North West Federation of Croquet Clubs - for everything Croquet in the north west
Richard Smith of Chester Croquet club won the recent 3 day Cheltenham AC A Class croquet event on 7-9 June 2019. He finished second in his group then beat New Zealand international , Jenny Clarke, in the final 26-1.
THE LONGMAN CUP 2019 (AC)
Handicap play, players must have a Handicap between 3.5 and 20. Teams must have a gross handicap of at least 24.
Featured Bowdon, Bury, Chester, Pendle and Southport – see Longman Cup results here
9 May – Pendle lost to Tyneside 3-4
25 May – Southport lost to Bury 2-5
10 Jun – Bowdon lost to Chester 0-7
8 July – Bury lost to Tyneside 2-5
Chester to play Letchworth in Semi-final ……
THE SECRETARY’S SHIELD 2019 (AC)
Handicap play for players with a maximum handicap of 20. Normally one doubles and six single matches are played in a single day by a team of four, but variation is possible – refer to the full regulations for details.
Featured Chester – see Secretary’s Shield results here
19 May – Chester beat Tyneside 4-3
24 Aug – Chester beat Ashby 7-0
Chester to play St Albans in Final …….
THE MARY ROSE INTER-CLUB TROPHY 2019 (AC)
Advanced play, players must have Handicaps of 0 or greater and teams must have a gross handicap of at least 4.
Featured Bowdon, Chester, and Pendle – see Mary Rose results here
02 July – Bowdon beat Pinchbeck 4-3
09 July – Chester beat Pendle 4-3
29 July – Chester lost to Nottingham 2-5
20 Aug – Bowdon beat Newport 5-1
05 Oct – Bowdon beat High Wycombe 4-3 in final
THE SHORT CROQUET INTER CLUB TROPHY 2019 (AC)
Handicap play on Short Lawn – in each team, one player with a short croquet handicap of 3+, others 5+. Maximum handicap of 10. Teams must have an aggregate short croquet handicap of at least 25.
Featured Bury, Bowdon, Chester, Penrith, Southport and Westmorland – see Short Croquet Inter Club results here
10 May – Bowdon beat Bath (w/o)
13 May – Kington Langley beat Chester (w/o)
19 May – Nottingham beat Southport (w/o)
4 Jun – Penrith beat York 8-3
6 Jun – Bowdon beat Huddersfield (w/o)
15 Jun – Bury beat Nottingham (w/o)
19 Jun – Penrith beat Westmorland 9-2
02 Aug – Bowdon beat Penrith 7-4
05 Aug – Bury beat Kington Langley 6-5
17 Sep – Bowdon beat Bury 9-2 in Final
THE INTER-CLUB CHAMPIONSHIP 2019 (AC)
Advanced Level, no handicap restrictions.
Featured Bowdon – see Inter-Club results here
11 May – Bristol beat Bowdon 6-1
THE GOLF CROQUET MURPHY SHIELD 2019 (GC)
Featured Pendle – see GC Murphy Shield results here
25 April – Pendle beat Ripon Spa 6-1
19 May – Croquet Durham beat Pendle 5-2
THE GOLF CROQUET INTER-CLUB CHAMPIONSHIP 2019 (GC)
No NWFCC clubs entered this year – see GC Inter-Club results here
The Carol Lewis Memorial Weekend – Southport 18/19 May 2019
Twelve players representing clubs from Middlesbrough, Crake Valley, Fylde, Bury, Pendle, Cheltenham and Southport arrived to start play at 9.30am. Although the forecasted rain did not materialise, the cold wind made some of those in shorts regret their decision. The afternoons on both days were much warmer.
Handicaps were from -1 to 22 providing an interesting mix of skills. Play started in blocks of four with the block winners and the highest scoring other players going through to the finals on the Sunday.
The block winners were Paul Rigge (-1), Gail Moors (18), with Brian Shorney (7) and Peter Williams (22) as the highest scoring players. During the block matches Paul completed a quadruple peel on his way to the semi finals.
In the semi finals Paul beat Brian whilst Peter beat Gail after a hard but even match leaving Paul and Peter to play in the final.
In the final Peter used his bisque advantage with effect, resulting in a 26-13 win and the trophy for the Southport player. He has now had his handicap reduced to 18 to reflect his play over the weekend.
My thanks go to the players and to Don Williamson, John Haslam, Ray Lowe and Paul Rigge for the help they gave me in managing my first tournament.
Jim Allcock