Bowdon players did well at the Millennium Advanced tournament at the weekend with John-Paul Moberly winning the “A” Class and Will Mellor finishing third in the “B” Class.
Report and pictures can be found at: Advanced Weekend
GC Open Championship, Southwick – 13-16 August
Three of Bowdon’s finest Golf Croquet players competed in the GC Open Championship, 13th-16th August.
John-Paul Moberley is playing off of -5 and was one of the favourites to lift the title, Will Mellor is on 1 and playing his first major championship; young Jack Good (2) is also competing.
Matches were played in blocks of 8 on an all-play-all basis. Unfortunately, Will was been drawn in Block A, the same block as J-P; Jack played in Block D. The top 4 of each block qualified for the knockout rounds while the others contested the Plate.
After qualifying for the Championship Knockout by finishing 2nd in his group, John-Paul lost in the first round and then proceeded to win the Bowl competition; Will & Jack played well in their blocks without qualifying but Jack went on to win the Plate Knockout competition.
All the scores can be found here: GC Open Championships
Hot Pot Supper – Cancelled
The hot pot supper which was due to be held on Saturday 4th April in now cancelled owing to the threat of coronavirus
‘Winter’ Wednesday Competition – Week 16
29 members turned up for the last week of the competition, which this week had joint winners: Bryan Goude and Carol Steinberg, with Diana Jerman in a close third place.
1st – Carol Steinberg and Bryan Goude – 95 pts
3rd – Diana Jerman – 93 pts
Carol Steinberg 
Bryan Goude
Next week sees the knock out competition take place between the top 8 places in the table. Sadly, Nigel Matthews, who is in second place in the table, is unable to play next week. Nigel’s place in the knockout is taken by Richard Green, who jumps up 12 places to 9 in the overall leaderboard.
The first round matches are as follows:
| 1 – Mike Flannery (14) | vs | 8 – Richard Green (16) |
| 4 – Diana Jerman (24) | vs | 5 – Cas Sinclair (14) |
| 3- John Haworth (10) | vs | 6 – George Kistruck (20) |
| 2 – Charles Fraser (18) | vs | 7 – Monica Young (22) |
There will still be the opportunity for members outside the top 8, to have a final game of One Ball next Wednesday. Games will take place but scores will not be counted towards the final table.
TOP 10
(Please note table is showing top 8 scores)
| Position | Name | Points | Movement |
| 1 | Mike Flannery | 726 | = |
| 2 | Nigel Matthews | 685 | = |
| 3 | Charles Fraser | 667 | = |
| 4 | John Haworth | 665 | = |
| 5 | Diana Jerman | 648 | +4 |
| 6 | Cas Sinclair | 644 | = |
| 7 | George Kistruck | 637 | -2 |
| 8 | Monica Young | 634 | -1 |
| 9 | Richard Green | 629 | +12 |
| 10 | Pauline Hennell | 621 | -2 |
The full table is: here
‘Winter’ Wednesday Competition – Week 15
34 Members turned up on a lovely spring day. Richard Green won his first Wednesday one ball of the season. Mike Flannery and Steve Reynolds coming second and third.
Nigel was the biggest mover on the leader board, gaining 6 places, having now completed 8 games. Mike Flannery remains top of the leader board.
2nd – Mike Flannery 94 pts
3rd – Steve Reynolds 91 pts
The full table is: here
‘Winter’ Wednesday Competition – Week 14
24 Members turned up on the last Wednesday competition in February, following the cancellation last week due to waterlogged lawns. Charles Fraser won his first Wednesday one ball, following a couple of second places. Andrew Thomson and Pauline Hennell coming second and third.
No major changes to the leader board this week, Mike Flannery still in the lead.
2nd – Andrew Thomson 89 pts
3rd – Pauline Hennell 88 pts
The full table is: here
‘Winter’ Wednesday Competition – Week 13
On a cold and wet Wednesday, 24 members turned up to play. Mike Shelmerdine won this week, finishing his last game with a magnificent 8 hoop break. John Howarth and John Lambie a close second and third.
Mike Flannery moves to the top of the table, with John Howarth and Cas Sinclair continuing their climb up the leaderboard. Nigel is the only player in the top ten that has yet to post his 8th score!
2nd – John Howarth 96 pts
3rd – John Lambie 94 pts
TOP 10
(Please note table is showing top 8 scores)
| Pos | Name | Points | Movement | |
| 1 | Mike Flannery | 705 | +3 | |
| 2 | John Haworth | 665 | +1 | |
| 3 | Charles Fraser | 638 | -2 | |
| 4 | George Kistruck | 637 | -2 | |
| 5 | Peter Mayne | 613 | = | |
| 6 | Cas Sinclair | 610 | +5 | |
| 7 | = | Nigel Matthews | 601 | -1 |
| 7 | = | Pauline Hennell | 601 | -1 |
| 9 | Fred Owen | 596 | +1 | |
| 10 | Monica Young | 594 | -2 |
The full table is: here
CA Tournaments and Coaching – 2020
Meet new friends, see new places, learn new skills. Why not try something different with some friends from our club? The CA tournament and coaching programme is full of opportunities and the link below shows those that are near to our club in 2020. Unfortunately it looks like the events listed are all tournaments and there are no coaching sessions planned locally yet. For advice or more information, including how to enter, speak to our tournament secretary or one of our club coaches or have a look on the Croquet Association website using the link at the bottom of this poster.
Please click on this link to see a schedule of tournaments in the North.
WCF AC World Championship, Melbourne, Australia – 15-23 February, 2020
February sees the second major international croquet event in 2020, following the GC World Teams Championship in New Zealand. This singles event will see 80 players battle to become World Champion (currently Paddy Chapman of New Zealand, who lives and plays in Nottingham).
The format is identical to the WCF Simon Carter GC World Championship which graced UK shores last summer: eight blocks of 10, with the top four in each block going through to the main knockout. The blocks will be single games, and the knockout stage will be best of 3 or 5. There will be a range of other consolation events, which are prestigious trophies in their own right.
Conditions are likely to be dry and very hot, with Atkins Quadway hoops (square carrots, unpainted uprights) providing additional challenge. Expect long matches and lower numbers of peeling turns compared to top UK events. Games should be untimed; if time limits imposed, expect some low scores.
The players are selected based on a mixture of world ranking and WCF Member Nations sending representatives. Australia dominates the mix with 29 players, England have 16, and New Zealand 12.
Bowdon member, David Maugham, competed in Block D. David came 2nd David came 2nd after his group matches and qualified for the main knockout event where he beat Ian Burridge in the 1st round; however, he lost to ex-World Champion, Robert Fletcher in round 2.
In the final, ex-world champion Reg Bamford of South Africa beat Matthew Essick of USA 3-1. This was Reg’s 5th AC World title.
‘Winter’ Wednesday Competition – Week 12
31 Players turned up on a sunny but at times chilly day. Nigel Matthews won, his second time this season. With Tim McCoy and Mike Flannery in joint second place.
In the overall table Charles Fraser moves to the top, with large jumps up the table for Leo, Monica, Nigel and Mike.
2nd = Tim McCoy – 92 points
2nd = Mike Flannery – 92 points
The full table is: here