Annual one-day club tournament, 13-point Golf Croquet doubles. No handicap restrictions. Pairings are usually drawn on the day, with high-handicap players partnering low-handicap players. The competition is then played on a level-play basis.
Previous winners:
1996 Brian Taylor & Sharon Draper
1997 Derek Buxton & Dave Davis
1998 Ray & Chris Mounfield
1999 Eileen Buxton & Evelyn Martin
2000 Eileen Buxton & Evelyn Martin
2001 Derek Buxton & Sarah Martin
2002 Eileen Buxton & Evelyn Martin
2003 Derek Buxton & Sarah Martin
2004 (joint winners) Barrie March & Kay Coombes; Mike O’Brian & Phil Coombes
2005 Ray Mounfield & Eileen Buxton
2006 Barrie March & Lindsey Thomas
2007 Arthur & Judith Rowe
2008 Geoff Ellott & Marilyn Murray
2009 Barrie March & Richard Sanville
2010 Mick Haytack & Eileen Buxton
2011 Rachel & Judith Rowe
2012 Mike O’Brian & Jenny Biggs
2013 Ray Mounfield & Caroline Cook
2014 Ray Mounfield & Caroline Cook
2015 Jenny Biggs & George Allen
2016 Chris Mounfield & Julie Boulton
2017 Mike O’Brian & Julie Boulton
2018 Will Gee & Rory Tate
2019 Mike O’Brian & Ian Neville
2020 Paul Durkin & Heather Hardy
2021 Chris Mounfield & Colin Atkinson
2022 Julie Boulton & Pete Bensley
2023 Mick Haytack & Janet Harker
2024 John Picken & Richard Sanville
2024 RESULTS Monday 26th August Manager: Martin
Nine pairs (18 people) took part, with manager Martin called in as a last minute substitute player for injured Avril.
Block A had 5 pairs, playing slightly shorter games (best of 9 points). Three pairs finished on 3 wins from 4 games: Martin and Andy (+8 hoop difference) and Mike and Janet S (+6) qualified for the semi-finals, while Colin C and Ray (+3) just missed out.
Meanwhile, the four pairs in Block B played normal 13-point games. Three pairs finished on 3/4 wins: John and Richard (+4) and Pete B and Stephanie (+3) progressed to the semi-finals, just ahead of Arthur and Jill (+2).
In the semi-finals Martin and Andy won 7-5 against Pete and Steph, whilst John and Richard beat Mike and Janet by the same score.
John and Richard played well in the final, beating Martin and Andy 7-2.
Mick and Jane T won the Plate competition.
2023 RESULTS Monday 28th August Manager: Martin
A record entry of 24 players took part in this year’s Clive Pearson Doubles, perhaps encouraged by the promise of fine weather and a barbecue.
Mick Haytack and Janet Harker were the winning pair, with a 7-5 victory over Tim King and Gill Holland in the final.
2022 RESULTS Monday 29th August Manager: Martin
Eight pairs competed again this year, featuring a wide GC handicap range from 0 to 14. There were some closely-fought games including one very protracted game in the third round which went on and on, meaning that the intended fourth round had to be scrapped so we could finish at a reasonable time. However, we did conveniently already have a clear winning team at this point: Julie and Pete, with 3 wins out of 3.
Arthur and Rosie were runners-up with 2 wins (+4 hoop difference). Also finishing on 2 wins were Christine and John (+3), and Judith and Jill G (0).
2021 RESULTS Monday 30th August Manager: Martin
We had a good turnout this year with eight pairs competing, and it was great to see some of our new members taking part. No-one won all their games, but two pairs finished on 3 wins out of 4. Christine and Colin were declared the winners with a hoop difference of +9, just beating Heather and Janet who finished on +4.
Four doubles pairs finished with 2 wins out of 4: Paul & Sue, Richard & Jenny, Mick & Lesley L, and Eileen and Penny.
2020 RESULTS Monday 31st August Manager: Martin
After a very close National Forest GC doubles tournament over the weekend, the doubles theme continued on bank holiday Monday with our internal Clive Pearson GC competition. This turned out to be even closer, with all five pairs finishing on two wins out of four! Paul and Heather were the clear winners on a hoop difference of +9 , thanks to wins of 7-0 and 7-1 in their first two games. Runners-up were Jane and Richard on +1. Not far behind were Ray and Rupert, Mike and Julie, and Christine and Mick. Many thanks to Martin for organising the tournament.
2019 RESULTS Monday 26th August Manager: Martin
There were 5 pairs for this event. The winners were Mike O’Brian and Ian Neville, Ian is a new player who played his first game on the previous Sunday! The next day, partnered with Mike, he achieved his first tournament win, quite a feat. Ian is Noah’s grandfather, Emma’s father.
