NATIONAL FOREST A.C. TOURNAMENT
A national Association Croquet weekend handicap tournament at Moira. (In 2015 and 2016 this was a level-play B-level tournament for AC handicap range 1 to 8.)
Previous winners (Ashby winners in bold):
2011 Clive Goode
2012 Dave Gunn
2013 Richard Sanville
2014 Not contested
2015 Adam Moliver (B Level)
2016 David Marsh (B Level)
2017 Not contested
2018 Not contested
2019 Heather Hardy
2020 Heather Hardy
2021 Heather Hardy
2022 Mick Haytack
2023 Mick Owens
2024 Andy Sherwood
2024 REPORT June 15th & 16th (Manager: Arthur)
Ten players gathered in gloomy conditions on the Saturday morning to contest the National Forest AC Handicap Weekend. We had ten entries, with 5 from home club Ashby, so we played a 5-round Egyptian event as Ashby v ‘Rest of the World’. In reality, 4 out of the 5 RoW places were players from York on a foray to the Midlands, with one from Nottingham. On Saturday we were treated to a lot of rain, occasional lightning and hail, and a few sunny spells. After three rounds, we were very wet but had two players with 3 wins, Mark Innes from Nottingham and Andy Sherwood from Ashby playing in his first AC competition. It was also 8-7 to the RoW v Ashby in the subsidiary competition.
We had much better weather on Sunday, which saw more completed games (6/10 v 5/15 on Saturday). Andy continued his fine form, qualifying for a bronze award in his morning game and winning all 5 games in the weekend. Debbie James was runner-up amongst the players with 3 wins, having won her last game whilst her rivals lost theirs. Ashby beat RoW 14-11.
Winner: Andy Sherwood (Ashby)
Runner-up: Debbie James (York)
2023 REPORT June 17th & 18th (Manager: Arthur)
This year 8 players (3 from Ashby, 3 from Nottingham, and 2 from East Dorset) turned up in hot dry conditions on the Saturday to contest this event, which made Lawns 1 and 2 particularly tricky with many games going to time. Conditions were easier on the Sunday after heavy overnight rain.
An Egyptian scoring system was used to help determine a winner amongst those with an equal number of wins. This led to an interesting final round with three possible winners spread across three games. Two players emerged with 4 wins – Paul Durkin from Ashby, a new convert to AC but an experienced GC player, who played some very unconventional but effective croquet with excellent shooting and hoop running, and Mick Owens from Nottingham who was the eventual winner with a higher index than Paul having his only loss earlier in the competition.
Winner: Mick Owens (Nottingham)
Runner-up: Paul Durkin (Ashby)
2022 REPORT June 18th & 19th (Manager: Arthur)
This year 6 players turned up in the drizzle on Saturday to contest this event, which made the lawns much easier to play than in the hard dry conditions that we had recently experienced, and as a consequence only one game went to time over the whole weekend.
An Egyptian scoring system was used to help determine a winner amongst those with an equal number of wins. This led to an interesting final round with two possible winners and three possible second places spread across the 3 games. Two players emerged with 4 wins – Gediminas Smolskas from Bury who played very neat croquet most of the time and earned a handicap reduction to 7, and Mick Haytack from the home club who was the eventual winner with a higher index than Ged, and having also won the only game that Ged had lost.
2021 REPORT June 19th & 20th (Manager: Arthur)
A good turnout of 12 players hailing from a wide swathe of the UK gathered to play this weekend with the threat of a washout hanging over us. Fortunately the rain came on Friday and overnight on Saturday and nobody got wet. The lawn conditions were easier than earlier in the week when the ground had been hard and dry, and in the end only about a third of the games went to time. Everyone won at least one game, although one player was unfortunate enough to lose 3 games -1T.
An Egyptian scoring system was used to help determine a winner amongst those with an equal number of wins – but this year that was not needed as Heather Hardy won all her games although two were very close affairs, with her +2 win against Mick Haytack deciding the overall outcome of the competition. Mick finished as runner-up with only this -2 loss to Heather.
2020 REPORT June 13th & 14th (Manager: Arthur)
Heather retains her National Forest AC title
Six players contested this event in delightful summer weather at Ashby, in what was believed to be the first fixture in the CA calendar anywhere in the country to be completed this disrupted year.
Having just six players meant that we were within the current Covid-19 limit on gatherings, whilst being able to play the event as an all-play-all competition. The Egyptian scoring scheme was adopted to increase the likelihood of a discrete winner after 5 rounds. This was fortunate as 3 players finished with 4 wins, having all beaten each other! Heather Hardy emerged as the winner as she had lost her first game, so ended up with a higher index than Roger Watson and Arthur Rowe. The eagle-eyed will notice two players in the picture less than 2 metres apart – they were husband and wife Roger & Debbie Watson from Nottingham who had to play each other in the final round on Saturday.
