In previous years there has been an event of this kind with one day at Phyllis Court and one at Blewbury and a second event shared by High Wycombe and Phyllis Court. Last year there was a suggestion to complete the triangle and have an event hosted by High Wycombe and Blewbury. So it happened with the full complement of eight contestants.
It was organised as a Swiss with a 2.5 hour time limit to permit three rounds to be played on the first day in daylight. The first day was at High Wycombe with excellent weather and quite fast lawns. The second day was held at Blewbury where the final two rounds were completed with some occasional light rain – but much better than expected. The day was punctuated by an excellent lunch prepared and served by Minty.
At the end of the fifth round there were three people on four wins however Simon Ling had beaten Brian Jamieson who had beaten Andy Evason who had in turn beaten Simon Ling so choosing the winner was down to the hoop count making Simon the winner. Choosing the second place was easy as Brian had beaten Andy in their game. So the first three were:
Simon Bryant, unstoppable winner of GC+10 tournaments when he joined Blewbury in 2024, conquered the club’s best players in the level play Championship. Peter Allan? John Garnett? No problem . Simon smiled even more broadly than usual as he and his victims enjoyed Carol’s wine and snacks. A proper Cinderella moment to celebrate. Simon, we salute you….
Saturday saw the Semifinals and Final of the GC Championship 2025.
Four of our leading GC Players, John Garnet, David Vincent, Peter Allan and Simon Bryant took to the courts at 09.30 on a chilly morning, but the promise that it would warm up during the day. Well, the weather did and so did the croquet.
The semifinals, John v David and Peter v Simon were contested with vigour. Both matches were close with only a couple of points between the winners and losers. Both matches were won in two games out of three. John overcoming David 7- 6 & 7-4, while Simon pulled out all the stops to beat Peter 7-6 & 7-6
The first game of the 3rd /4th play-off was up to the semis standard with Peter getting the better of David by 7-5. Peter again showed David the way winning the second of their games 7-4 to take third place.
In the Final on Court 1, Simon continued his excellent play and outwitted John in a close first games winning 7-5. John went out after lunch with a determination to win. Well, he won the next game 7-4. This meant they had to play a third game. Simon, after being 3-1 up on John, was in fighting mode and took a 6-3 lead. What would Simon do now? His answer was to win the next 4 hoops to win 7-6. That was a game to remember. Congratulations to Simon, whose Handicap, is now 3. Commiserations to John, who put a great challenge.
This year, we’re inviting all members to nominate a candidate/candidates for the prestigious Player of the Year award (POTY). The name implies excellence on the courts, but nominees should also contribute significantly in other ways. As this a one off prize, don’t nominate previous winners; Peter Allan, John Garnett, David Grinstead, David Long.
Key areas to consider:
Administration:: development of capital projects, overseeing maintenance, accounting
Practical help: mowing, white lining, catering, cleaning
Behaviour: a friendly response to fellow members at all times, even if provoked. Mutual respect and humour create the ambiance small clubs thrive on.
Please send your selection (s) to david.long@btinternet.com, stating the reasons for your choice(s). After further discussion between senior committee members, the winner will be announced at the AGM (Wednesday, October 29, 4.30, Meland Room). The closing date for your nomination(s) is September 18. Why not do it now before you forget…
Bank Holiday Monday, four short croquet courts, 18 players out to enjoy fresh aspects of the game we love. Can the sun be blazing down on this ambitious set up? Yes, it can. It would be curmudgeonly to say it overdid it, but a record breaking C29 is toasty. As it passed its zenith, David Long revealed his intricate schemes to get people playing variants they’d never tried before in 45 minute bursts.
David and Joe selflessly stood down from playing themselves to explain and coach. On the AC front, Joe took new members, James and Valerie Bentley, through their first transition steps, while Clare King tackled her inaugural game of GC. Her partner was Malcolm Cochrane, a rare but prized visitor who hits the ball with silky mastery. Clare’s verdict, ‘ I think I’ll stick to AC’, was no reflection on him….
Speed croquet? Joe was poised to operate the two faced clock he’d had so much fun making: other than winning tournaments, there’s nothing he likes more than devising intricate gadgets. Two pairs, each with a 20 minute allocation, scampered around the court at his command, desperate to be in the right place at the right time. Wasting precious seconds might be costly when the bell halted proceedings for one team, leaving the time hoarders to dominate the end game. In theory, anyway…
Kwik? Good intentions, but it hasn’t caught on. Luckily Blewbury – in this case. David Long and Edmund – have invented three ball, a version of one ball that eliminates the dreary procession factor. The extra ball is used to create a three ball break, giving craft and guile a chance. This will be presented to Croquet England as an ideal way of inducing GC players to explore AC, consigning Kwik to history. Expect three ball tournaments in the CqE 2026 calendar. Should BCC patent it first…..
