Bath Croquet Club

Early Season Joy + Open Day Mon 7 May

Daniel Mills — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 22:06:55 +0000

Bath’s new season has started brightly with a team captained by Paul Francis winning promotion back to Division 1 of the South West Federation Short Croquet tournament held at Nailsea on Sunday 15 April. After a slow start the team had a very good afternoon.

The club’s Open Day in aid of Dorothy House takes place on Bank Holiday Monday 7 May. All are welcome to join in the fun. There is no dress code (other than wearing flat soled shoes) and all equipment and coaching will be provided.

Club Internal Competition Winners for 2011

Daniel Mills — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 23:11:24 +0000

These trophies were engraved by the club and presented by the chairman Roger Hayes at the clubs’ annual dinner in October 2011.

Association Croquet

Winner Runner-up
Advanced Singles (Avon Trophy) Peter Miles Roger Hayes
Handicap Singles (Alderwick Cup) Ian Morrison Richard Jelly
Handicap Singles 4 – 12 (Apps-Heley Cup) Michael Brown Paul Francis
Handicap Singles 14 and over (Secretary’s Cup) Ian Morrison Brenda Lane
Handicap Doubles (Founder’s Cup) Leonie Wilkinson & R Stopforth & H Henebury Roger Hayes R Jelly & Lyndon Hughes
One-Ball (Windsor Aubrey Cup) Ian Morrison Richard Jelly
Short Croquet (Chairman’s Cup) Roger Hayes Paul Francis
Handicap League (League Salver) David Perkins Roger Bell

Golf Croquet

Handicap Singles (Margaret Langley Salver) Peter Miles Paul Francis
Improvers Handicap Singles (Whitfield Salver) Gordon Cottis Henriette Van Deth

Amos Wins Exciting Final at Sidmouth

Daniel Mills — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 23:26:30 +0000

The Sidmouth B-Level Advanced Weekend Tournament took place over
3 days in the middle of August 2011, and attracted 16 players ensuring
that all four of Sidmouth's beach side lawns were in full play.

The Tournament was organised into 2 blocks A and B with eight players
in each. The winners of the 2 blocks would play against each other in a
single game final for the Regency Salver.

Richard Kimberley from New Zealand won the A block by winning 5 out
of his 7 games. Nigel Amos of Bath won 6 of his 7 games making him the
winner of B block.

Whilst the other lawns were used for play offs, lawn 1 hosted the final
attracting a small group of spectators sat outside the club pavilion.

Amos soon got under way, and with his first break he took his first ball
all the way round to 4 back. He then got his second ball to rover, having
also peeled the other ball through 4 back and penult, but was forced to
make a far from satisfactory leave. By this stage Kimberley had only a
few hoops to his name and was well behind. However the spectators were
treated to a thrilling game as like Amos he then made 2 continuous hoop
running innings. There was still one final bit a drama - with just 3 hoops
to go Kimberley broke down, and as soon as Amos hit in he was able to
run the final hoop and peg out in the same turn - winning the final and the
Regency Salver +5.

The spectators said they had been treated to an exciting game worthy of
a final - the players were later seen in the bar un-janging their nerves!

Budleigh Success for Bath Duo

Daniel Mills — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 00:31:04 +0000

In the Budleigh Salterton August week Peter Miles and Nigel Amos both reached the semi-finals of the B Level Advanced competition. They were drawn against each other in this match with Amos coming out on top by an impressive 24 points. In the final however Amos came up against David Price of Parkstone and was unfortunately defeated

Francis Wins in Bristol

Daniel Mills — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 00:11:19 +0000

In the Bristol mid-week 12-22 handicap tournament held over 15 and 16 June, Paul Francis (centre) who was a late entrant to the tournament, came out the winner by beating Bristol’s own John Phillips (far right) in a very close final which was decided by 1 on time after going to a ‘golden hoop’ after time was called. Hester Henbury (second from left) also had a very good tournament finishing in 3rd place after pegging out and winning a close 3rd place play off.

