by Bill Arliss at Southwick and Compton [^] -> bottom
22nd August (Golf Croquet Championships)

 

This was the first year of a revised format for this event with the introduction of a second division. A lot of effort had gone into trying to expand the previous format with the use of a second venue as we do with the AC Inter Counties, but this was not practical with the shorter games GC provides. The best solution was to run the event as two entirely separate competitions at different venues. For 2018 we had seventeen entries which were split into a first division of eleven and a second of six with the respective venues being Southwick with eleven lawns and Compton with five. It was considered essential to maintain six teams in division two to ensure a workable and enjoyable format could be used. We did not want the new arrangement to be killed off in the first year by very dissatisfied second division customers. Unfortunately one of our new teams in the second division, Buckinghamshire, had to withdraw at the last moment due to medical problems but some quick action raised a CA Select team and the playing schedule was maintained.

Our additional entries for 2018 came from Nottinghamshire, Hertfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Berkshire and Oxfordshire, the latter team having previously played in the event. Ivor Brand took over the management of the division two event at Compton.

At Southwick the competition started with an all play all giving us a total of eleven rounds with each team having a Bye round. I am sure most players expected that Nottingham with four -4's on board would manage a 100% record but quite obviously Kent had other ideas and in round 2 managed a 2-1 win over Nottinghamshire. I suppose this was to be expected as Kent were only just behind in the handicap stakes having two -4's supported by two -3's. Kent managed to keep their winning form for the rest of Saturday but were still in second position at the end of the day as Kent had taken their BYE round but Nottinghamshire had not. Both Nottinghamshire and Kent had six match wins but were closely followed by Somerset with five wins and Northamptonshire with four. Although rather dull for most of the day, the rain had managed to keep away.

Four rounds were needed on Sunday morning and early afternoon to complete the all play all. Yorkshire/Durham started the day well by taking out Kent with a 3-0 win whilst Nottinghamshire finished the session with three 3-0 victories. Somerset carried on in their winning ways to finish a very creditable third with seven wins and the overall figures after the all play all are shown below. Luckily for the Manager, no ties to sort out and all teams were quickly ranked in results order and separated into four pairs and a three for the final two games. Each of the four pairs played one another twice with the doubles and singles roles being reversed in the second meeting. The intent of the format was that each team in the pair had to had to win both of the final matches to claim the upper position in the pair. If the matches were shared, then the result of their game in the all play all would determine the upper placing.

COUNTY	MATCHES	GAMES	Posn.
Nottinghamshire	9	26	1
Kent	9	22	2
Somerset	7	19	3
Durham/Yorks	6	16	4
Northamptonshire	6	14	5
Hertfordshire	5	14	6
Dorset	4	15	7
Middlesex	3	13	8
Leicestershire	3	9	9
Hampshire	2	11	10
Sussex	1	6	11

In the Championship pair, Nottingham had to win both final matches as Kent had won their first meeting but they managed two 2-1 victories to claim the title. In the second pairing Somerset and Yorks/Durham shared the 2-1 wins but Somerset took third place with their 2-1 win over Yorks/Durham in the first meeting. In pair three, Northampton ensured they kept fifth place with a 2-1 and a 3-0 win over Hertfordshire. In the pair four matches Middlesex gained two 2-1 victories over Dorset to claim seventh place.

The bottom three teams were treated differently in that they each played each other once but by splitting the singles and doubles into separate rounds, they were able to complete the three matches in only two rounds. Hampshire ensured they were free from the relegation zone by beating both Leicestershire and Sussex 2-1 and taking ninth place. Leicestershire beat Sussex 2-1 taking tenth place.

CA President, Quiller Barrett, finished off the day by presenting the trophy to Nottinghamshire.

Bill Arliss 
Manager Division One

The second division was played at Compton and used an all play all twice format. It was originally intended to complete the day with a play off as the likelihood of a tie was quite large. However at the end of the all play alls, the results were well defined as the table below shows and it was agreed by the Manager and all teams that no play off was necessary and a reasonable finishing time could be maintained.

The six counties battled on well prepared lawns and by the end of the first day Glamorgan hand a slender lead over the following chasing pack all seeking to finish as champions and so secure their pending promotion to division 1 next year. The air show was a bonus to witness and the 'Red Arrows' provided a great display for us all to enjoy. (some the of croquet was'nt all that bad either) Only a few games went to time which again reflected the excellent conditions of the lawns that the grounds man had prepared. At this point I should apologise for the extra 20+mins that I and my opponent Richard took on the 13th hoop in round 1.(after this initial hiccup time was caught up and the event ran generally to time)

The following table shows the full results from the all play all format.

COUNTY	MATCHES	GAMES	Posn.
Glamorgan	8	20	1
Surrey	6	17	2
Oxfordshire	5	17	3
Worcestershire	5	15	4
CA Select	4	10	5
Berkshire	2	11	6

Thanks goes to all the staff at Compton especially Hillary for helping to make the tournament run smoothly and most importantly an enjoyable weekend, which I hope will be repeated next year?

