Archive 2015

Archived Results, Events and News page for 2015 Season

 2015 Annual General Meeting

Notice is hereby given that the 2015 Annual General Meeting is scheduled to be held on Saturday 31st October 2015 at the Club House commencing at 11am.
Proposals by Full Members consistent with the Club Constitution for consideration at the AGM should be delivered to the Secretary by the 19th September 2015. T.D. Sparks  Club Secretary


The Golf Croquet B-Level Series National Final  10th and 11th October was won by Ian Shore
Full report is here  and Results Table here with Croquet Association report here

The KENDAL CUP Saturday 26th September 2015

On a lovely sunny day twelve members with handicaps between 2 and 12 met to contest the KENDAL CUP. This year’s format was level play with two blocks of six players being selected not by the usual method of top and tailing but by the players selecting playing cards to decide the blocks.   A time limit of 60 minutes was imposed, but if required at the end of the allotted time eight extra shots were available.
This selection process proved interesting with the blocks as follows.
Block 1.    Moria Allen 12, Pauline Donner 5, Roy Donner 5, Pat Ballie 8, Pat Dawson 7, David Boxell 7.
Block 2.    Sue Debenham 12, Christine Thirtle-Watts 9, Terrey Sparks 2, Chris Ward 5, David Thirtle-Watts 2, Janet Kendal 12.
After five rounds of competitive croquet they all retired for tea and cake (baked by Pam Bishop).  The manager was now able to confirm that the final would be contested between Pauline Donner and Chris Ward who both managed a maximum of five wins in their respective blocks.
At the end of a well contested final Pauline managed to overcome Chris with a score of 7 -5
Janet Kendal (picture above) presented the trophy to a very happy Pauline for the second year

A Double Triumph for Hunstanton
Both the (AC) & (GC) teams were successful over the week-end of 3rd/4th October winning, both  Handicap  EACF leagues for 2015 only the second time this has been achieved by a club in the history of both tournaments.
On Saturday the AC team comprising of Bryan Saddington, Charles Oster, David Haslam & Peter Brown triumphed after a very close game against the Enfield and Newport teams played at the Newport Club. Whilst on Sunday The GC team comprising of Pauline Donner, Charles Ostler, Roy Donner and Ruth Cole managed to win over Enfield in a very close and exciting tussle at the Wrest Park venue.
Full reports can be found on the EACF web-site by clicking on the links.
Association League,
Golf croquet league

Carpenter Cup GC High Handicap Singles – 10th September
Six entrants competed for this year’s Carpenter which was played using the Round Robin basis in which each player played each other in a 1 hour timed Handicap game.
David Etheridge last year’s winner set the pace by also beating the previous year’s runner up Janet Carpenter in the opening round and continued in fine form seeing off all the others until the last round when he succumbed eventually to his wife Ros 7/6 in a tight game. However, this was not enough to topple him from the leading position and prevent a handicap reduction from 11 to 10.
At the end of play two players finished the day on 4 wins being David and Janet. However, using the Who beat Whom formula as David and beaten Janet he was declared the winner.
After the formalities all parties settled down to enjoy a welcome cup of tea accompanied by a Victoria Sponge provided by Pam Bishop.
1.  David Etheridge 4/5 wins,  2.  Janet Carpenter  4/5,  3.  Sue Debenham  3/5,  4.  Dennis Johnson 2/5,  5.  Ros Etheridge 2/5,  6.  Moira Allen  0/5

116th Annual Tournament – 29th August – 1st September.