Successful President’s Cup and Autumn Salver weekend

Roger Hayes — Sun, 04 Sep 2011 22:25:19 +0000

President’s Cup – Super-B

With a reduced number of lawns available for the combined tournament over the weekend of 20/21 August, and as a result, a restriction on the total number of competitors possible, only 4 took part in the President’s Cup Super-B, all playing each other twice over the weekend.

The outcome of the tournament was only decided in the final round by Eugene Chang defeating Richard Smith late on the Sunday evening to take the President’s Cup with 5 wins from 6. In winning the President’s Cup Chang achieved a handicap reduction from 1.5 to 1.

The results :

Eugene Chang (1.5) won 5/6 by beating Robbie Dodds +8, Richard H. Smith +13 and +4T and Jon Male +15 and +9

Robbie Dodds (0) won 4/6 by beating Eugene Chang +26, Richard H. Smith +17 and Jon Male +14 and +17

Richard H. Smith (0) won 2/6 by beating Robbie Dodds +15 and Jon Male +2T

Jon Male (0.5) won 1/6 by beating Richard H. Smith +14

Jon Male suffered a handicap rise from 0.5 to 1.

Autumn Salver – B Level

A late and unavoidable withdrawal led to only 7 players competing for the Autumn Salver B Level, although the manager (Roger Hayes) filled the void as a “bye” to ensure that no one sat out while everybody else was in play. In spite of the wide handicap range (3.5 to 8 ) on offer, all the entrants were of handicap 3 or 3.5 with the exception of Derek Knight from Beverley on 4.5.

Going in to the sixth and final round Pat Long (Nailsea) and Derek Knight were both on 4/5, with Long already having beaten Knight. As with the Super-B, the results of the final round were needed to decide who went home with the Autumn Salver, with Long having to win her last game against Jonathan Wolfe (Taunton Deane). Both the deciding games went to time, Knight winning his +2T but, unfortunately for her, Long lost hers -1T.

The results :

Derek Knight (4.5) won 5/6 (inc. a bye) by beating Richard Kimberley +2, Geoff Hughes +6, Jonathan Wolfe +23 and Sam Murray +2T

Pat Long (3) won 4/6 by beating Brian Shorney +14, Richard Kimberley +4T, Sam Murray +23 and Derek Knight +1T

Geoff Hughes (3.5) won 4/6 (inc. a bye) by beating Sam Murray +4T, Pat Long +4T and Brian Shorney +5T

Brian Shorney (3.5) won 3/6 (inc. a bye) by beating Sam Murray +2T and Richard Kimberley +19

Richard Kimberley (3) won 3/6 (inc. a bye) by beating Jonathan Wolfe +23 and Geoff Hughes +22

Jonathan Wolfe (3) won 3/6 (inc. a bye) by beating Brian Shorney +12 and Pat Long +1T

Sam Murray (3.5) won 2/6 (inc. a bye) by beating Jonathan Wolfe +21

Derek Knight achieved a handicap reduction from 4.5 to 4.

Surprisingly only one TP was achieved during the whole weekend and that was by the manager, playing as a “bye”, when he did a TPO on Saturday morning. Did his trip to the pub the night before have anything to do with it ????

Superb B League Team reach Semi-Finals

Hester Henebury — Sun, 04 Sep 2011 20:54:34 +0000

We played 4 matches in the South West Federation B League and received 1 walkover from Palace Wells.

We were fortunate in winning all 4 matches played, due in part to having Ian Morrison for 2 of the matches (he won all his games as he passed through the B League en route to better things!) Our last match against Weston-Super-Mare was a crunch match, as both Bath and W-S-M had won all their matches and had received a walkover from Palace Wells. The conditions were mixed; with a torrential downpour in the morning, followed by an outdoor lunch in brilliant sunshine, with heavy continuous rain returning for most of the afternoon. Despite the weather the games were played in a friendly atmosphere.

