In the latest SCF GC Doubles match,  a rain-drenched day failed to dampen spirits.   Although High Wycombe were in
the lead at the lunch break, having scored 3 to Harwell's 1, things went downhill after lunch and our team of Ralph Baker, Jane Gloster, Keith Muras and David Parkin eventually lost by 5 games to 3.

All the afternoon games were very close (5:7 or 6:7) and hotly (or rather wetly) contested! The net hoops for the whole day were exactly even. Perhaps a lighter lunch box would be in order...! Next year High Wycombe will do better I'm sure.

This Southern Federation level play doubles only league is well worth the effort, and a lot of fun.

Roll on 2024's sunshine!!

Keith Muras

In a game of mixed fortunes, the Kestrels Advantage GC team were up recently against Eynsham players with, it could be said, somewhat  unrealistic handicaps – 10, 10 & 11  - who could all jump!

Although three HWCC players won games, the result was a disappointing 10-6 loss.  Mike Vickery lost his last match 6-7 when his ball was nestled in the jaws of the golden hoop. His opponent Jill James had one final shot on the 13th hoop, a diagonal jump shot from about 7 feet. Not only did she do a spectacular jump shot but that loss sent Mike’s handicap from 6 to 7!
 
On the other hand, with three wins, Kestrels captain Kay moved her handicap from a 6 to a 5!  She wonders if she can maintain the standard for a while -- I think she will!

Chris Webbley and Kay Vickery

Our GC Open team's competitiveness was not suitably rewarded in a recent scoreline against Phyllis Court A of 1.5 - 6.5.  The combined total handicaps pointed to a tough day:  7 (HW) up against -1 (PC)!
 
Richard Peperell was recognised as playing the best golf croquet of his career and took the middle game from the victor's much higher ranked captain Chris Roberts, in the highlight of the morning’s play.  ​Chris eventually got past Richard 7-6, 6-7, 7-5 when the latter stuck in hoop 10 and Chris executed a good jump to score leaving his opponent hampered in the hoop jaws.

Earlier, Phyllis Court’s Ian Norris had made short work of Wycombe captain Paul Gunn, winning 7-4, 7-6, inside an hour and a half, whilst repeated clearing of opposition balls prolonged the other three first round ‘best of three’ matches.

Phyllis Court’s 2-0 lead was pegged back when Rick Lilley was unexpectedly beaten 7-6, 5-7, 2-7 by Michael Bowker and the slowest match between Phyllis Court’s Roger Goldring and Alan Clark was suspended for lunch at 3-7, 7-5.

The 2-1 half-time lead was closer than Phyllis Court Captain Chris Roberts had imagined given the national rankings of the two sides’ personnel, but in the afternoon those pre-match expectations and wishes all came true in the head-to-head matches.

Chris finished first with a 7-4, 7-5 win over Paul and soon after Roger secured the team win with a 7-2, 7-5 victory over Michael.
 
Rick  was pushed all the way to the last hoop twice before winning 7-6, 7-6 against Alan just as Ian ran away with the last game of the number 2 rubber 3-7, 7-6, 1-7.

This gave Phyllis Court a flattering 6-1 team scoreline and it was agreed not to play out the final morning game of Goldring v Clark match, and for each side to take a ‘half’.

On 19 July, the HWCC GC Doubles team of Pat Winning, Jane Gloster, Keith Muras and Ralph Baker hosted Eynsham B.  After a good competitive game we came home with the win 5-3.  This is doubly satisfying as it is the first win for the team this season.  

Ralph Baker

Games of Association Croquet are very variable in length – some of them last an hour or less, while others stretch on for three hours or more. Both ends of the spectrum were on display in Wycombe’s first fixture of the SCF A-league season against Aldermaston on 26 June.

Mike Porter (-0.5) was up against Andy Myers (-1.5), who proved to be on top form. Mike’s contribution to the game was three shots - playing a ball onto the lawn in the second turn, shooting and missing in the fourth turn, and shooting and missing in the sixth turn. Meanwhile, Andy took a ball to 4-back in fifth turn and made a triple peel look effortless in seventh turn to win in under an hour.

By contrast, the match between Richard Peperell (2.5) and Steve Woolnough (1) was much more interactive, with both players spurning several chances to progress. As darkness loomed, and with Mike and Andy having both returned to their families, Richard was 2-23 down. With a long hit in, Richard pulled together a break to penult and, after Steve missed his lift shot, Richard continued with his second ball to a fine,  decisive 26-23 victory, earning a draw for the team and coming close to a reduction in his handicap.

Mike Porter

Having been invited, we sent a team of 5 to the South Eastern Croquet Federation “Southern Challenge” held annually at Sussex County Croquet Club, Southwick (near Brighton). This is a one-off event for clubs 'in the south’, run on the lines of the Inter-Counties Championship. Teams could include invited guests so we took the opportunity to include Bridget Goodman from Ealing Croquet Club (she provided the team mascot, her dog Crunchie!).

In short, we won a very creditable 4th place. After playing all the other clubs in a mix of doubles and singles, 13-point, games, we gained a place in the top 4 play-offs. These involved 19 pt games which generated an interesting element to the game. While we are unable to better our 4th position during that second round we played against some strong players and, as in the first round, had most enjoyable matches with some very tight results.

Thank you one and all for a most enjoyable weekend of croquet.

Ian Shore

(And thank you, Ian, for undertaking the tasks of team captain.  Chris W)