Category: News

News from the club. Please send items for inclusion to enquiries@ashbycroquetclub.org.uk

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EAST MIDLANDS GC LEAGUE RESULTS

The final matches have been completed in the East Midlands GC league, ending a mixed season for the Ashby teams.  Ashby A finished with a flourish, beating the eventual league winners Nottingham A 7-5 thanks to victories by Ray, Chris and Mike in all three of the key doubles games.  Ashby A finished the league in 4th place with 3.5 match wins out of 6, and Ashby B in 7th (last) place with 1 win out of 6.

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KENILWORTH FESTIVAL REPORT

Sun 8th Oct  Report by Arthur

Judith & Arthur won this GC doubles tournament at Kenilworth.  The format was an all-play-all block of 8 pairs, two each from Ashby, Kenilworth and Himley, and one from Broadwas and Edgbaston; combined handicap of pairs to be at least 8. We won 6/7, losing only our first round game to Martin & Jenny. It is the first competition Judith has played in where she has won a trophy. We had nice weather, good hosts, and friendly opponents. Our main claim to fame was as the parents of Rachel, who many of the Kenilworth members remember from her time when she was a student at Warwick.

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ASHBY PLAYERS IN HOME INTERNATIONALS

Sept 30th & Oct 1st  Report by Arthur

Ashby members Rachel & Arthur Rowe played on opposing teams in the inaugural Golf Croquet Home Internationals (England, Wales, Scotland & Ireland) over the weekend 30th Sep – 1st Oct at the Carrickmines club just south of Dublin. Rachel was playing for England as their number 2, and Arthur for Wales as their number 4. The format was five singles best of 3, plus one doubles best of 2 in each round. England, with a very strong team led by J P Moberly, emerged victorious with wins over the other 3 countries. Rachel had a fascinating match against Patsy Fitzgerald of Ireland which she won 0-7, 7-6, 7-1. Wales’ main strength lay with their captain Ian Burridge – who will be appearing as guest player in the Bottle Challenge on 14th October at Ashby – who secured two wins against Ireland in the doubles and singles. Arthur helped Wales to get a draw against Ireland by winning his singles match. So the final results were:

England – 3 wins
Ireland – 1.5 wins
Wales – 1.5 wins
Scotland – 0 wins

Ireland came second on quality of wins. They were excellent hosts with nice lunches provided, and the teams enjoyed an evening meal together at a local hostelry on the Saturday evening.


Rachel and Arthur in their England and Wales jackets

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INTER-CLUB GC FINAL: Ashby 4–3 Letchworth

Sat 23rd Sept, Peterborough

Congratulations to the Ashby team who won the GC Inter-Club championship for the fourth time in eight years, with a 4–3 victory over Letchworth who were making their first appearance in the final.

Results (Ashby names first)

Will Gee & Rachel Rowe beat Nick Mounfield & David Tutt 7-6, 7-4
Mike O’Brian lost to John Noble 4-7, 4-7
Tim King beat John Skingsley 7-2, 7-5

Will Gee beat Nick Mounfield 6-7, 7-0, 7-3
Rachel Rowe beat David Tutt 7-4, 7-6
Tim King lost to John Noble 5-7, 6-7

Mike O’Brian lost to John Skingsley 4-7, 5-7

Full report (CA website)

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VICTORY FOR LEICESTERSHIRE IN THE INTER-COUNTIES GC

Aug 19th & 20th, Southwick

Leicestershire, or as Will puts it “Ashbyshire”, won the Inter-Counties GC for the third time in 5 years (2013, 2015, 2017), this time without losing a single round and dropping only three games overall!

The weekend event at Southwick, West Sussex was contested by the top 12 Golf Croquet-playing counties, and Leicestershire romped home, winning their matches against each of the eleven other counties, and 30 out of their 33 games.  Their nearest rivals were Kent and Durham/Yorks, each with 8 match-wins out of 11.