4 wins: Heather Hardy, Roger Watson, Arthur Rowe
1 win: Richard Sanville, Debbie Watson, Mick Haytack
2019 REPORT June 15th & 16th (Manager: Arthur)
Heather Hardy wins the National Forest AC Handicap Singles Weekend
A small field of hardy players (excuse the pun) contested the National Forest AC Handicap Singles weekend, when they were subject to torrential downpours mixed with occasional sunshine. The field was comprised of players from Ashby and Huddersfield, and so the first two games felt like a team match rather than a singles competition. There was a mixture of excellent and so-so play from all players, and everyone won at least one game.
By the final game on Sunday, there were two players in the reckoning to win – Heather Hardy and Mick Haytack. Mick needed to beat Richard Sanville in the last game, and for Heather to lose to Rena Souten. Mick did his bit in an exciting finish after Richard had pegged off one ball, Mick then hitting in and making 3 hoops and a posthumous peel before winning +1. Heather was one ahead when time was called in her game, but Rena didn’t manage to make any more hoops and so Heather emerged as the winner. She also qualified for a Bronze award, completed her first two 26pt games, and finally earned a handicap reduction from 20 to 18.
2016 REPORT June 18th & 19th (Manager: Arthur)
Eight players contested the National Forest AC Trophy over what turned out to be a fine interlude in the recent rainy weather in the Midlands. The rain returned just as the last game was finishing – one of a number of interesting endings, this one with penult & box v penult and box after time.
The Egyptian format didn’t produce any upsets this year, and David Marsh from Wrest Park emerged as the clear winner having won all his games. Arthur Rowe was runner-up.
Full results:
| Ian Draper | beat | Mick Haytack | +4 |
| David Marsh | beat | Michael Finningan | +26 |
| Dave Gunn | beat | Tim King | +19 |
| Arthur Rowe | beat | Graham Good | +11 |
| David Marsh | beat | Dave Gunn | +10 |
| Michael Finningan | beat | Tim King | +7 |
| Graham Good | beat | Mick Haytack | +21 |
| Arthur Rowe | beat | Ian Draper | +5 |
| David Marsh | beat | Graham Good | +18 |
| Dave Gunn | beat | Mick Haytack | +3 |
| Arthur Rowe | beat | Michael Finningan | +24 |
| Ian Draper | beat | Tim King | +15(t) |
| David Marsh | beat | Ian Draper | +15(t) |
| Dave Gunn | beat | Graham Good | +1(t) |
| Michael Finningan | beat | Mick Haytack | +4 |
| David Marsh | beat | Mick Haytack | +24 |
| Ian Draper | beat | Graham Good | +1(t) |
| Michael Finningan | beat | Dave Gunn | +10 |
Winner: David Marsh Runner-up: Arthur Rowe
2015 REPORT June 13th & 14th (Manager: Arthur)
Eight players, including three from Ashby, contested the National Forest AC Trophy over a drizzly weekend at Moira. The tournament was a B-Level event for the first time (AC handicap range 1 to 8). The event was run as an Egyptian and the games were not time limited, except in the final session to ensure a finish at tea time on Sunday. This produced a number of interesting endings with one or more balls pegged out. Adam Moliver, from Cheltenham, emerged as the clear winner. Adam lost only to home player Arthur Rowe who was runner-up.
Full results:
| Adam Moliver | beat | Tim King | +5 |
| Sarah Melvin | beat | Mick Haytack | +22 |
| James Skelton | beat | Dave Gunn | +3 |
| Peter Thompson | beat | Arthur Rowe | +7 |
| Mick Haytack | beat | Tim King | +19 |
| Adam Moliver | beat | Sarah Melvin | +15 |
| Peter Thompson | beat | James Skelton | +5 |
| Arthur Rowe | beat | Mick Haytack | +26 |
| Dave Gunn | beat | Tim King | +5 |
| Arthur Rowe | beat | Sarah Melvin | +9 |
| Adam Moliver | beat | Mick Haytack | +18 |
| Adam Moliver | beat | Peter Thompson | +3 |
| Sarah Melvin | beat | James Skelton | +1 |
| Arthur Rowe | beat | Tim King | +22 |
| Adam Moliver | beat | Dave Gunn | +17 |
| Mick Haytack | beat | Peter Thompson | +7 |
| Sarah Melvin | beat | Tim King | +16 |
| James Skelton | beat | Mick Haytack | +6 |
| Peter Thompson | beat | Dave Gunn | +17 |
| Arthur Rowe | beat | Adam Moliver | +3 |
| Dave Gunn | beat | Sarah Melvin | +1(t) |
| Peter Thompson | beat | Tim King | +12(t) |
Winner: Adam Moliver Runner-up: Arthur Rowe
2013 REPORT June 15th & 16th (Manager: Mick)
Ten players with handicaps ranging from 3 to 11 played in mostly glorious weather with the odd shower on Saturday. There were five Ashby players, one from each of Nottingham, Colchester and Hamptworth and two from Australia. The final set of matches paired Richard against Tim and Arthur against Bob with all four players having a chance of lifting the trophy. Richard used his bisques well to beat Tim in quick time, then had to watch anxiously as Arthur quickly went to peg with his first ball then broke down with his second. Bob slowly clawed things back but Arthur eventually prevailed and Richard became the first Ashby player to win this event. Jenny Biggs once again provided first class catering and the handful of spectators managed to stay awake for most of the proceedings. Tim earned a handicap reduction to 3½.