It is a pity that none of the Wednesday group took part, but then again, neither did last year’s winners. This event was designed to introduce members to relaxed competitive play.
2018 RESULTS Monday 27th August Manager: Martin
This year’s Clive Pearson Doubles, originally scheduled for a Sunday earlier in August, was postponed until the end of the month due to clashes with other events. The rearranged competition on bank holiday Monday attracted eight pairings, the best turnout for some years.
After five rounds of play, the clear winners with 5 wins out of 5 were Will and Rory, and runners-up with 4 wins were Mick H and Julie.
2017 RESULTS Saturday 5th August Manager/Reporter: Tim
The Clive Pearson Doubles followed the usual format: the pairs being determined by which players arrive on the day. The strongest player partners and so on. This year, the attendance was somewhat light with only seven being available. In these circumstances, Ray Mounfield ended up playing on his own (having just fallen behind Mick Haytack in the ranking system).
With the weather never being especially pleasant, four “pairs” began battle consisting of 3 rounds of 13-point games (an all-play-all block).
Arguably, the result event was decided in the first round. Jenny Biggs started with some precision shots but eventually Mike O’Brian and Julie Boulton began to find their form and came back to win the game 7-6.
From this point on, the pattern was consistent: Ray beat all-comers, while Mick and Martin Wroughton were never able to find their best form. Ray graciously withdrew his claim to the title on the basis of one player not really being able to win a doubles tournament, so Mike and Julie were winners, with the latter doing so for the second year in a row.
Results:
Round 1
Ray Mounfield beat Mick Haytack & Martin Wroughton 7-4
Mike O’Brian & Julie Boulton beat Tim King & Jenny Biggs 7-6
Round 2
Ray beat Tim & Jenny 7-2
Mike & Julie beat Mick & Martin 7-3
Round 3
Ray beat Mike & Julie 7-4
Tim & Jenny beat Mick & Martin 7-3
Final positions:
1st Mike & Julie: 2 wins, +2 hoop difference
2nd Tim & Jenny: 1, -2
3rd Mick & Martin: 0, -11
Withdrew: Ray, 3 wins, +11
2016 RESULTS Saturday 30th July Manager/Reporter: Tim
As usual, Ashby Croquet Club was able to put on a fun and casual but competitive tournament despite the preceding lack of planning (no manager was in place until two days before the event!). The weather did not forget to turn up either; pleasant sunshine graced most of the afternoon.
The Clive Pearson format is such that the pairs are not allocated until everyone arrives to play, when the manager pairs the strongest player with the weakest and so on. Unfortunately, on this occasion, the availability of players led to an odd number of pairs, so at least two players were always waiting for opponents.
Although some of the other less experienced players were otherwise engaged, Julie, George, Jenny and Lynda were attracted to the prospect of playing alongside one of the stronger members of the club. No pair lost all their games. And although Tim and Judith played well after losing in the first round, Chris and Julie were the most consistent performers, with their only blemish being a draw with Mike and George after the manager had to impose a time limit on a game that was holding up the rest of the players.
Julie’s victory was her first as a croquet player and she played with admirable consistency. Chris’s key contribution was to score 6 out of 6 jump shots, a record that even international-class players would be proud to achieve.
Round 1
Chris Mounfield (0) + Julie Boulton (9) beat Tim King (0) + Judith Rowe (9) 7-1
Mike O’Brian (0) + George Allen (8) beat Ray Mounfield (0) + Jenny Biggs (10) 7-4
Mick Haytack (3) + Eileen Buxton (6) beat Derek Buxton (3) + Martin Wroughton (4) 7-3
Round 2
Arthur Rowe (-1) + Lynda Allen (9) beat Derek + Martin 7-6
Chris + Julie beat Mick + Eileen 7-6
Tim + Judith beat Mike + George 7-3
Round 3
Ray + Jenny beat Arthur + Lynda 7-4
Chris + Julie drew with Mike + George 5-5
Tim + Judith beat Mick + Eileen 7-2
Round 4
Arthur + Lynda beat Mike + George 7-6
Chris + Julie beat Ray + Jenny 7-2
Tim + Judith beat Derek + Martin 7-3
Round 5
Tim + Judith beat Arthur + Lynda 7-6
Derek + Martin beat Ray + Jenny 7-4
Mike + George beat Mick + Eileen 7-3
Final standings
1st: Chris + Julie, 3.5 / 4 = 87.5% [net hoops = +12]
2nd: Tim + Judith, 4 / 5 = 80% [+8]
3rd: Arthur + Lynda, 2 / 4 = 50% (beat Mike + George) [-2]
4th: Mike + George, 2.5 / 5 = 50% [+2]
5th: Mick + Eileen, 1 / 4 = 25% (beat Derek + Martin) [-6]
6th: Derek + Martin, 1 / 4 = 25% (beat Ray + Jenny) [-5]
7th: Ray + Jenny, 1 / 4 = 25% [-9]
2015 RESULTS Saturday 18th July Report by Martin
Eleven players turned up to contest the shield. Three new members took part and partnered the more experienced players, two pairs of relatively experienced players were formed and Martin played singles to keep the whole thing running. As the final round commenced it was feared that maths would be needed to decide the winner with hoop differences, but Jenny and George won their final game to make them outright winners. The teams with Lesley, Liz and Janet were equal on points. The hoop differences were all minus except Martin’s which was +28, oh that he could play like that normally!
