A not so fun “Fun Coaching” morning was held on Friday in the heavy rain braved by Christine Stanton, Pat Heaven, Penny Austin, Ian Prince and Andrew Maclay.
A twist to the coaching format was a small competition which was won by Pat (bottle of wine in hand in photo) with Christine second. By lunchtime, we were all wetter and colder but hopefully a bit wiser! Richard Peperell
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The High Wycombe AC team of Kenny Weir, Matthew Miles Griffiths, Richard Coward and Richard Peperell drove to Poole this week to play East Dorset CC in the first round of the Secretary Shield, a national CA handicap Competition. We qualified as we won the SCF handicap league last year.
We were up against some tidy players: a minus 2 and a minus 1.5 but as it was handicap, we stood a good chance. That was our hope but unfortunately it didn't quite work out, losing 2-5. A win by Matthew 26-12 was brilliant and very encouraging as he had only just come down to a handicap to 20. A fun day but sadly not quite the result we were hoping for. Richard PS It was a great day out, but E. Dorset put out a fearsome team. Special mention should go to Richard P, who came within one hoop of an incredible 3-ball comeback against David (-1.5) who'd pegged him out. Matthew Last Sunday 21st April, our GC and AC teams played our annual handicap battle with Ealing for the Lloyd-Pratt mallet. We haven’t won it for a few years and this time we were moderately confident despite the weather being very cold with a chilling northerly wind. Unfortunately (that tells you what is coming next!), we were unable to fulfil our expectations as our visitors overran us winning 7-1, the only win coming from the GC pair of Keith Toovey and Pat Winning. Some consolation were the compliments paid by Simon Tuke, Ealing Chairman, who said how beautifully our lawns played.
The highlight from an HWCC perspective was the wonderful cake kindly provided by Keith Toovey’s wife – so a big thankyou to her. Richard Peperell With the tournament session barely started, High Wycombe has a National winner!
Paul Gunn was taking part in the National GC A-league (0+) Series on Sat/Sun 6th/7th April held jointly each year at High Wycombe and Phyllis Court. 16 players from many parts of the UK took part with the top 4 from High Wycombe and the top 4 from Phyllis going through to the final at Phyllis, the bottom 4 from each venue playing for the plate at High Wycombe. Paul won 5 of his 7 all-play-all on the first day, securing his place in the finals along with Duncan Catterall, another High Wycombe member. The finals were played as a knockout best of 3 games with Paul winning all his matches in two without needing to go to a third game. The final was played between Paul and Helena Jannson from Phyllis Court, with Paul winning 7-5, 7-3. Well done Paul! Richard Peperell One of the great assets at High Wycombe is the dedicated contribution of our coaches. Here is another example of this, the forthcoming Monday sessions to help GC players sharpen their skills in the summer season. Take a look and make a note in your calendar of the topics that are of greatest interest to you.
And if you forget, the next few weeks' topics will also appear on the home page. Thank you to Ian, Michael and Richard. Chris Webbley This summer, the Club will be trialling a change to the number of players allowed on each lawn at any one time. Up to now, this limit has been six (for GC), using primary, secondary and tertiary colours. In response to some comments that access to lawn time could be improved, the maximum number of players this summer will be increased to eight. Two pairs will need to use the same set of colours and so the later-arriving pair will decide which they use and will need to notify the other pair of players at a suitable point in that game, avoiding distraction under GC Rule 16.2.4 ("disturbs other players during the game" etc).
Because this will inevitably put more footfall on the lawns, it has been agreed that there will need to be a maximum weight on the lawns at any one time. This only needs to be an average of the four pairs of players, and for a trial period from the start of the season from Monday this has been set at 24 stone per pair (152.41 Kg). A weighing scales has been installed in the clubhouse for people to check that they comply and a Weight Assessment Officer role has been created to monitor the system. (The sharp-eyed members will have seen that for the various EV Doubles competitions, choosing a lighter partner will make it easier to book lawn times, as they will be more likely to help come in under the 24 stone level.) The Committee hope that members will take this change in the spirit in which it is intended. A 30-day trial will conclude at the end of April. If it is decided that the new system has not worked, then members will need to revert to the old method of looking at the lawn bookings and selecting times when the lawns are free. Chris Webbley for HWCC Committee The area of lawn near the centre-lawn sprinkler controls has been levelled (see picture). It will take a week or so for the grass seeds to germinate after which we should be able to remove the barriers. Well worth the inconvenience in the meantime.
Richard Peperell The last of the current series of GC High Handicap tournaments was held on Tuesday 5 March. Due to the unpredictability of the wonderful British weather the start time was delayed to avoid any risk of frost!! From then on the weather improved until the sun shone on 8 wonderful players having a great time competing for the coveted bottle of Cava!
There were some skilful tactics and super shots throughout the day. Particularly commendable was Joy Biggs playing her ball from the side line (by the starting square) diagonally across the lawn so that her ball sat within inches of Hoop 2. The Final was another exciting battle between Kenny Weir and Barry Stanton with Barry securing No.1 position at the 12th hoop. Penny Austin took third place after some wonderful play and Chris Stanton very bravely took part in her first match (and I hope first of many!!) Thanks to Jane Gloster for all her support during the day. Sharon Clark The club has invested in two sets of Ultra Championship hoops. They are silver in appearance and should hold a bit firmer in the ground. They are now on the trolleys. Enjoy!
Seen here setting the holes for the new hoops are outgoing Equipment Manager Keith Toovey and his successor Kenny Weir. Thank you, Keith, for all your work keeping the club's gear in good order, and welcome, Kenny, to this important role. Raouf Allim |
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