Aug 28th & 29th, Moira Manager & reporter: Ray Mounfield
The second National Forest GC Doubles (subtitled “Total Zero Plus” to reflect minimum joint handicaps) was played on the last weekend of August at Moira. Eight pairs, including players from the North East, East Anglia and the Midlands, competed for the trophy.
The manager Ray Mounfield decided on an all-play-all 2 games format with a realistic time limit (first game in 70 mins, 2 games in 120 min, with an additional 8 shots if needed). For health reasons one of the teams, Mike and Jane. played just one game in each round and were not eligible to win the tournament.
The weather was kind, and both days provided ideal conditions for enjoyable croquet. The format worked well, and every round of play saw all games completed within the time allowed. At the start of the final round there were three pairs with a chance to emerge as overall winners. Two, Anne/Jane and Michael/Pauline, both had 8 wins with Paul/Chris on 7.
Anne/Jane played Paul/Chris and took one game each. But Michael/Pauline won both of their games which gave them the trophy, designed and made by Mike O’Brian for the inaugural event in 2020.
Worthy of note Mike and Jane, neither having played competitively this year, won 6 of their 7 games.
Results:
Winners: Michael Bilton and Pauline Donner (10 wins)
Runners-up: Anne Brookes and Jane Pringle (9 wins)
3rd place: Paul Durkin and Christine Wood (8 wins)
Full results (CroquetScores)