Charles Ostler (D Block), Peter Whiting (E Block),  (B Block Cup) Bryan Saddington (absent), Nick Harris (A Block) & Malcolm O’Connell (C Block)
Despite the adverse wet weather on the Sunday & Monday 21 entrants made the best of things and the tournament ably managed again by Martin Kolbuszewski for the 23rd year was still played in the competitive and friendly spirit which has become its trademark. As usual a large party visited the Silk Road Chinese Restaurant to prepare themselves for the final day of play.
In contrast to the previous two days the weather on the Tuesday was almost tropical and brought the tournament to its final & exciting conclusion particularly in the A block which ended into a four way tie between Nick Harris, Duncan Hector, David Tutt and Philip Eardley. This turned out to be a hoop shoot-out where each player had 10 shots in which Nick proved triumphant.
As usual the tournament was split into 5 groups of level & handicap play and the winners were as follows:
Group A:  (Norfolk Challenge Cup):               Nick Harris  – Norwich/Hunstanton.
Group B:  (Hunstanton Challenge Bowl):      Bryan Saddington –  Hunstanton.
Group C:  (The Silver Bowl):                         Malcolm O’Connell – Hunstanton.
Group D: (The Purdy Lee Trophy):                Charles Ostler – Hunstanton/Pinchbeck
Group E: (Hunstanton Challenge Cup):          Peter Whiting – Bygrave.
(R/U The Rothwell Trophy):                          Neil Chalmers – Norwich/Hunstanton

Annual Lunch
PLEASE NOTE that the venue of the Annual Lunch originally scheduled to be held at ‘The Le Strange Hotel’ on 14th October has been changed to ‘Caley Hall’ at a cost of £17 per person.
Details of the menu and times will be posted on the club notice board shortly.
Terrey Sparks    Secretary

GC Club Doubles Level Championship  –  22nd August
Twelve club members entered this year’s tournament staged on Saturday 22nd August under a blazing hot sun. Split into 6 pairings of equal handicaps the event was played on a round robin basis were each pair played the other in timed games limited to one hour plus 8 extra turns. Play was keen and competitive and despite the time limit 75% of games completely finished with-in time.
At the completion of the programme the Manager Terrey Sparks had a problem in that 4 of the pairs had all managed to finish on 3 wins each. As he was unable to determine a winner by using the ‘whom beat who’ formula he had to turn to net hoops scored and declared that the pairing of David Thirtle-Watts and Moira Allen were the overall winners.
1st:   David Thirtle-Watts/Moira Allen  +9, 2nd:  Myfanwy Dunford/David Etheridge +4, 3rd:  Ruth Cole/Christine Thirtle-Watts -1  4th:  David Boxell/Ros Etheridge  -2

Golf Croquet Invitation Week-End  – 8th/9th August 2015   
16 entrants from 6 clubs partook in this year’s Invitation GC Singles which Saturday was played under a scotching hot and windless day. Split into two equal groups based on handicaps the lower played level and the higher handicap.
Saturday        Level Play:
Split into two groups of four, each played each other on a round robin basis back to back giving a total of 6 games. The top two winners of each block comprising of Les Heard, Charles Ostler, Chrs Ward & David Thirtle-Watts proceeded into a semi-final in which Charles unexpectedly saw off Les in a close game 7/6, whilst David had a more comfortable win over Chris 7/4. This meant that David met Charles in a final round play-off. Despite a valiant effort Charles was not able to match David’s aggressive play and succumbed by a score of 7/4.
Handicap:
Played on the same basis as the level play group the two top players of each group turned out to be Roy Donner, David Boxell, Ruth Cole & Maureen Croft who all proceeded through to the semi-final rounds in which Roy overcame Ruth quite easily by a score of 7/1. Whilst in the other game David had a more difficult time against Maureen eventually running out the winner 7/5. The final between Roy and David proved to be a most exiting affair going to the 13th hoop. Despite lodging a ball squarely in the hoop Roy looked home and dry. However, David produced a superb angled jump shot to win the event in grand style.
Sunday
20 entrants split into 10 pairings competed for the Doubles event which, were further divided into two equal groups of 5. Sunday proved to be a more pleasant day weather wise and the temperature being quite temperate not reaching the heights of the previous day. 5 games each were played using the cross block format and with the winners of each block proceeding into a final round. In Block ‘A’ this turned out to be Anne Dennis & Pat Dawson on 3 wins. In Block ‘B’ Terrey Sparks and Ruth Cole ran out the winners winning all their 5 games. In the Final Terrey & Ruth continued their inform and never really gave Anne and Pat any chances running out the overall winners 7/2.



and these were the scorers concentrating for the Saturday final.