As a successful project manager should, David worked out a points system for rewarding good play and enterprise switching between lawns and games to provide an overall winner. Step up Simon Bryant, 4 victories, 4 different games.. To you the bottle of fine red wine and the hearty round of applause. Bruce, Andrew and Carol were joint second, with honourable mentions for David Weston, Clare and Jackie who were close behind them.
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David and Simon celebrate in front of Joe’s clock.
Minty provided a rolling buffet of canapés and snacks throughout the afternoon, the perfect excuse to avoid direct sunlight. Also a raffle which covered all the costs of food and the open bar for several hours. Her attempt to fulfil an ambition to play speed croquet provided comic relief for everyone except her partner: sorry, Deirdre.
As David said, this lighthearted, mildly competitive event is a first for BCC. He wants feedback on all fronts: what you particularly enjoyed, anything that could be better/different, would you like the chance to do it again next year. Please take the time to send him your thoughts: David.long@btinternet.com
That was the general comment from all of the players who arrived at Blewbury on the morning of Saturday 23rd August to take part in the AC Super-B tournament. I am used to players commenting favourably on the high quality of our lawns, but this year the bar was lower. Having played in tournaments recently where patches of green were few and far between, the players were happy simply to see green lawns.
The original nine players had been reduced to a field of seven due to a combination of injuries and one late addition. My plan of running the tournament as a flexible Swiss was still valid, and gave some chance of players managing to play against all the other players. In the end, three players managed that. The handicaps of the players ranged from 0 to 3.5, so there were no easy games.
Saturday started a bit on the cool side, but the temperature quickly rose to a pleasant, warm day. Battle commenced. The three hour time limit per game was only reached once due to solid breaks on the part of all the players. At the end of the day, we had a clear leader. Adam Swinton from Surbiton was on four out of four wins. Could someone catch him on the Sunday? No we could not, Adam was a worthy winner with five out of five games. The second closest player was Neil Kingston from Bristol on four out of six.
The play had been of a consistently high standard. Everyone seemed to feel that they had played well and that if they had lost, they had simply been outplayed. Several triple peels were attempted, but none were finished. At a somewhat less exotic level, in my final game. I peeled my opponent’s ball through rover and pegged him out, demonstrating that stopping at rover does not always make you safe!
We all enjoyed the excellent lunches provided by Susan, Minty, and Sandy.
After some good croquet, good food and good company, I am expecting several return visitors next year.
Too far, too hot – the limp last minute dropout is every League manager’s nightmare. So it came to pass for the two Davids, Vincent and Dibben, as GC Advantage leagues C & D came up a player short for their final matches against High Wycombe Kestrels and Harwell. Vincent ran out of options, conceding an automatic four points to the Kestrels, but Dibben, with a stronger team that had more to lose, looked outside the box.
And up popped Philippa Turner. With zero experience of competitive singles and thinking she’d been asked to play doubles in a friendly match, she responded to Dibben’s plea. She lost the first three games, but came good in the fourth. With the fixture poised at 8-7, she chalked up a nail-biting victory on the golden hoop, sealing a 9-7 triumph for the D team. David Long and the Bryants clapped jubilantly, then rushed over to congratulate her.
BCC salutes you, Philippa: anyone who jumps into the unknown and delivers when the chips are down is top of any order of merit. DD, your number one fan, can’t wait to sign you up for 2026.
Joe King won yesterday’s Kay Memorial Trophy, an appropriate result as he introduced BCC to the short format, established the club’s two successful tournaments and masterminded its successes on the wider stage. Even for a player of his calibre, it’s a tough ask to make four peels while staying ahead of an opponent with eight bisques in a 14 point game. It’s even tougher when the lady with the bisques is the redoubtable holder, Carol Jamieson, as ever reluctant to lose a trophy from her bulging cabinet
To the winner, the spoils. Joe displays them alongside Jolyon and Shirley’s plaque.
After seeing off ladder leader Andy E in the first qualifier, Joe watched Carol, winner of the eliminator against Peter Allan, take Andy down in the second one. . Earlier she’d challenged Joe to a future friendly. ‘Well, we’ve got our game’, he said with a broad smile as he walked onto the court for the final, ‘ but it won’t be friendly’.
Once Carol had used bisques to take her first ball to peg, he showed what he meant, creating cunning wirings with pinpoint precision. As you can’t be wired if you have no partner ball, he pegged her out as soon as he could and pursued his unwavering search for peels. He never made the fourth one but he crept and kept ahead until the bell tolled on 11-10. Clare and Brian joined the finalists for wine and snacks. It was a lovely day .
