Match Report
Wed 6 JUl 2011 - SWF Golf Croquet League
Cornwall Rosevear v Dowlish Wake at Dowlish Wake
Cornwall’s Golf Croquet team visited Dowlish Wake on Wednesday July 6th 2011, hoping to improve on what has so far been a rather poor season.
The team were Ron George (handicap 5), Pam George (9), Barry Edwards (10), David Edwards (4), Des Honey (3), Liz Honey (10), Margaret Read (9), Stephen Read (3).
In a friendly & pleasantly informal atmosphere, we omitted to record our opponents’ surnames! Their handicaps were mostly in the 8-10 range, with one player on 7. This meant that it was hard going for our 3,4 & 5 players, giving away numerous free turns.
Dowlish Wake is pretty village just south of Ilminster, with a population of just under 300. Nevertheless, it has a flourishing Golf Croquet club with 3 lawns, sited on part of the general sports field, and on cricket days, being part of the outfield. The lawns are distinctively different, being not only on a very noticeable slope, but also undulating, and containing a number of deep rabbit scrapes in which a small player might just get lost.
The morning started well for Cornwall with a doubles win for the Edwards’s. Barry Edwards continued in fine form through the day, winning all her 3 singles games, and bringing her handicap down to 9. The morning’s play continued with the balance at lunchtime being in favour of Cornwall +2.
Rain was confidently forecast for later in the afternoon, but although there was a brisk wind, it held off until the journey home. Going into the last four games, Dowlish Wake needed to win them all to square the match, but Cornwall held off the challenge to win 11 games to eight with one game drawn.
This was only their second win of the season, ironically on lawns where local knowledge should have been a major advantage.
Final Score: Cornwall 11.5