George is now making a trophy cabinet to celebrate his first ever foray into any competitive sport.
2014 RESULTS Sunday 13th July Report by Christine
Good weather and a good turnout, especially of our newer members, gave us an entertaining and enjoyable afternoon of doubles play. The more limited number of ‘experienced’ players led to a bit of juggling with pairings and two couples being awarded bisques. Two lawns were used, games ended at 40 minutes plus 8 shots and the next hoop if drawn at that point.
For half the players, this was their first experience of tournament play and all coped really well. Caroline, having played only once since winning in 2013 and fresh from a recent round of exams, followed Ray’s advice almost to the letter and they emerged as clear winners. Three pairs started the final round of games in contention for the runners up honours but Olivia and Mike kept their cool and gained the edge.
Winners: Ray and Caroline, 5 wins
Runners-up: Mike and Olivia, 3 wins
2 wins: Chris and Jean; Martin and Frank; Mary and Linda
1 win: Jenny and Jonathan
2013 RESULTS Sunday 28th July Report by Ray
There was a good turnout for this year’s Clive Pearson Doubles, including three of our newest members. Ray, who was managing the event, needed to play in order to balance the numbers.
The format of a high-handicap player partnering a low-handicap player was used again with all seven pairs playing each other in 13-point level-play games, with a time limit of 35 minutes (plus 8 extra turns). Drawn games counted as half a win to each side.
It had rained heavily the previous night, but the lawns played well and the rain kept away for the afternoon. The application of a time limit meant that several games did not finish with a seven hoop win, but more than half of the games did. All of the games were balanced and winners difficult to predict. Going into the final round of play, Rupert and Judith had a slight lead over the rest, but any of four pairs could emerge as tournament winners. However, Ray and Caroline beat Rupert and Judith and, on the strength of a previous win over Mike and Frank, secured the Clive Pearson title and Shield.
Everyone agreed that it had been a very enjoyable and worthwhile croquet event.
Winners: Ray Mounfield and Caroline Cook, 4 wins
2nd: Mike O’Brian and Frank Hill, 4 wins
3rd: Rupert Knapton and Judith Rowe, 3.5 wins
4th: Arthur Rowe and Liz Riley, 3 wins
5th: Eileen Buxton and Martin Wroughton, 3 wins
6th: Richard Sanville and Jenny Biggs, 2.5 wins
7th: Will Gee and Mary Nicholl, 1 win
2012 RESULTS Sunday 29th July
The Clive Pearson Doubles had five entries: Tim, Eileen, Martin, Jenny, and Mike. Mike was stand-in manager but fortunately Tim was on hand to devise a revolving five-round event followed by a final which all worked rather well. Mike thinks the two pairs in the final evolved from the four individuals who had the most success in the five rounds of doubles, somehow weighted according to handicaps. The final was Eileen and Tim v Jenny and Mike, with Jenny sealing victory on the thirteenth hoop after a couple of shots the two low handicap players would probably prefer to forget. Report by Mike
2011 RESULTS Sunday 31st July
Eleven club members were present at the start of this year’s competition. Since this was going to be a difficult number to pair up and produce a balanced scheme of play it was decided to draft in Rupert’s virtual identical twin (also called Rupert!). Both Ruperts agreed to partner each other.
The other teams were decided using the high/low handicap method and the competition was played on an all play all basis, with a 45-minute time allowance. Having three courts available meant that there was no need for double banking.
The weather was kind and everyone enjoyed taking part. Barrie and Mike came to support and each took part in one of the later, non-decisive games – Barrie to give Dave a rest, and Mike replacing Rupert’s virtual partner. The tournament trophy was awarded to Rachel and Judith who completed the afternoon of play with a 100% winning record.
It would have been nice to see more of our new club members taking part. Perhaps next year……..
