John Saxby Competition: Week 23 – 19th September 2024

On a beautiful day for playing croquet, 16 members turned up to play the final scoring round of this years competition. Andy Jackson had been virtually top of the table all season, could he be toppled at the last minute? Well, unfortunately for Andy he could! Cas Sinclair who has been second pretty much for the whole competition pipped Andy to the post with a score of 89. Cas’s 3rd win of the year. Second was Robert Cutts-Watson with 80 points and third Sylvia Steer with 71. Well done Cas and commiserations to Andy.

Cas Sinclair – Winner Week 23 John Saxby

The top five of the table now looks like this:

PositionMemberScoreMovementWins
1Cas Sinclair619+13
2Andy Jackson606-13
3Robert Cutts-Watson585=2
4Liz Webb554+22
5Kay Martin524= 
John Saxby – Final Top Five

The final table can be found here

Bowdon Angels host Bury in CNW B-Advanced League, 22nd Sept

Bowdon Angels play their final match of the season against Bury in the Croquet North west B-Advanced League on Sunday 22nd September. Currently the Angels, with 6 points, lie in third place behind second placed Crake Lakes, who have played all their matches, and also have 6 points but a better net games score than the Angels. Topping the table is Chester who have played all their matches and have 8 points. So the Angels can catch Chester on 8 points, but Chester have the better net games score, 9 versus the Angels’ 6. This means that Bowdon need to win by 5-0 to win the league. If the Angels won by 4-1 then they would be equal with Chester on match points and game scores, so the result of their match against Chester would be the deciding factor and Chester won that so Chester would win the league.

A very big ask! But the Angels are putting out an experienced team of gnarly warriors, as below;

Bowdon Bullets win 2nd place in the CNW Short League, 17th Sept

The Bowdon Bullets were locked in a 3-way tie at the top of the CNW Short league this season. They won this, their final, match 11 -5 against Chester to leap above Westmorland and claim second place. The match did not start well for the Bullets, when they lost 3 out of 4 games in the first round. They showed their battling qualities by winning 10 of the remaining 12 games. They finished second in the league to the Bowdon Blanks by the narrowest of margins. Both our Short teams ended the season with 12 points, and had to be separated by net games’ scores. The Bullets had a net games’ score of 71 -57 whilst the Blanks had 75-46 to be declared champions. Amazing success for both teams and their squads of Short players. You have done Bowdon CC proud!

The Bullets had a strong team, as below:

Chester’s team was; Helen Brophy 3, Sally Slater 4, Jayne Taylor 5 and Sarah Clements 7.

Cas beat Helen 14-2, Sarah 14-3 and Jayne 11-8, but lost to Sally 3-14

Liz beat Sarah 14-4, Sally 9-8 and Helen 7-6, but lost to Jayne 9-10

Charles beat Jayne 8-6, Helen 14-3 and Sally 14-9, but lost to Sarah 7-14

Garth beat Helen 7-6 and Jayne 10-9, but lost to Sally 6-14 and Sarah 6-14

Bowdon Blanks are CHAMPIONS of CNW Short League, 14th Sept

Bowdon Blanks won their final match at Chester to become champions of the Croquet North West Short Croquet League, with their second match in 2 days. The final score was 11- 5 to the Blanks, which took them away from Westmorland, who were in second place at the start of the day. Bowdon Blanks are a new team in this their debut season, so congratulations are due to the team on the day and all those squad members who have played in the matches. Very well done Bowdon Blanks. Bowdon CC is proud of you.

Read the report on the Bullets’ last match to see how narrow was the margin by which Blanks won the title.

The Blanks fielded a strong team, as below:

Chester’s team was; Derek Bell-Jones 2.5, Andy Wilson-Chalon 3, Sally Slater 4 and Jayne Taylor 5

Nigel beat Sally 14-9, Derek 10-7 and Andy 10-8, but lost to Jayne 9-14

Alan beat Jayne 10-7, Andy 14-5 and Derek 14-4, but lost to Sally 8-14

Charles beat Andy 14-7 and Jayne 9-8, but lost to Derek 7-11 and Sally 9-14

Kay beat Andy 14-7, Derek 8-7 and Jayne 14-9, buy lost to Sally 3-14

‘Golf Holiday’ at Bowdon 8th-10th Sept

18 golf croquet players enjoyed a three day holiday at Bowdon. They were from Brodsworth Hall near Doncaster, Mumbles in South Wales, Wrest Park in Bedfordshire, and Bowdon. Alan Mayne prepared the lawns and organised the games. Kay Martin provided the food. Margaret Moss organised the holiday and entertainment. Players told each other surprising things about themselves, and their desires for the future – including doing better jump shots! They invented characters for novels they could write. Cas was in charge of the quiz. Kath Wright of Mumbles asked people to detect the flavours of potato crisps, which turned out to be quite difficult. The holiday was a very happy occasion, with lots of croquet games, good food and fun. Come next year.

