Category: News

The weekend of 15-16 July saw the AC advanced tournament being contested on our lawns. The tournament attracted a high quality field, with 6 out of the 8 players having a minus handicap.

The weather promised to be pretty dire, with rain and 40 mph winds forecast for Saturday afternoon, but in the end, we only lost about 20 minutes to rain over the whole weekend.

All those who had lunch commented very favourably on the high standard of the catering, so well done David Long (Saturday) and Phillipa, ably assisted by Sandy (Sunday). Your culinary skills were greatly appreciated.

The games were contested in a friendly spirit and all players won at least one game. The clear winner was Philip Eardley (far right in photograph), who won all six of his games. He had a net hoop score of 102, which is an average result of +17. Very impressive!

Several players attempted to do a triple peel, and while some players achieved three peels in one turn, no one succeeded in pegging out in the same turn.

After I award the trophy to Philip, he said that he was very impressed with the quality of our lawns. I find that first-time visitors often say this.

There was one mishap on Sunday. Mike Porter came into the club house saying “I finally managed to hit something”. Unfortunately it was one of our coffee mugs.

Congratulations to David Vincent on his win in the qualifying competition. The three players who took him on in fierce heat envied organiser Carol Jamieson as she watched from under the gazebo.

David had a clean sheet after his three matches. With both on two wins, he fell behind Minty in the decider, but expertise and flawless long distance hooping triumphed over  inexperience and caution in a game that ended 7-6. Congratulations David and best of luck in the Bath semi finals on August 13th.

On a sultry Sunday, new member, Harry Crump, a master at Radley for 19 years, staged his annual Staff vs Students match at Blewbury for the first time. He teamed up with five of his colleagues to take on six students in three alternate shot AC doubles matches.

Drawing on the benefits of his first visit to Blewbury in which Joe King had introduced him to some of the shots and tactics, Harry and his partner Nick won their game, but the boys took both the others. Harry pointed out that up till now the staff have found it relatively easy to beat the students so 2-1 is a rewarding breakthrough. . He suggests that he and his fellow teachers will face even more of an uphill struggle after Joe’s upcoming student coaching session at Radley.

Afterwards they celebrated with sandwiches and Magnum ices until menacing clouds sent everyone scampering towards their transport. Brian and Carol watched the games and provided coffee and biscuits, a proper Blewbury welcome for the visitors. All in all, a delightful afternoon, hopefully the first of many as Harry develops his Blewbury-Radley initiative along with his own very promising game.

As in previous years, , Blewbury hosted a successful two day advanced event in early June. Word of our splendid lawns has spread so we were fully subscribed with elite entries. Pete Trimmer (-2) has represented England – as Dave’s brother, he has his choice of mallets.. He was joined by four playing off -1.5, two -1s and two others just above scratch. Joe King (-1) was the sole Blewbury representative. The lawns were in beautiful condition and running at nearly 12 Plummers: a tough challenge.

There were a number of closely contested games and several players broke down when attempting a triple peel ending. Joe lost his game with Ian Vincent in this way, but beat Sam Murray, the eventual winner, when Sam made an error after hoop 6 with 1 peel done. 

The club was praised for its lawns and welcome; for several players, Deirdre’s lunches were the highlight. The tournament was played in a spirit of goodwill. Winners routinely offered cold drinks to beaten opponents, a civilised practice that we hope will catch on.

Joe would like to thank the folks behind the scenes, the volunteer ground force, the clubhouse cleaning rota and the catering team. As entry fees add significantly to club funds, presenting BCC as a consistently professional host and a pleasure to visit is a top priority.

It is too early to talk of a tournament of the year, but whatever comes next, last weekend’s Hi-bisquers will be hard to beat. May sunshine is the best, fresh enough to breathe, hot enough to bask. Seven brave men took on defending champion and organiser, Carol Jamieson, in an all play all 14 point game format. After four intense matches on day one, they were on their knees. Colin Spencer from Downham in Norfolk stalked the courts with confidence to lead the field at dusk, with High Wycombe’s Richard Coward in close attendance.

By lunchtime on Sunday, with six matches down, one to play, outsiders ruled: Colin, Richard, Caversham’s Gareth Hobby, a courageous returnee after getting locked in the toilet last year, and Phyllis Court’s fast improver, Paul Franklin, had four wins each. Colin versus Paul was a needle match, with Colin’s greater experience leading to victory. Richard also won, but having lost to Colin, he took second place. A late triumph for the 2021 champion, David Long, gave Blewbury a spot on the podium.

Camaraderie and laughter ruled throughout: with all the competitors winning at least two of their matches, no one went home with nothing. Congratulations to Blewbury newcomer, Andrew Petit, in his first CA tournament. With a handicap of 14, he struggled on day one. On Sunday, his unflinching smile undimmed, he improved game by game to finish with the conclusive victory that ended Gareth’s hopes.

Thanks are due to Team Jamieson for impeccable organisation: Brian managed and refereed as required, allowing Carol to compete with her customary tenacity. And it was so much fun…..

Congratulations to Blewbury members: in cautious spring weather, handicaps are falling fast. Expertise is catching up with the unstoppable Duncan Sinclair after his convincing victory in last Saturday’s Short Croquet tournament. He started the day with a SC handicap of 3 reduced to 1.5 and, with 5 wins out of 5, ended up on 1. His AC handicap has been adjusted from 8 to 5.

Meanwhile a win in the Prebendal reduced Joe King’s -0.5 to -1. Peter Allan also shaved off 0.5 to come down to 2 after a win in a league match – sadly he was representing Harwell against BCC at the time. After progress in the Icknield, Brian Jamieson’s GC mark fell from 5 to 4. Minty Clinch prospered briefly at Cheltenham, converting 20 to 18.