On the day Timothy Cantell was Bath’s star player, winning both his singles games and therefore ensuring victory after Connie Stopforth and captain Hester Henebury were successful in the morning doubles. The other singles games were both closely fought – Stopforth only lost due to a massive bisque difference and an opponent playing well above her handicap. Henebury lost by blobbing in a hoop when the scores were equal with 5 minutes to go, which gave her opponent the final advantage. The final score was therefore 3-2 to Bath and a place in the Semi-Final of the 2011 competition.

Hallam retains Millennium Cup in Nailbiter

Roger Hayes — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 22:43:42 +0000

Early morning rain on the Saturday made life difficult for those making final preparations on the lawns for the start of play but fortunately the local weather forecast was proved correct in that conditions improved gradually throughout the July weekend, with the lawns slowly drying out and speeding up over the two days. With a buffet supper and fun croquet evening planned by Bath Croquet Club to start around 6.30 pm on the Saturday evening, the first day’s play was organised as three games of 22 points each, played from a base of 6, as all bar one of the competitors had handicaps between 8 and 12. The resultant handicaps were of course adjusted per Appendix 8 of the Laws Book. Last year’s winner of the Millennium Cup, Sanaa Hallam of Nottingham, now playing off a hugely reduced handicap of 3 (compared with 11 one year earlier), was drawn in the first round against Kathy Wallace (8). He eventually found himself playing second fiddle to the bustling, quickfire lady from Nailsea. Indeed, it was Wallace who led the field at the end of Day 1, unbeaten with 3 wins from 3 games.

Sunday’s plan was for play to end around 5 pm and to this end the tournament’s final two games were extended to the full 26 points, again from a base of 6. At the end of the morning’s play, things had begun to look interesting, because Wallace had been beaten by Mike Tracy (12), another Nailsea entrant, and both Paul Francis (12) of Bath and Hallam succeeded in their games. All three players were now on 3 wins from 4 games, but Wallace had beaten both of them on Day 1. On a “who beat whom” basis, she just had to come good in the last game to take home the trophy. Francis and Hallam had to face each other in round 5; Wallace was drawn against Gill Pocock (10) of Bristol. In an exciting climax the scores in both games were 22:19, both ending when time was called after 3.5 hours, at 5 pm. Hallam scored the 22 points in his game; unfortunately for Kathy Wallace, it was Gill Pocock who scored 22 in their game, thereby denying Wallace the Millennium Cup.

Interestingly, there was no precise time limit placed on any of the games, both on Saturday and Sunday. There was just a notional time limit, exacted at a time advised before play commenced, the intention being in all cases to bring about a pegged-out finish instead of the more usual, bland (and largely unsatisfactory, in the manager’s view) ending to most timed games. Nevertheless, 2.5 hours were notionally allocated for the 22 point games; 3.5 hours for the 26 point games. In the final analysis, only 3 out of 9 of the 22 point games had to stop when the bell was rung for time; paradoxically, all 6 of the full-point games went to time, Mike Tracy successfully pegging out against Kathy Wallace after time had been called.

So why was an hour not enough for only 4 extra points to be scored ?

The results :

Sanaa Hallam (3) won 4/5 (inc. a bye) by beating Duggan +10, Pocock +6 and Francis +3(T)

Paul Francis (12) won 3/5 by beating Duggan +13(T), Tracy +10 and Perkins +3(T)

Kathy Wallace (8) won 3/5 by beating Hallam +4, Francis +5 and Perkins +10

Gill Pocock (10) won 3/5 (inc. a bye) by beating Duggan +4(T) and Wallace +3(T)

David Perkins (12) won 3/5 (inc. a bye) by beating Pocock +7 and Tracy +1(T)

Mike Tracy (12) won 3/5 (inc. a bye) by beating Wallace +5 and Duggan +7(T)

Deirdre Duggan won 1/5 (inc. a bye)

The tournament was managed by Roger Hayes of Bath

A handicap reduction was achieved by Sanaa Hallam (Nottingham) from 3 to 2.5

Home Defeat to Bear in Perfect Conditions

Richard Jelly — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 22:06:10 +0000

Bath 2 Bear of Rodborough 5

The contrast with our previous home match two weeks previously couldn’t have been greater. Wall to wall torrential rain was happily replaced by wall to wall cloudless skies on Sunday 26 June. Perfect conditions with the lawns becoming faster as the day progressed.

