Tom Griffin wins the 2021 GC level play competition

On a pleasant spring morning (Saturday, 26th March 2022), Tom and I finally managed to play the final of the 2021 GC level play knockout competition.

The games were closely fought, but Tom won the match two games to nil, 7-5, 7-4. I could tell that I was going to have trouble when Tom did a very clean jump shot at hoop 5, getting more than half way to the next hoop, and later on, he did a double-bounce jump. That is the sort of thing I only expect to see in World Final matches.

When I congratulated Tom on his win, he said that he felt that he had nothing to lose, so he ‘just went for it’. That was clearly the right strategy on the day.

Lawns to re-open

I have heard from Cordy that, weather permitting, we will be able to play croquet again from Monday 1st November.

During the winter, there is always the possibility of damaging the ground when it wet and soft. It is the soil that matters, rather than the grass being wet. Please check that you are not likely to damage the lawn before you play.

Jump shots are very likely to damage the lawn when the ground is wet and soft, so please don’t do them if you are in any doubt about this.

Peter Allan

Autumn maintenance delayed

The autumn maintenance that was originally going to start on 11th October for a week has been put back until 21st October. Consequently will can still play up to 20th October – unless the date changes again.

Lawn maintenance 2021

The lawns will be out of action for the week starting 11 October 2021. This is for the regular autumn maintenance. Hopefully they will be back for play the following week, but it can depend on the weather.

A fun day for all

On Saturday 18th September about 19 club members gathered for a “fun day” of croquet. Mary Elizabeth had organised the day and Peter Allan arranged the matches. The basic idea was to team experienced players up with less experienced partners. With a few people not playing for all of the day, this needed some judicious tweaking of team membership during the day.

The weather was perfect for croquet, warm, but not too hot. Before lunch we had two rounds of 13-point games (first to score 7 hoops) of GC doubles, with double banking on each lawn. After lunch, we switched to 7-point games (first to score 4 hoops) in order to play more rounds in the time available.

The team that won the most games was Tom Griffin, playing with Patsy Jones in the morning, and with Mary Hewlett in the afternoon. In fact they won all of their games, so congratulations for such a solid win.

Plenty of people said how much they had enjoyed the day, so we can regard that as a success.

Harwell/Eynsham beat East Dorset to reach semi-final of the Longman Cup

Noel Harris (Eynsham) writes:

On 29th August, a cold summers day, barely warmed by the sun, Harwell/Eynsham played East Dorset in the Longman cup. Harwell/Eynsham beat East Dorset 4-3.

Full match details. The Harwell/Eynsham players are listed first.

Morning Doubles
Noel Harris (8) & Kevin Colton(14) beat David Williams(3.5) & Alan Jones (7), 13-12 (+1 t)

Morning Singles
Tom Griffin (14) beat John Pollard (7), 26-8 (+18)
Nick Goodwin (14) lost to John Speigal (7), 20-22 (-2 t)

Afternoon Singles
Noel Harris (8) beat David Williams (3.5), 26-3 (+23)
Tom Griffin (14) beat John Speigal (7), 26-2 (+24)
Kevin Colton (14) lost to Alan Jones (7), 10-16 (+6 t)
Nick Goodwin (14) lost to John Pollard (7), 16-23(-7 t)

The critical game was the morning doubles, where we won by narrowest of margins – 13-12, but only by finishing with a peel and hoop after time was called.

As a result of this win, the Harwell/Eynsham team has qualified for the semi-final of the Longman Cup, which will be held at Surbiton on 2nd October, with the final on 3rd October.

Harwell beat Ryde in the GC doubles-only league

On a sunny Friday 23rd July, our intrepid team of Mary Elizabeth Shewry (captain), Peter Allan, Pat Knights, and Roy Platon, took the ferry to the Isle of Wight to do battle with Ryde in the SCF GC doubles-only league. It took us a while to get use to the slower lawns at Ryde, but we emerged victorious with a 5-3 win.

The club has a raised patio area from where one gets a good view of the action on all four of their lawns. It was a nice place to relax after the match over a cup of tea and some tasty cake.

Harwell beat Blewbury in GC handicap league

On Wednesday, 21st June, Harwell played against Blewbury in the SCF GC handicap league. Our team consisted of Mary Elizabeth Shewry (captain), Peter Allan, Roy Platon, and Sarah Roycroft. The format was that each player had one game against each player from the opposing team. The games were played using the ‘advantage’ handicap system. After the first three rounds, we had a commanding lead, only needing one win to clinch the match. In the end, we won by 12-4.

Eynsham/Harwell team win second round Longman Cup match

On Sunday, 18th July, the combined Eynsham and Harwell AC team beat Swindon in the Longman Cup. The match was played at Swindon, which has three lawns. Our team consisted of Tom Griffin, Kevin Colton, Hugh Manson, and Noel Harris. We had a convincing win with a 5-2 score.

This takes us into the quarter finals, where we will meet East Dorset.