Tournament Report
GOLF CROQUET CLUB HANDICAP SINGLES – Sat 10 and Sun 11 Sep 2011
This tournament, magnificently organised and run by Ron George, was played over the weekend of September 10th & 11th. The large entry of 24 was split into two blocks, each person playing 8 games, best of 13 hoops, with the final between the block winners. Due to the numbers playing, Lawn 3 was brought into competitive use for the first time. While slow and rather bumpy compared with 1 & 2, it played well considering that it is early in its development. The weather forecast was fairly dire, but in fact, although very windy, it remained dry.
In Block 1, the luck of the draw resulted in the Chairman playing, and getting, the first competed hoop on lawn 3. Block 1 players had 5 games on Saturday, 3 on Sunday. Block 2 played 4 on each day. As the block games neared their conclusion, Kathleen Moorshead in Block 2 had a perfect set of wins, but needed to beat Elizabeth Schofield, a previous winner also very much in contention, in her final game to reach the final. A tense and carefully played game finally resulted in a 5-4 win for Kathleen. In Block 1, Peter Dexter was playing consistently well, and demonstrating his ability to make reliable jump shots. However, he lost to David Edwards in a good and quite rapid-fire game, but won the block by a half point from Edwards.
In the final, Kathleen had the advantage of 5 free turns, and using them well in the early game, forged into what appeared to be a commanding lead. However, Peter, not deterred by this, came back in style, leveling the game by hoop 10. Kathleen was by this time out of free turns, and hoop 11 looked to be Peter’s with a ball in a commanding position. However, Kathleen with an inspired angled shot from the boundary, ran the hoop – 6-5 to her. Peter got a good position on 12, and Kathleen missed her attempted clearance with her first shot. Her 2nd was wired by the peg, so 6-all, and golden hoop. No ball was wired by hoop 12, and Kathleen played first with her blue, getting a good position. Peter’s two attempts to clear her failed, and Kathleen ran the hoop with blue, to deservedly win the game and the tournament. Howard presented the trophy, and the usual excellent tea was enjoyed by all.
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| Lawn 3 in use for the first time | |
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| Kathleen Moorshead lines up for the golden hoop shot which will win her the tournament |
Watched by an attentive audience! |