Report by Ray
Winners: Rachel Rowe and Judith Rowe, 5 wins
2nd: Arthur Rowe and Martin Wroughton, 3 wins
3rd: Tim King and Cynthia Steele, 3 wins
2010 RESULTS Sunday 1st August
Fourteen players turned up for the 2010 Clive Pearson Doubles Tournament. Manager Ray continued recent practice of pairing high and low handicaps giving combined handicaps between 14 and 9. The format was all play all, single banked, on three lawns with a 40 minute time limit. A few games were timed out and three ended in 6-6 draws. Eileen and Mick emerged as worthy winners, having won four and drawn two games. High handicap players all played very well and scored some excellent hoops. Opinion was unanimous that it was an enjoyable afternoon of competitive croquet.
Report by Christine M
Winners: Mick Haytack and Eileen Buxton, 5 wins (4 + 2 draws)
2nd: Ray Mounfield and David Burrows, 4.5 wins
3rd: Chris Mounfield and Judith Rowe, 3.5 wins
2009 RESULTS Sunday 9th August
Fourteen people entered this year including Jean and David Burrows, our newest members. Pairings were arranged by Ray (tournament manager) resulting in five of the pairs having a combined handicap of 12, the two others totalling 10 and 8. Eileen and Chris had hoped to be paired together to practise for the Thames Valley Ladies’ Doubles but their request fell on deaf ears!
Ray organised play as ‘all play all’. After 6 rounds Lindsey and Derek had won all their five games but in the final round they met Barrie and Richard who notched up their fifth win and edged ahead on a ‘who beat who’ basis. To everyone’s amazement Richard announced that this would be the first time his name would be engraved on an Ashby trophy.
Jean and David enjoyed their first taste of competitive play and were ably coached and encouraged by their respective partners, Tim and Will.
Many thanks to Ray for managing – and stepping down as a player at the last minute to ensure there were an even number competing. It’s a shame we didn’t have one more player to make 16 in total which would have been ideal. Thanks also to all entrants for turning up and making it a successful tournament, and for the sunshine!
Winners: Barrie March and Richard Sanville, 5 wins
2nd: Derek Buxton and Lindsey Thomas, 5 wins
3rd: Rachel Rowe and Geoff Ellott, 3.5 wins
2008 RESULTS
Played on Sunday 14th September (Manager: Eileen). Due to clashes with other events, only six people played in this year’s Clive Pearson Doubles which was won by Marilyn Murray and Geoffrey Ellott; the runners-up were Cynthia Steel and Barrie March.
Results:
Barrie/Cindy 7-4 Eileen/Lindsey
Barrie/Cindy 6-7 Geoffrey/Marilyn
Geoffrey/ Marilyn 7-2 Eileen/Lindsey
2007 RESULTS Played on Sunday 16th September. Report by Chris.
Sixteen people – over half the current playing membership – signed up for the 2007 Clive Pearson Doubles. As in previous years pairings were made according to handicap and an all-play-all format adopted on double-banked lawns. Manager Ray started promptly having instructed players to finish games immediately time was called, start the next round with minimum delay and if a comfort break was needed ensure that the preceding game ended before expiry of the 35 minutes allowed. Fortunately these harsh conditions didn’t lead to the expiry of any participant, and an afternoon of lively play followed, thanks to Dawson balls and lawns like glass despite recent watering.
Competition was very close with all pairs winning at least two games but the worthy winners were Arthur and Judith (5 wins) closely followed by Ben and Christine, and Andrew and Tim (both pairs on 4.5 wins)
2006 RESULTS Played on Sunday 17th September. Report by Chris.
The 2006 Clive Pearson Doubles followed a similar format to last year with high/low handicap pairings arranged on the day. Five pairs competed on an all-play-all, 13 point game basis, each game limited to forty minutes.
Every game was keenly contested, several were ‘timed out’ and most were played in brilliant sunshine.
Eventual winners were Lindsey and Barrie. Three pairs (Andrew and Tim, Cynthia and Ray, Rupert and Eileen) shared runner up spot, with Chris and Martin valiantly bringing up the rear.
Andrew, playing in his first tournament, was very happy to see his ball run four consecutive hoops. (His opponents were perhaps not quite so happy!)
Special thanks to Ray for managing, Dave for scoring and time-keeping, to the O’Brians and Sheila for spectating and to the rain for mostly staying away!
2005 RESULTS
The 2005 competition took place on Sunday 7th August. Many thanks to Ray for running the event, competed by five pairs.
Winners: Ray Mounfield and Eileen Buxton, 4 wins
2nd: Nick Mounfield and Richard Sanville, 2 wins
3rd: Chris Mounfield and Mick Haytack, 2 wins