Thanks to Margaret Moss for providing photos below, and the above account of the fun experience that was enjoyed by all.

Bowdon Blanks beat Southport in CNW Short League, 13th Sept

Bowdon Blanks are bidding to win the Croquet North West Short Croquet League. They won their penultimate match at home against Southport, 10 – 6, on Friday 13th September. Their last match of the season will be on 14th September, after which we will know how if they achieve being Champions. Well done Blanks.

Congratulations are due to Brian Storey, for his performance in winning all 4 of his games.

Fortunately the Blanks fielded a strong team, as below:

The Southport team was; Barbara Haslam 0.5, Bill Nichol 1.5, Brian Lewis 2.5 and Gail Moors 3.5

Nigel beat Brian 14-3, Gail 14-7 and Bill 14-10, but lost to Barbara 0-14

Brian beat Gail 11-9, Brian 14-6, Barbara 14-5 and Bill 14-12

Carol beat Bill 10-9, and lost to Barbara 8-9, Gail 11-14 and Brian 3-14

Robert beat Brian 14-9 and Gail 14-6, but lost to Bill 9-14 and Barbara 8-11

Bowdon win at Chester to be CNW LPGC CHAMPIONS, 11th Sept

The Bowdon Bombers have won the Croquet North West Level Play Golf Croquet League. They won against the Chester Centurions, the only team that could possibly have overtaken them. The match was curtailed by horrendous weather, culminating in a hailstorm and prolonged heavy rain, rendering the lawns unplayable. Because at least half the games were completed the result was declared valid, with Bowdon having a 7 – 2 lead. Well done the team on the day, and all the squad members who have contributed to this success over the season. You have done Bowdon proud.

The team that concluded an excellent season for the Bombers was:

The game results that were completed are shown below, courtesy of the Croquet Scores website.

Bowdon Bullets host Chester in CNW Short League, 17th Sept

The Bullets are locked in a 3-way tie at the top of the CNW Short league this season. This is their final match so it is all to play for. Currently Westmorland are above them on the net games score, with Westmorland on 17 and the Bullets on 12, which gives Westmorland an advantage. The Bullets need a big win! Spectators will be very welcome, but may need to take sedatives before watching this high-stakes match.

The Bullets have a strong team, as below:

We wish them good luck and fine weather.

John Saxby Competition: Week 22 – 12th September 2024

Nine players arrived at the club all intent on winning a Mars bar. In the end John Lucas prevailed, with a score of 84. Brian Storey came second with 65 points, and Andy Jackson was third with 63.

Andy Jackson remains in first place, with Cas a close second place. Don’t forget that next week is the final opportunity to record a score. A good win from Cas might be enough to steal the overall win from Andy Jackson. Nail biting stuff!!

The top five looks like this:

PosNameScoreMovementWins
1Andy Jackson606=3
2Cas Sinclair596=2
3Robert Cutts-Watson572=2
4Mike Steer524=3
5Kay Martin523=
John Saxby – Top Five

The full table isn’t available at the moment, but will be arriving here soon, in the meantime you can find last weeks table here.

Bowdon Blanks at Chester in CNW Short League, 14th Sept

Bowdon Blanks are bidding to win the Croquet North West Short Croquet League with their second match in 2 days. Their final match is at Chester on Saturday 14th September. They currently (10th Sept) lie in third place, with 8 points. Just 2 points above them are our own Bullets and Westmorland, but the Blanks have a game in hand over both, so can draw level with them if they win on Friday. Then it could be all to play for on Saturday with the top 3 teams on 10 points each and having their final match to play. An incredibly exciting finish is in prospect for the Short League this year with both our teams involved.

Fortunately the Blanks are fielding a strong team, as below:

We wish them good luck and fine weather.