St Mary's Road, Bowdon, Altrincham, Cheshire, WA14 2PL
This national Golf Croquet event under the auspices of Croquet England is Level Play, without handicap restrictions. Bowdon have been very successful in beating Chester in the first round, and High Wycombe in the second round. Our team is again a strong one, and will travel to Edgbaston for the match on Thursday 29th August.
Bowdon’s experienced team is:
We wish them good luck and fine weather.
Jack Good and Euan Burridge are playing in Croquet England’s Golf Croquet ‘Eights’ tournaments. The ‘Eights’ involve top players competing in groups of eight, according to ability. There are 3 groups of eight in the GC Eights and Jack and Euan are competing in the First Eight, at Budleigh Salterton over the weekend of 24th-26th August.
The First Eight (The Ricki Savage Memorial) is, in alphabetical order: Richard Bilton, Euan Burridge, Ian Burridge, Jack Good, Callum Johnson, Stephen Mulliner, Stuart M Smith and Aston Wade.
We wish them good luck and fine weather.
Bowdon lost, 1 -6, at Southport in the Longman Cup Semi Final on Tuesday 20th August. Our team have had a remarkable run in this national knock-out competition. They began with a win away at Ashby, followed by another long journey to win at Nottingham. The quarter final match against Wrest Park was their only home match, which they won. Yet another away match, this time the semi-final at Southport, ended their run of victories. Southport were always going to be very tough opponents. In their previous 3 rounds Southport had only conceded a total of 4 games. We are very proud of this team, who have shown what it is to compete in handicap play.
The Bowdon team was, with their handicaps, once again:
The Southport team, with their handicaps, was; David Venables 11, Peter Williams 11, Eddie Green 11 and Eileen Rossiter 18.
The game results were as follows, with Bowdon’s scores first:
Andrew and Cas lost to Peter and Eileen 12-18
Liz beat Eddie 18-11, and lost to Peter 6-19
Ed lost to David 3-26, and Eddie 5-21
Andrew lost to David 12-19
Cas lost to Eileen 12-16
This coming Bank Holiday Weekend, Saturday 24th to Monday 26th August, Bowdon CC plays host to the most prestigious tournament in our regular calendar. The championship trophy is the Faulkner Cup. The runner-up receives The Bowdon Cup. The winner of the Egyptian event receives the Tollemache Plate.
Photo below shows, from left; the Bowdon Cup, the Faulkner Cup and the Tollemache Plate.
The North of England Championship always provides croquet of the highest standard, and is recommended for spectators who will be very welcome. Games are generally played according to Advanced Croquet rules, although some competitors may choose to play games to Super Advanced rules. In 2023 Ian Lines was the champion, and this year will again be both managing and playing.
The players competing for the trophy are listed below, along with their Main Club where known.
Bowdon achieved a great win over Wrest Park, 5 – 2, in the Quarter Final of the Longman Cup, on 10th July. This remarkable team now play at Southport in the Semi Final on Tuesday 20th August. Southport had defeated Penrith in their Quarter Final. Andrew’s leadership supported by consistent selection, and some excellent handicap play, has proved to be very successful. Well done team.
The Longman Cup is a national AC Handicap knock-out competition for croquet clubs. This handicap competition requires an aggregate handicap of at least 24 and the lowest handicap to be greater than 3.
The Bowdon team is, once again:
We wish them the best of luck and fine weather.
What’s a Lummox? Or a Southport Leave?
Pendle & Craven Croquet Club hosted the Millennium Advanced AC tournament last weekend. Fourteen competitors, representing six of the clubs within the North West, were split into two classes to try to ensure as much competitive play as possible.
In the A Class, run as a Flexible Swiss, the Manager allowed games to run their course, without any time limits. With 8 competitors the aim was to complete at least 5 rounds. There were 6 entrants in the B class, playing an all play all block with 3 hour time limits.