Ivor Brand 
Manager Division Two

Promotion and Relegation

No doubt this is very much in the minds of some Organisers but it will depend to some extent on the number of teams that enter next year. Whatever the outcome, the top two at Compton are guaranteed a place in the first division next year but the number of relegations may only be one if the total entry does not exceed eighteen.

Any potential new teams are warned to have their proposals ready by the end of the season as any growth more than one will require a change in venue which has to be arranged this year.

by Rachel Gee at Surbiton [^] -> bottom
22 Jul 2018 (Golf Croquet Championships)

Nottingham club members Rachel Gee (England) and Ian Burridge (Wales)

England won the second Golf Croquet Home Internationals in convincing fashion; winning fourteen out of a possible eighteen matches and only dropping one match that was completed.

After the inaugural tournament at Carrickmines in 2017, Ian Burridge offered to buy a trophy for the event, so the weekend started with Ian presenting the trophy to J-P for England's win last year! All 16 players then headed straight out to test themselves against Surbiton's challenging conditions.

England got off to the perfect start by winning 6/6 matches without dropping a game. First up was the doubles; and British Open Doubles Champions John-Paul Moberly and Tobi Savage were able to put the 2017 draw against Martin "It's all luck" Murray and Alan Clark behind them with a convincing 2-0 win, a score matched by England's Jonathan Powe & Rachel Gee against the new Scottish pairing of Robert Darling and Rosemary Saunders-Robertson. England continued their good start into the first round of singles as each player didn't concede more than 6 hoops in their matches.

In the other first round test between Ireland and Wales, the score was much closer. Ireland, fielding a much-changed line-up compared to 2017 (with only Simon Williams playing again), prevailed 3.5-2.5 after Evan Newell beat Garry McElwain in the crucial last singles match with the score tied at 2.5-2.5. The only singles match to go the distance and reach a third game was Ireland's Jane Morrison against Wales' Sarah Melvin which Morrison dominated 7-0 in the third. In the other singles matches Wales' no. 1 Ian Burridge beat Ireland's no. 1 Simon Williams, however Ireland won the other as Charlie von Schmieder beat Peter Balchin. Wales' points came from the doubles in which they won 3 out of 4 games.

Now onto the second round (after the usual excellent Surbiton lunch) and, in order to stay in the competition, Wales now had to beat England and Scotland had to beat Ireland. The singles round was played first to reduce to the number of games needing to be played on Sunday. Welsh captain Burridge continued his good form in this event by beating England captain Moberly in straight games, playing particularly well at hoop 12 in game 1. Ian played numerous consecutive centre-ball clearances from the boundaries which he described as "some of the best shots I've played". Unfortunately for Wales, that was as good as it got as the other three singles matches went in England's favour, leaving Wales needing to win all four games of the bo2 doubles matches to salvage an unlikely draw.

Scotland were also on the receiving end of some good play from their test against Ireland, where all the singles went in Ireland's favour, apart from Newell vs Darling which was left tied at 1 game all and would be resumed if it mattered later.

This was it for Saturday's play, and most of us headed to The Royal Oak for some well-deserved liquid (and solid) refreshment. Simon Williams was very generous with his spare red wine, particularly to the English players (we wondered if this had anything to do with our upcoming fixture the next day…!).

We began Sunday by starting the final round of tests; so England faced Ireland in the title decider and Wales faced Scotland for the wooden spoon (in a repeat of the final round from 2017). The doubles matches from round 2 were left to play after the final round if they were relevant. Both tests were surprisingly one-sided with Wales winning 4-1 after a tie in both of the bo2 doubles matches and Burridge, Balchin and McElwain all winning their singles matches 2-0. The match between Saunders-Robertson and Melvin was left at 1-1 as the test result was already beyond doubt.

England beat Ireland with a decisive 4.5-0.5 final scoreline after Savage came back to take game 2 against an in-form Morrison and again the match was left at 1-1 once the overall result had been decided. Williams and von Schmieder claimed a game off Moberly and Savage and Powe dropped a game to von Schmieder but, apart from that, it was plain sailing for England as they wrapped up the Championship and retained the title of Golf Croquet Home International Champions.

All the unfinished games were left apart from the doubles between Wales and England as Wales could still snatch a draw if they won all four games. Moberly and Savage wrapped up the first game against Burridge and Melvin 7-4 meaning an England win was confirmed. The other doubles match was abandoned, and the second game went 7-1 to England, with Savage running the 8th hoop with the final shot of the event backwards!

Many thanks to event director and manager Rachel Gee for organising and managing, to Surbiton for hosting and to George Noble and his team of cooks and lawn setters. Thanks also to Tournament Referee Jay Dyer who refereed for us all weekend, and was even kept interested by a couple of Bray slice attempts from Savage.

Report by J-P Moberly.