Well done to the Leicestershire/Ashby team of Mike, Nick, Ray, Rachel, Will, Tim and Chris, on such a decisive victory.

FIRST and LAST (submitted by Ray, team manager/captain/gofer)

A big “Thank you” to the “Ashbyshire” players for the win in the GC Inter-Counties.

It was a first for Tim, who having played in nine of Leicestershire’s twelve previous outings in this competition found himself in the winning team (and a record breaking team at that!).

Regrettably a last for Will and Rachel, who having been in the two previous winning teams and playing superbly on each occasion when representing Leicestershire have decided to enter, and be key players, in a Nottinghamshire team for 2018.  I wish them well in this venture and look forward to the Leicestershire v Nottinghamshire clash next year.

Report (CA website)

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STUART SMITH WON THE ASHBY B-LEVEL GC TOURNAMENT

Sat 19th Aug
Manager and reporter: Martin

A good day’s croquet with the ideal 12 contestants for three lawns. We had three visitors from Long Eaton, two from both Northampton and Ripon, one from Richmond Park, the rest being Ashby members.

At lunch, there were 2 players tied on 3 games each, but, probably fuelled by Jenny’s sausage casserole, by tea time Stuart Smith was the clear winner, having won all six of his games.

Results

1st Stuart Smith (h’cap 3), Northampton, 6 wins, +22

2nd Paul Durkin (4), Long Eaton, 5 wins, +13

3rd Mike Bilton (3), Richmond Park, 4 wins, +15
4th Eileen Buxton (6), Ashby, 4 wins, +4

5th Louise Smith (8), Northampton, 3 wins, 0
Also on 3 wins: Martin Wroughton (3) and Roger I’Anson (3)

2 wins: Sue I’Anson (8), Richard Sanville (7) and Jane Tewson (6)

1 win: Julie Boulton (8) and Joan Skuse (7)

Game scores:

Jane 7-6 Mike; Julie 2-7 Stuart; Richard 7-2 Sue; Roger 7-4 Louise; Joan 6-7 Eileen; Paul 7-2 Martin

Jane 3-7 Sue; Julie 3-7 Martin; Richard 5-7 Stuart; Roger 2-7 Mike; Joan 6-7 Louise; Paul 7-2 Eileen

Jane 5-7 Roger; Julie 7-4 Joan; Richard 7-6 Eileen; Paul 7-4 Sue; Mike 7-6 Louise; Stuart 7-1 Martin

Jane 3-7 Joan; Julie 6-7 Paul; Richard 2-7 Mike; Roger 3-7 Stuart; Sue 4-7 Martin; Louise 6-7 Eileen

Jane 1-7 Martin; Julie 5-7 Eileen; Richard 5-7 Louise; Roger 4-7 Sue; Joan 4-7 Stuart; Paul 7-6 Mike

Jane 7-6 Richard; Julie 4-7 Roger; Joan 1-7 Mike; Paul 5-7 Stuart; Sue 1-7 Eileen; Louise 7-5 Martin

Thanks to all who took part, especially as not one referees decision was needed.

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LOCAL AND NATIONAL NEWS ROUND-UP

Martin Wroughton has qualified for the GC All England Handicap National Final at Ramsgate in September, having already successfully negotiated the club heat at Moira followed by the area final at Nottingham.

Mike O’Brian reached the semi-finals of the Yorkshire Open GC at Ripon Spa, finishing joint third.  Details on CroquetScores.

Nick Mounfield won the Letchworth Advanced AC Weekend, beating all of the other eight players and completing his first sextuple peel.

Derek Buxton had a good week in the Nottingham Annual Tournament, reaching the finals of both the handicap doubles and the D-level handicap singles competitions.

In the East Midlands GC League, Ashby A had a disappointing 3–9 defeat at Long Eaton A.  The results of the Pinchbeck v Ashby A and Ashby B v Pinchbeck matches are not yet in.

Several people played in the Perry Bowl Ladies Handicap GC club competition on Saturday 29th July but the results are not yet in.