1st Richard Sanville 80% (beat Arthur, Peter, Ann and Tim)
2nd Arthur Rowe 80% (beat Steve, Derek, Tim and Bob)
3rd Tim King 60% (beat Peter, Mick and Bob)
4th Bob Thompson 60% (beat Richard, Derek and Mick)
5th Mick Haytack 60% (beat Ann, Victor and Derek)
6th= Ann Brookes 40% (beat Steve and Victor)
6th= Derek Buxton 40% (beat Victor and Steve)
8th Victor Stilwell 40% (beat Steve and Peter)
9th Steve Thornton 20% (beat Peter)
10th Peter Freer 20% (beat Ann)
2012 REPORT June 16th & 17th (Manager: Mick)
| Dave Gunn of Nottingham Croquet Club won our second annual National Forest AC handicap tournament at Moira, with Ashby’s Tim King finishing as runner-up. Entry levels were down on last year with nine players, two of them able to play on only one day. Nevertheless, it was a very enjoyable tournament and for most of the time the weather was good. The catering supplied by Jenny Biggs was superb and was enjoyed by all. Special mention must go to Vic Stilwell of Hamptworth club who travelled all the way from Dorset and to Judith Moore (Nottingham) who was competing in her first proper AC tournament and managed a narrow win in her final game. Dave Gunn and Tim King both won their Silver award (twice) and Dave’s handicap came down from 10 to 9. 1st Dave Gunn (handicap 10) 80% 2nd Tim King (4) 60% (beat Mick) 3rd Mick Haytack (6) 60% 4th Arthur Rowe (3.5) 50% 5th Vic Stillwell (11) 40% (beat Richard) 6th Richard Sanville (9) 40% 7th Judith Moore (20) 25% Derek Buxton (10) won his two games on Sunday and was the only player to beat Dave Gunn. Peter Dennis (5, Kenilworth) also played on Sunday. |
2011 REPORT June 18th & 19th (Manager: Mick)
Ten players took part in our first-ever national CA tournament at Moira, won by Clive Goode of Nottingham Croquet Club. Derek Buxton of Ashby finished runner-up.
The weather was reasonable on Saturday with a few light showers, and excellent on Sunday.
Players: Rachel Rowe (3), Arthur Rowe (3.5), Peter Moore (5), Clive Goode (7), Mick Haytack (7), Barry Keen (9), Richard Sanville (9), Derek Buxton (10), Dave Gunn (10), Martin Wroughton (20).
This was Martin’s first attempt at AC and he stepped in at the last minute when one of the original entrants had to withdraw.
RESULTS (winners listed first):
| DAY 1 | ||||
| Peter +6T Dave | Rachel +16 Peter | Dave +4 Barry | ||
| Arthur +9 Barry | Clive +3 Derek | Arthur +1 Mick | ||
| Derek +11 Mick | Dave +26 Arthur | Clive +26 Rachel | ||
| Rachel +10 Richard | Richard +13 Martin | Derek +17 Richard | ||
| Clive +12T Martin | Barry +13 Mick | Peter +10 Martin | ||
| DAY 2 | ||||
| Semi-finals: | ||||
| Clive +2 Rachel | Derek +13 Dave | |||
| Final: Clive +9 Derek | ||||
| 3rd place play-off: Rachel +13 Dave | ||||
| Other Day 2 results: | ||||
| Peter +13 Arthur | Barry +23 Richard | Mick +8 Richard | ||
| Barry +24 Peter | Richard +26 Arthur | Mick +26 Peter |
Barry finished a clear 5th.The semi-final between Rachel and Clive was quite tense and at one point all four balls were for peg. Derek took an early lead in the final but Clive hit in, took his second ball round and ended the weekend unbeaten. His handicap came down to 6 from 7. The National Forest AC trophy was presented to Clive by the CA chairman Barry Keen.