Lee Hartley, from Fylde, triumphed in the A class, winning all 6 of his matches. The B class was a much closer affair with 4 players going into the final round of games able to win the trophy. The victor was Jim Allcock from Crake Valley, with 4 wins, including one over Phil Snowden, who also finished with 4 wins out of 5
It was good to see new faces participating in their first Advanced level tournament. Congratulations to Andrew Gould (Pendle), Phil Snowden (Fylde) and Ed Cheetham (Bowdon) who now appear in the World Rankings.
The weather was better than forecast, the lawns were playing well & the good spirited banter amongst the players was educational!
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, a Lummox is a clumsy, stupid person, perhaps a harsh comment to one who has just quit the lawn having made an error. And the Southport Leave is when the turn in which Hoop 1 is run, ends with the clip being placed on Hoop 2.
The trophies were presented by the Manager, Angharrad Walters in bright sunshine. Thanks were offered to Pendle & Craven Croquet Club for hosting the event, to RD Geotech for their sponsorship of the event, and to the competitors for their participation & good spirits. Full results are available on croquetscores.com.
Nigel Matthews and Brian Medley were team members playing for Croquet England against the Croquet Association of Ireland in the Vera McWeeney Trophy, Saturday and Sunday 20th 21st July. Below are the game scores, as taken from the Croquet Scores website. Croquet England won the Trophy by 14 games to 10. Nigel played well to win 1 of his 3 singles, and both of his doubles games with partner Alex Lake. In one of the doubles games Nigel completed a triple peel. Brian also had a good time, winning 2 of his 3 singles, with one triple peel, and won both doubles games with partner Deborah Marcus. Well done Croquet England team, and well done Nigel and Brian.
| CAI | vs | CqE |
|---|---|---|
| Sandy Greig | 22-21 | Brian Medley |
| Nathaniel Healy | 23-26 | Adrian Kirby |
| Brian Havill | 4-26 | Nigel Matthews |
| Daniel Bennett | 26-12 | Deborah Marcus |
| Dave McGrath | 26-12 | Alex Lake |
| Duncan Styles | 3-26 | Paul Hetherington |
| Greig & Styles | 13-26tp(NM) | Matthews & Lake |
| Healy & McGrath | 19-25 | Medley & Marcus |
| Havill & Bennett | 3-26 | Kirby & Hetherington |
| Sandy Greig | 26-2 | Adrian Kirby |
| Nathaniel Healy | 26-14 | Nigel Matthews |
| Brian Havill | 5-26 | Brian Medley |
| Daniel Bennett | 21-22 | Alex Lake |
| Dave McGrath | 8-26 | Paul Hetherington |
| Duncan Styles | 22-14 | Deborah Marcus |
| Greig & Styles | 26-1 | Kirby & Hetherington |
| Healy & McGrath | 21-26 | Matthews & Lake |
| Havill & Bennett | 11-24 | Medley & Marcus |
| Sandy Greig | 26tp-0 | Nigel Matthews |
| Nathaniel Healy | 0-26tp | Brian Medley |
| Brian Havill | 13-26 | Adrian Kirby |
| Daniel Bennett | 12-26 | Paul Hetherington |
| Dave McGrath | 26-4 | Deborah Marcus |
| Duncan Styles | 17-15 | Alex Lake |
| 10 | Games | 14 |
| 399 | Hoops | 452 |
Bowdon’s far-country member, David Maugham, won the Croquet England Seniors’ (over 50s) Championship, The Trevor Williams Cup, at Budleigh Salterton, 18th – 20th July. David won 7 of his 8 games, completing 6 triple peels. Well done David.
This Croquet England vs the Irish Croquet Association match is played each year to contest the McWeeney Trophy (a silver cigar box). The Ian Maugham Memorial Quaich will be presented to the man of the match, which is decided by the team captains. This year the match will be played at the Carrickmines Club over the weekend of 20th to 21st July.
We are proud that Nigel Matthews and Brian Medley have been selected for the England CqE team.
We wish them good luck and fine weather.
The Golf Croquet Home Internationals are being held at Nailsea on 20th and 21st of July. We are proud that 3 Bowdon Members are playing. Angharrad Walters has the honour to be Captain of the Welsh team, whilst Jack Good and Euan Burridge are representing England.
We wish them good luck and fine weather.