to secure a certain “podium finish”. Paul demonstrated some high class play finishing his last game  with a long second ball break and a switch of pivots to set up a solid rover peel but his 2.5 handicap left him no scope for errors against his opponents. Jonathan proved unstoppable and completed a clean sweep with a further 2 wins. His roqueting at medium distances was very solid and his hoop approaches and hoop running under control showed considerable nerve and finesse. However it was his skilful use of bisques which proved decisive. Opportunities for breaks were rapidly ceased and opponents’ defensive tactics blown away as bisques were pulled from the ground at key moments. There were wobbles; when Jonathan pegged out one of his balls against Nathan it became clear that Jonathan was not a master of three ball endings and a decisive hit in was required to put both players out of their misery. In his last game against Steve Fisher( off 14) of Harwell the wheels were in danger of coming off! Both players exhausted their bisques and Steve kept up the pressure to level the scores. After a brief period of scrappy play around hoop 6/ penult and 1- back Jonathan got a grip of his nerves to score a golden hoop as time had elapsed.

Colin Irwin, CA Vice President, international player and Bowdon stalwart presented the trophy to the winner and congratulated all the players on their skill and determination. He reminded the players that as he had won the trophy a mere 20 plus years earlier, scope for further fame lay ahead for each of them.

In short it was an excellent tournament played with a lot of good sportsmanship, fine play, enjoyment and good humour. Chester CC was pleased to have hosted its first national event and delighted that all the players had enjoyed their visit to the Chester lawns.

Full list of finalists:
Peter Aspinal (Wrest Park);  Nathan Baker (Fylde);  Steve Fisher (Blewberry);  Ian Fugeman (Guildford and Godalming);  John Henderson (Penrith);  Jonathan Lambton (Watford);  Julie Sheahan (Merton);  Paul Wolff (Blewberry);

The Tournament final positions were as follows :-
Jonathan Lambton – 5 wins;  Nathan Baker – 4 wins;  Paul Wolff – 3 wins;  John Henderson, Steve Fisher and Julie Sheahan – 2 wins;  Peter Aspinall and Ian Fugeman – 1 win.

The following players handicaps were reduced under the AHS:
Jonathan Lambton – from 16 to 14;  Nathan Baker – from 9 to 8;

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