Rachel Gee this weekend won the Nottingham Golf Croquet Championship after dropping only one game (to husband Will) in the cross block preliminary round and then winning all three matches in the knockout.
The 14 players in this high-calibre championship included 6 of the top ranked 20 in the country. After 7 rounds of block play the top 8 were drawn into a knockout. These included all 5 Nottingham members in the event: Richad Bilton, Euan Burridge, Ian Burridge, Rachel Gee and Will Gee, four of whom won semifinal places. Rachel Gee beat Euan Burridge 3-7, 7-4, 7-6 in the final.
The Bowl was won by Lionel Tibble, and the plate by Morgan Case.
Congratulations to Rachel for yet another fine victory.
A fuller report and photos will be added here if forthcoming. Full results can be found here.
In an exciting final, Nottingham "B" team (Mick Owens, Nicky Newberry, Kate Packham & Ben Shelton) narrowly beat the Melton Mowbray/Leicester team in a final on Thursday 8th July at Nottingham to win the revived Federation of East Midlands Croquet Clubs (FEMCC) Short Croquet Knockout.
Four teams had contested the Knockout: Lincolnshire team (from Dunston & Woodhall Spa), Leicestershire (from Melton Mowbray & Leicester), Nottingham A and Nottingham B. In the final, Nottingham tied with the Leicestershire team with 6 wins each. The tie break between Mick Owens (Nottm B) and Richard Whiting (Melton M/Leic) had to be played twice from a corner four ball and another to run hoop 4, hoop 5 etc. Mick managed to run one extra hoop than Richard.
Nottingham B team were presented with the Short Croquet Silver Salver – last presented in 2007 – by FEMCC Chair, Patrica Duke-Cox.
The winning team will now represent the federation at the Nation Inter-Club Finals to be held at Bowdon on 18/19 September 2021.
The federation hope to resurrect Short Croquet with future coaching/games to clubs throughout the region.