Green Shutters Doubles Handicap Tournament – 6th August 2015
16 club members varying between handicap of 2 and 12 formed into 8 pairing by top and toeing. As the games were not doubled banked the Manager did not think it necessary to impose time limits however, this did not stop the tournament becoming a marathon event as players approached the games with caution and much discussion about tactics.
Played in glorious sunshine and split into two groups to determine their order in a play-off, the quarter – finals reduced the pairings to 4 who met in semi-finals between David Boxell & Ros Etheridge against Myfanwy Dunford & June Critcher which was won 7/4 by David & Ros. The other game between Noelene Wood-Davis & Christine Thirtle-Watts and Pat Baillie & Su Debenham resulted in a win for Noelene and Christine 7/2.
The resulting final proved to be a very close affair which David & Ros managed to win by running the 13th hoop.

“GREEN SHUTTERS SINGLES HANDICAP COMPETITION – 9 July 2015
This year’s competition was blessed with glorious sunshine.  There were eight entrants with handicaps ranging from 5-10.  Two of the players entered this competition for the first time.  The eight players enjoyed three rounds of play in their own block and two rounds of counter block play.  This produced an interesting result with: June Critcher (HC 10) winning all five of her block games; Ruth Cole (HC 9) and Pat Dawson (HC 8) won 4 games each; and Chris Ward (HC 5) won 3 games.  These four contested the semi-finals.  Pat Dawson won the first semi-final beating June Critcher 7-5.  The second semi-final was won by Chris Ward beating Ruth Cole 7-5.  The final was won by Pat Dawson beating Chris Ward 7-1.   As a previous winner in 2010 Pat Baillie was asked to present the salver to Pat Dawson, who had previously won in 2008 making her the first person to win this competition twice.  Very well done!  We look forward to a larger entry next year.       David Boxell, Competition Manager”  For a full list of scores click here


All England (GC) ‘B’ Level Qualifier – Saturday 4th July
Played on one of the hottest days of the year 18 competitors from far and wild battled the heat and humid conditions by consuming copious amounts of beer, soft Drinks and water to fend off the effects of hydration.
Split into 3 blocks of 6 in which all play all the three block winners plus the best runner up:
Group A:       David Widdison   –  Bishop Monkton
Group B:       Peter Dowd  –  Northampton
Group C:       Roger Goldring  –  Phyllis Court
Best R/U:      Terrey Sparks  –   Hunstanton
All qualified to the knock-out stage of the semi-finals and the final round. David managed to overcome Terrey in a very tense and exciting game, while Peter quite easily saw of Roger to also reach the final.
The Final between Peter Dowd and David Widdison proved to be a very tight gripping affair in which Peter just managed to scrape through on the golden hoop and therefore, qualifies to return to Hunstanton in the National Final on 10th & 11th October.

Hunstanton v Letchworth  (GC Interclub 30th June 2015)
On the hottest day of the year so far, Letchworth narrowly defeated Hunstanton 4.5 – 2.5 in the second round of this year’s GC Interclub Championship.
Things didn’t start well for Hunstanton with Letchworth taking an early 3-0 lead, but rallied after lunch only to be defeated with a match still in the balance.
Results were (EACF handicaps indicated):
Nick Mounfield (-3, Letchworth) & Duncan Hector (-1, Letchworth) beat Jeff Race (-1, Hunstanton) and David Thirtle-Watts (2, Hunstanton) 7-3, 7-3
John Noble (1, Letchworth) beat Terrey Sparks (2, Hunstanton) 4-7, 7-5, 7-5
David Tutt (1, Letchworth) beat Peter Brown (5, Hunstanton) 7-5, 7-5
Nick beat Jeff 7-4, 7-0
Terrey beat David 7-5, 7-5
Peter beat John 6-7, 7-5, 7-4
David v Duncan unfinished 2-7, 7-6