The Bath doubles pair of Leonie Wilkinson (16) and Timothy Cantell (18) had the tightest of games against Jean Alexander (9) and John Munro (14) before losing ‘the golden hoop’ after time had been called. David Perkins (12) of Bath lost to a formidably in form Keith Apperley (11). In the battle of the Captains, Bath’s Richard Jelly (14) overcame Paul Mills (12) in a cautious error strewn game. 1-2 at lunch.

On lawn 3, Cantell lost narrowly to Alexander, whilst Perkins had one of those ‘what might have been if…’ games, losing on the last turn by one (22-23) to Mills. On lawn 2 Jelly was perhaps fortunate to be drawn to play Munro, the weakest member of the BOR team, pegging out with an hour to spare; before Wilkinson, although catching up fast, lost narrowly to Apperley.

When one thinks about it, a 2-5 defeat could so easily have been a 4-3 victory; better luck with ‘the golden hoop’ and then Perkins’ “oh so close” encounter with Paul Mills. On the very last turn of the game Perkins’ balls had both been for rover whilst Mills’ were for penult and rover. Plus we scored more hoops – 125 to 123!!

Results:

Leonie Wilkinson (16) & Timothy Cantell (18) vs Jean Alexander (9) & John Munro (14) -1T

David Perkins (12) vs Keith Apperley (11) -14

Richard Jelly (14) vs Paul Mills (12) +7T

Timothy Cantell (18) vs Jean Alexander (9) -3T

Leonie Wilkinson (16) vs Keith Apperley (11) -5T

David Perkins (12) vs Paul Mills (12) -1T

Richard Jelly (14) vs John Munro (14) +19

Snatching Victory from the Jaws of Defeat

Richard Jelly — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 21:33:03 +0000

Nailsea 3 Bath 4

Bath snatch victory from the jaws of defeat; or a match of two halves; or even, Connie Stopforth holds nerve magnificently for stunning victory in the last game!

The match was played on Thursday 23 June, and the morning games didn’t go well for Bath. The doubles (Connie Stopforth: 18 & Richard Jelly: 16) and the two singles (David Perkins: 12 & Paul Francis: 12) were all lost by narrow margins. The afternoon was a totally different matter! Francis and Jelly pegged out with their opponents Mike Tracy (12) and Kathy Wallace (9) out of sight. Perkins overcame the extremely cautious play of Graham McCausland to win comfortably +5T.

The match score was now 3-3 and so all and our attention focused on the last game to finish. Bath’s Stopforth was one hoop ahead; Bridget Clayton of Nailsea blobbed one back, muttering “rabbit run” as she left the lawn. One back was also Stopforth’s back ball hoop. She coolly (well, it looked cool to those of us watching) made the vital and difficult nine yard roquet and took off to one back; then time was called. Stopforth made the hoop – she was two ahead. Clayton failed to hit in on her last turn. What a dramatic finish! There were no great celebrations; no high fives (as has been known to occur at Nailsea). Just satisfaction and surprise perhaps, at a job well done by the Bath team. Nailsea were gracious in defeat and shared with us their skipper Mike Tracy’s birthday cake. We happily sang “Happy Birthday”.

Results:

Connie Stopforth (18) & Richard Jelly (14) vs Bridget Clayton(16) & Mike Tracy (12) -4T

David Perkins (12) vs Kathy Wallace (9) -6T

Paul Francis (12) vs Graham McCausland (14) -2T

Paul Francis (12) vs Mike Tracy (12) +16

David Perkins (12) vs Graham McCausland (14) +5T

Richard Jelly (14) vs Kathy Wallace (9) +19

Connie Stopforth (18) vs Bridget Clayton(16) +2T