Year: 2025

Well, whoever said that got it wrong as the contenders for the regional finals of the GC handicap championship discovered when they stepped onto the courts without their thermals on June 1st. The Blewbury qualifier was run slickly in the familiar Jamieson style: two blocks of five, all play all. And please get on with it. A sensible if largely superfluous instruction as lower handicappers worked their way through up to 11 hoops in biting wind.

Andy E was unbeaten in block one, with Nick Freund second; in block two, it was ladies day, with Jackie Bryant first and Maggie Freund second. The deciding line up pitched Andy against Maggie and Jackie against Nick. To the Freunds, the spoils: Aston Tirrold rocks.

Nick and Maggie en fete

Back in the clubhouse, the knives were out: Nick, a dashingly rapid improver, accepted a 4 stroke handicap cut from 9 to 5, Maggie went down from 8 to 6 and Jackie relinquished her long term 10 for a more realistic 7.

This year’s Hi-bisquers weekend was severely hit by last minute illness and injury, a nightmare for organisers Brian and Carol to sort out at the very last moment. Six players lined up for four 14 point games on a windy Saturday; by close of play, four were still possible winners, among them Blewburians, Carol and Edmond. On Sunday, Fred Williams from Llanfairfechan, showed AC skills above his 20 handicap to take out the home pair.

As they shook hands, he told Carol that their close fought game was the most enjoyable he’d had all year. Although its result meant she’d present him with the engraved glass trophy, she agreed wholeheartedly. This generous spirit marked the whole tournament, so much so that the Jamiesons rounded out a weekend of diverse duties by playing Fred and his wife in a social doubles on Sunday afternoon before the Williams pair returned to Wales.

Fred Williams’ stylish hoop approach.

Thank you Brian for setting up, adding up, stepping in whenever refereeing was required – and everything else.

On a day neither too hot or too cold, a treat even in this outstanding May, the first SC tournament of the year unfolded block by block. Some quirks of performance, though certainly not of the lawns which were impeccable, relegated such redoubtable maestros as John Grimshaw, Kingston Langley’s bearded giant, Peter Allan and Avril Rangoni-Machiavelli to lower orders they are not accustomed to.

Carol Jamieson, in command of both the tournament and her game, was joined in the top tier by Caroline Tarran, another member of a strong Kingston Langley contingent, and fellow Blewburians Andy Robertson and Andrew Petit. After David Long’s delectable coronation chicken and Eton mess, they locked horns in matches that resulted in a final between Caroline and Andy. After a tenacious battle to a 5-4 conclusion, Andy emerged triumphant.

Huge thanks to Carol and Brian for bearing their on-going workload so tirelessly and so cheerfully. And to David for gastro-fuelling Blewbury’s dominance in the latter stages.

Applause for Andy as he collects his engraved glass

After their impressive start at Nailsea, the Blewbury Bullets came up a little short against Cheltenham in the northern division of the SC open league. Facing a low handicap team, Andy E’s Bullets, captained on this occasion by Brian, may have benefitted from Nigel Cox’s unexplained withdrawal: Joe, his last minute replacement, won all his games. Sadly his bedrock performance wasn’t equalled by the also rans, but the day could easily have gone the other way. There were only two peg out wins and three of the matches went to the golden hoop. Brian backed Joe up with chutzpah : two victories in this company is straight shooting, but the final score was 9-7 to Cheltenham.

BCC’s C & D teams in the GC Advantage League met at home, as is customary, in the first of their series matches. As they set out on their mission to defend their divisional title, David Dibben’s hardened warriors in D (DDD) emerged as convincing winners. The 11-5 score line , the same as last year, left David Vincent’s C team licking familiar wounds.

With the Bryants as its backbone, Dibben’s gang won many more games than any other team in the regional group in 2024.. On this occasion, Jackie led from the front, with four games out of four; Captain Dibben scored 3, with Simon and David Grinstead on 2. For C, Carol and Susan won two each, with Andy E on one.

The match successfully trialed the new Target scoring system, though David Grinstead had to fight on to the 16th hoop to confront large handicap differentials. Thanks too, to David Vincent, on the sidelines this time, for excellent stewardship and hospitality.

Bravo DDD. The way is clear for that regional supremacy so narrowly denied last September.

The first of the SCF’s GC 10+ level play series took place at Blewbury last weekend.  Eight players converged on Tickers Folly Field from fairly distant Winchester and High Wycombe for the all play all block rounds. Tessa Ford from Eynsham and Julia Green from Phyllis Court were unbeaten at lunchtime, with Blewburians Edmund and Minty qualifying for the afternoon play offs as the next best.

Edmund, the lone male,  raced into an early lead against Tessa, then hung in as she rallied, while Minty set up a home final  by shading Julia. In a one-sided show down, Edmund repeated his front running strategy, roaring seamlessly to 4-0, before Minty took the first of her two hoops. To the much better performer, the spoils: a  certificate (see picture) and a springboard for SCF’s four sister tournaments. Eynsham: Sunday, June 15; High Wycombe: Saturday, July 19; East Dorset, Sunday,  July 27; Winchester Sunday, August 10. Block entries (£10 each): southern-croquet.org.uk/scf-gc10. Staying power, Edmund? Enough to follow Bruce as series champion? My money’s on it.

As always, our sincere thanks to Carol and Brian for the early rising and hard work required to run an impeccable tournament.

Rosemary Balsdon’s first friendly match resulted in a handsome 7-2 victory over Harwell. Sandy and Jeff topped the table with three wins, while Rosemary & Susan, Maggie & Nick recorded two each. Relaxing over tea and Sandy’s carrot cake under the shade of the larger gazebo completed a perfect afternoon against very gracious opposition.