GC) Level Play Club Championship

For the second year on the trot the Club’s (GC) Level Play Tournament was won by Jeff Race which was staged on Saturday 20th June and managed by Terrey Sparks.
The twelve entrants were split into two groups of six who each played each other to determine who would proceed to the knock-out stage of the Semi-Final and Final round. For Group ‘A’ this turned out to be Bryan Saddington and Jeff Race on four wins each. Whilst in Group ‘B’ this was undefeated Chris Ward on five wins followed by David Thirtle-Watts on four wins. The first Semi-Final comprising of 19 points games between Bryan and David finished with Bryan the winner by 10 – 6 whilst the other game between Chris and Jeff, also finished, 10 – 6 in Jeff’s favour.
The final between Bryan and Jeff proved a game to far for Bryan who ran out of steam and was unable to repeat the winning form that saw he triumph against Jeff in the earlier round and was defeated by 10 – 3.
A competitive day of croquet played in a very competitive spirit. Special mention must go to Chis Ward for winning all his group games and Bryan Saddington who managed to reach the final only suffering one loss on the way.

 Hunstanton Over 50’s (AC Tournament).  (Jane Neville-Rolph Salver).
A full entry of 20 participants partook in the ‘Over 50’s Tournament’ held over the week-end of 12th-14th June in which the weather could be said was not that kind. However, despite the adverse conditions of northerly winds, constant drizzle and low overcast clouds play prevailed in that frame of mind that seems all croquet players have.
Using the Hands-Irwin Egyptian format the Manager Terrey Sparks ensured all the players completed their schedule of games which was done under a determined and happy spirit.
The overall winner was John Bowcott (Hurlingham) closely followed by Chris Rolph (Southwick) and Bob Thompson of (Nottingham) in third place all earning handicap reductions for the efforts.
Special mention goes to Chris Rolph playing in his first tournament and qualifying for his C.A. Bronze award.
Excellent catering was provided by Pat Baillie and Samantha Race on the Saturday and Jim and Veronica Welham on the Friday and Monday.

Ken Wheeler Shield – 6th June, for report click here.

Robert Prichard Week-end        (2nd – 4th May)
George Noble won the ‘Lord Fermoy Cup’  (The Prichard week-end) when he beat Duncan Reeve +19 on Monday afternoon in what could be classed as ‘the final’. George and Duncan only suffered one defeat each in the first 2 ½ days of the tournament. Duncan lost to Jon Watson in reaching 9/10 wins and George lost to Alisa reaching 6/7 wins with both players recording wins against Keith Aiton and the previous winner for the last two years Mark Avery.
The weather was mainly good with rain only on the Sunday Morning whilst, the food and lawns were expertly prepared by the catering staff and grounds man Jeff Race.
It was planned that the Club President George Noble was going to present the trophy which by winning scuppered the best laid plans. However, fortunately previous Club Chairman John Reeve  (1994-97) was in attendance and was able to do the honours.

