Nailsea Croquet Club.

Rain interrupts Nailsea Croquet Club’s advanced play tournament.

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THIRTEEN players from Nottingham, Norfolk, Ipswich, Cornwall, Devon, Cheltenham and Bristol arrived at Nailsea Croquet Club and joined three Nailsea members for an advanced play tournament.

Play had to be abandoned on the Saturday after a downpour proved to be the final straw for the ground that was already saturated.

Players assembled soon after 8am next morning to try to catch up with the programme, but every lawn had at least one significant lake. It wasn’t until 11.30am that the sky finally cleared and play could begin with shorter time limits than originally planned.

By 2pm, the block play was complete. Andrew Wise (Bristol), Les Bowker (Cheltenham) and Martin Leach (Ipswich) won all their three matches. The other block had a three-way tie with Alwen Bowker (Cheltenham), Chris Donovan (Budleigh Salterton) and Jaimie Mussi (Cheltenham) all on two wins. Mussie snatched the fourth semi-finals place by virtue of a higher net points score.

The semi-finals had to be restricted to 2.5 hours. Mussi, whose handicap has dropped from 10 to 3.5 this year, beat Andrew Wise +13T. Martin Leach beat Les Bowker +16.

As Martin had to get back to Ipswich and Jaimie’s transport was leaving at 6pm, the final is going to be played at a later date.

Pat Long and Alwen Bowker won their matches in the competition arranged for block runners-up. Jonathan Toye (Downham) won the prize for the biggest upset when he claimed 17 index points from Robert Moss (Bear of Rodborough).

Andrew Wise had the fastest win of the weekend, beating Jonathan Toye +26 in one hour 26.5 minutes. Keith Apperley (Bear of Rodborough), playing in his first Advanced Tournament, stepped in to replace a late withdrawal. He deserves a mention for claiming second place in his block.

TWELVE players took part in Nailsea Croquet Club’s Wild Wednesday competition.

The winner was Richard Delmas with 93 points, Mary Barnes came second with 85, Jim Field third with 82 and Kathy Wallace came fourth with 81.

All four of Nailsea Croquet Club’s lawns were waterlogged and the two home fixtures scheduled for that day had to be postponed.

Nailsea field 12 teams in the five South West Federation Leagues (far more than any other club) and this is a good stage of the season to review each team’s progress.

In the Association Croquet Leagues, Nailsea 1sts are placed second in the Advanced League, with the second team fourth. In the Federation League, Nailsea North are second, while the Central team are also fourth.

In the Intermediate League, Nailsea Central are fifth and the Nailsea SE side are top. In the B League, Nailsea Central are equal second with Nailsea SE.

In the Golf Croquet League, Nailsea North are equal third and the Central side are top. Nailsea SE are equal first and Nailsea SW are fifth.

By Sunday, the water had drained away and the Nailsea Club was able to hold its singles golf croquet competition.

There were five competitors in the level play competition and they all played each other. Tony Hinchliffe (hcp 7) played exceptionally well, beating Jim Gregory (0), Peter Dyke (2) and Brian McCausland (3), but he lost to Brigit Clayton (9).

Peter Dyke beat everyone apart from Hinchliffe, so he also finished with three wins. Tony and Peter will play each other in the final in October.

There were 14 players for the handicap competition in the afternoon. Four rounds of a Swiss were played. Robin Hendry finished with four wins and Linda Shaw, Mary Barnes, Peter Dyke and Carl Jones each finished with three wins.

Linda will play Carl and Mary will play Peter and the two losers will play each other to determine which three players will join Robin in the semi-finals in September.

In the golf croquet doubles competition held recently, Mary Barnes and Sheila Ware won Block A with Pam and Robin Hendry coming second. Brian McCausland and Linda Shaw won Block B and Brian and Brenda Roynon came second.

These four pairs will contest the semi-finals in September.