Twelve AC players took to the superb lawns at Crake Valley over the weekend of 5th & 6th August.
Two blocks of six saw only 4 games out of 24 go to time. Most games being decided by quality breaks from the winner.
At the end of the 5 rounds there were two players in Block A on 4 wins – Rick Harding (Southport) and Charles Harding (Bowdon). Charles progressing by virtue of “who beat who”. In Block B, three players secured 4 wins out of 5. Neil Adams (Westmorland), Mike Sandler (Bowdon) and Steve Skelton (Keswick) all had a win against each other meaning Neil progressed on hoop difference (of plus 95!).
In the group stages both Neil and Rick achieve a triple peel.
Moving to the final and Neil took early control and overcame Charles by 26-4 TP. A great achievement for a player who only took up croquet about 3 years ago.
The other significant achievement was in the 3rd and 4th place play off where Mike Sandler only got 3 shots as Rick Harding achieved a SEXTUPLE.
This was fantastic to watch and, we believe, this is the first time it has been done at Crake Valley. Dave Nick produced one in Southport in 2006 but there is no record of a sextuple peel in tournament play at Crake.
Liz Wilson (NW Federation AC handicap officer) presented Rick with his paperwork to receive a Platinum Award from the CA.