Inter-Club – Hunstanton beat Watford 5-1  
Hunstanton started their Inter-Club campaign off with a win away to Watford.
Play commenced with Jeff Race & David Thirtle-Watts matched against Nick Archer & Jason Carley in the doubles, the Hunstanton pair overcame their opponents winning in three games.
The two morning singles were contested between Steve Dennis & Peter Brown and John Smallbone & Terrey Sparks.  These matches resulted in a win for each team.
The afternoon session of four singles commenced with the scores standing at Watford 1 Hunstanton 2.
At the end of play Hunstanton finished with wins for Jeff Race, Terrey Sparks and Peter Brown, with David Thirtle-Watts’ match not completed as this result could not affect the final result.
The final match score finished Hunstanton 5 – Watford 1.
Hunstanton will go on to play Letchworth in the next round, on a date and at a venue to be decided.
Results
(Hunstanton names first)
Jeff Race (1) (EACF-1) & David Thirtle-Watts (3) (EACF2) beat Nick Archer (0) (EACF-2) & Jason Carley (1) (EACF-1) 7/2 4/7 7/6
Peter Brown (6) lost to Steve Dennis (2) (EACF1) 6/7 6/7
Terrey Sparks (3) beat John Smallbone (3) 7/6 7/2
Jeff Race (1/-1) beat Nick Archer (0/-2) 7/5 7/5
David Thirtle-Watts (3/2) Drew with Jason Carley (1/-1) 6/7 7/5
Terrey Sparks (3) beat Steve Dennis (2/1) 6/7 7/4 7/6
Peter Brown (6) beat John Smallbone (3) 7/6 6/7 7/5

Murphy Shield    Hunstanton beat Watford 4-2  
Hunstanton started their Murphy Shield campaign off with a win over visitors Watford.
The Watford team arrived in Sunny Hunny after their three hour journey, only to find the Sunny part was not available as we were subjected to cold easterly winds for the duration of the day.
Play commenced with David Thirtle-Watts and Terrey Sparks matched against Ian Parkinson and Arthur Reed in the doubles, this duel played out in the first game for just over two hours with a 6/7 win to the visitors.
During the time being taken to complete the doubles first game, both singles matches were completed with wins for Tony Lee over Ron Drew and Peter Brown against Alan Clark.  At lunch Hunstanton held a two match lead with the doubles to be completed if necessary.
The afternoon session of four singles finished with home wins for Terry Sparks and Peter Brown.   Watford’s Ian Parkinson and Alan Clark finished the day with wins for the visitors.
With the match scores standing at Hunstanton 4 – Watford 2 it was agreed not to complete the doubles match.
Hunstanton will go on to play Enfield, who got a bye into the next round, on a date and at a venue to be decided.
Results – (Hunstanton names first)
David Thirtle-Watts (3) (EACF2) & Terry Sparks (3) * Ian Parkinson (2) (EACF1) & Arthur Reed (3) *(match unfinished at 6/7)
Tony Lee (4) beat Ron Drew (6) 7/6 7/6
Peter Brown (7) beat Alan Clark (6) 7/4 7/3
David Thirtle-Watts (3/2) lost to Ian Parkinson (2/1) 6/7 6/7
Terrey Sparks (3) beat Arthur Reed (3) 7/5 7/4
Tony Lee (4) lost to Alan Clark (6) 3/7 5/7
Peter Brown (7) beat Ron Drew (6) 7/6 7/5

George Noble wins the Robert Prichard weekend, report to follow.

E.A.C.F.  (AC)  Club Champions Tournament
Sunday 26th April saw the Clubs first event of the year when the E.A.C.F. staged their first outdoors tournament the (AC) Club Champions Tournament. Played under a spring sun the tournament attracted 16 players from 8 of the regions clubs. The tournament was organised into three groups of players Advanced, ‘B ’Level Advanced and Handicap. The first two groups consisting of 4 players played as a round robin whilst the handicap group was made up of 8 players which played as a knock out with a consolation event for those players knocked out in the first two rounds.
The Advanced Group was won by Duncan Hector (Bygrave) with Jeff Race (Hunstanton) the runner up. The winner of the ‘B’ level Advance Group was John Smallbone (Watford) with Dan Neale (Histon & Impington) runner up, whilst the Handicap Group winner was won by Nick Archer (Watford) with Ann Brookes (Colchester) the runner up. Peter Brown (Hunstanton) was the winner of the consolation event.
For a full report and photographs of the day please click into the E.A.C.F. link.


Donald Cornelius, a well known local and international croquet player  has died, please see link here.