Setting up four short courts on two lawns is hard graft, but Carol and Brian had our corner of Tickers Folly Field in immaculate shape for BCC’s second SC tournament on Saturday, August 2nd. Carol secured the full complement of 16 players, despite irritating last minute withdrawals. One of the latecomers was Charles Briggs, her ever-smiling Caversham neighbour.
Elite contenders included Cliff Jones and Roehampton‘s David Openshaw, but only Debbie James from York and Charles were unbeaten at lunch. The quintet from Watford, strangers to SC until an introductory practice game the week before, were instant converts as they clocked up conquests.
Arranged in four ‘all play all’ blocks, three initial rounds were completed before David Long‘s excellent gourmet Coronation chicken. Afterwards, Charles and Debbie repelled the Watford wave – Jonathan Lambton Eddie Chung, Andre Machell and Simon Hathrell – to take first and second places.
Thanks to Simon, their Machiavellian miracle worker, Watford have now established their own SC program. The next day, he masterminded a crushing triumph over mettlesome Blewbury stalwarts in the annual friendly. Beaten in 2024 on the final day of their West country tour, Watford fielded a fiercer team with daunting results. ‘Same day next year’, shouted Captain Andre cheerily as they headed home. Ouch. Maybe Robin, Joe and Sophie could ring fence Sunday, August 2, 2026….
Blewbury hosted its annual weekend AC tournament over the weekend of 26-27 July. The field was notably high-class, with participants’ handicaps ranging from 1 to -2. Sophie McGlen managed the tournament most effectively, running it as a flexible Swiss with nine player, so that, although there was always someone not playing, they were not sat down for very long. As soon as one game finished, the loser played against the player who was waiting.
The weather was good on both days, with just a surprise light shower on Saturday morning and the lawns were in tip-top condition after spraying and verticutting the day before.
We had excellent lunches provided by Minty on both days.
Games proceeded at a pace on Saturday, with players completing two, three, or four games.
Sophie’s task on Saturday evening was to organise the games for Sunday so that hopefully we would have a thrilling finish on Sunday afternoon.
Two of the games in the final round had exciting three-ball endings.
In my game against Andrew Dutton, we had both made a break to 4-back, when I hit in with my forward ball. I decided to take that ball to peg, set a good leave, with the plan being to take my second ball all the way round. The plan was going well until I over approached 2-back giving me no chance of running the hoop. Andrew had an easy hit in and proceeded to make several hoops, but then broke down himself. I made three more hoops, leaving me on penult and peg. Andrew then took his second ball to peg and pegged me out. After some jockeying for position, we ended up with me for rover and Andrew for penult, with Andrew’s two balls on the east boundary. I could see that Andrew did not have a good rush to penult, so I kept putting my ball in a runnable position for rover, forcing Andrew to move it rather than make penult himself. We did this little dance for four or five times until Andrew did give himself a good rush to penult. Time to take the bull by horns or it would all be over. I shot from the west boundary at Andrew’s two balls just off the east boundary, aiming at the left one and hoping to hit the right one due to the slope of the lawn, and I did! It was now straightforward to get a rush to rover, make the hoop and peg out my ball for a narrow win. Those watching had enjoyed the spectacle, and discussing the tactical choices, which of course they would have done differently.
The decisive final game was between Joel Taylor and Nigel Polhill. The play was of a very high standard, with balls being positioned consistently accurately. Both players made big breaks, with Nigel being the first to take his first ball to 4-back and then his second to peg. Joel, now took his second ball to peg and pegged out Nigel’s ball. This developed into more of a classic 3-ball ending. Joel knew that Nigel was quite capable of hitting his balls from anywhere on the lawn, so he continually put his balls in wired positions, wiring both balls if Nigel was responsible for the position of his own ball, or leaving just one ball visible if Joel was responsible for the position of Nigel’s ball. At one point, Nigel called me to judge if his ball was wired and so could have a lift. It was close. Nigel was clearly wired on yellow, but not quite on red. Nigel shot at red – and hit yellow. Sloping lawns again! Nigel made 4-back, but could not make further progress. Near the end of the game, the position was as shown in the photograph. Joel’s red is on peg and his yellow on rover. Nigel is on the north boundary with blue at his feet. It was possible for Nigel to hit yellow by sending the ball through the narrow gap between the peg and rover, but after much deliberation, he decided to play to the east boundary and hope to get a better shot next time. But there was no next time. Joel cut-rushed red to rover, made the hoop and pegged out his balls to win. Well played Joel, a worthy winner. Both three-ball endings had a score of 26-22, and that is probably the only thing that is comparable between them.
