News in 2017
23 September - Ashby beat Letchworth 4-3 to win the CA GC Inter-Club Competition
Report by John Noble
Asbhy won the GC Inter-Club final beating Letchworth 4-3 on Saturday 23rd September. The match took place at a neutral venue - PETERBOROUGH Croquet Club – which is located equally convenient for both sets of finalists.
The match was close from beginning to end and at no point did the Ashby players, nor the numerous spectators, feel confident of the outcome. Indeed, each game was hard fought and much closer than one might have imagined from an examination of the teams on paper (net handicaps of -11 vs -4).
The morning session went to form giving Ashby a 2-1 lead at the lunch break. The afternoon, however, proved much tighter, with Letchworth winning two of the first three singles matches to finish, and so levelling the overall match at 3-3. This left Will Gee and Nick Mounfield still playing, level on one game all: one, final, 13-point game to settle the result.
This is the furthest Letchworth have ever got in this tournament. And, with notable away wins at Surbiton and Dulwich along the way it has been an excellent year for Letchworth and the closest we could have got to winning without actually lifting the Trophy.
Peterborough are a small but growing club with one dedicated lawn and two others (the better ones!) shared with a Bowls Club, all in pretty good condition and overlooked by a large, solid, club house. They provided great hospitality, a lovely lunch, and a good number of enthusiastic spectators keen to see how GC should be played... at least that’s what we were told, and who, I think, were secretly on our side: they seemed to me to cheer the Letchworth players louder.
Report by John Noble
Asbhy won the GC Inter-Club final beating Letchworth 4-3 on Saturday 23rd September. The match took place at a neutral venue - PETERBOROUGH Croquet Club – which is located equally convenient for both sets of finalists.
The match was close from beginning to end and at no point did the Ashby players, nor the numerous spectators, feel confident of the outcome. Indeed, each game was hard fought and much closer than one might have imagined from an examination of the teams on paper (net handicaps of -11 vs -4).
The morning session went to form giving Ashby a 2-1 lead at the lunch break. The afternoon, however, proved much tighter, with Letchworth winning two of the first three singles matches to finish, and so levelling the overall match at 3-3. This left Will Gee and Nick Mounfield still playing, level on one game all: one, final, 13-point game to settle the result.
This is the furthest Letchworth have ever got in this tournament. And, with notable away wins at Surbiton and Dulwich along the way it has been an excellent year for Letchworth and the closest we could have got to winning without actually lifting the Trophy.
Peterborough are a small but growing club with one dedicated lawn and two others (the better ones!) shared with a Bowls Club, all in pretty good condition and overlooked by a large, solid, club house. They provided great hospitality, a lovely lunch, and a good number of enthusiastic spectators keen to see how GC should be played... at least that’s what we were told, and who, I think, were secretly on our side: they seemed to me to cheer the Letchworth players louder.
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2017 Club Champions
Congratulations to all the competition winners Association Croquet Level Play Nick Mounfield Handicap David Clancey High Handicap Stuart Haggett Single Ball Nick Mounfield All England John Hall Golf Croquet Level Play Nick Mounfield Handicap Colin Gregory Ladies Sue Bathmaker Doubles Lynn & Graham Wood High Handicap Graham Wood Single Game Beryl Alabaster All England Ian Mantle Edward Martin Andrew Fall |
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Letchworth have reached the GC Interclub Final for the first time thanks to a hard-fought win away to Dulwich.
Letchworth beat Dulwich 4.5 - 2.5
by Nick Mounfield at Dulwich Croquet Club August 7th
Congratulations to team members Nick Mounfield, John Noble, John Skingsley and David Tutt who have played so successfully in this national tournament.
Letchworth will now play Ashby in the final.
Letchworth beat Dulwich 4.5 - 2.5
by Nick Mounfield at Dulwich Croquet Club August 7th
Congratulations to team members Nick Mounfield, John Noble, John Skingsley and David Tutt who have played so successfully in this national tournament.
Letchworth will now play Ashby in the final.
Nick Mounfield won the Letchworth advanced weekend
by Andrew Gregory at Letchworth
8th August
Letchworth advanced weekend, 5-6 August 2017
Nick Mounfield won the Letchworth advanced weekend, beating all the other 8 players. He also completed his first sextuple peel.
by Andrew Gregory at Letchworth
8th August
Letchworth advanced weekend, 5-6 August 2017
Nick Mounfield won the Letchworth advanced weekend, beating all the other 8 players. He also completed his first sextuple peel.
Summer Party 2017
Despite threats of rain and thunder which luckily did not appear, a very enjoyable summer lunch party was held in Andy Kennedy's garden. Everyone admired the flowers, fruit and vegetables. In fact several members were spotted leaving with armfuls of rhubarb.
Thank you Andy and to everyone for their delicious contributions to our lunch.
Special thanks to Jan and Sue Watson for all their hard work planning and organising the day.
Despite threats of rain and thunder which luckily did not appear, a very enjoyable summer lunch party was held in Andy Kennedy's garden. Everyone admired the flowers, fruit and vegetables. In fact several members were spotted leaving with armfuls of rhubarb.
Thank you Andy and to everyone for their delicious contributions to our lunch.
Special thanks to Jan and Sue Watson for all their hard work planning and organising the day.
Letchworth’s John NOBLE wins the Hunstanton GC Open Tournament
Sunday 2 July - John NOBLE beat Pete DOWD of Northampton to win the Hunstanton GC Open Tournament and retain the HAMPSON MEMORIAL SALVER.
John NOBLE dropped just one game, and that against our old friend Duncan HECTOR, to finish second in his block. He then made short work of Northampton’s Les HEARD, the winner of the other block, to book a place in the final. Meanwhile in the other semi-final, Duncan HECTOR playing on his new home ground - and playing better than ever - was fighting hard with the starting favourite, Pete DOWD, who just had the edge to win 7-6 some 45minutes after the other semi-final had finished. The final was an error-strewn game and very much a game of two halves. John NOBLE initially played poorly and quickly slipped to 1-5 down before an uncharacteristic error from Pete DOWD gave him a second chance at hoop 7. This completely changed the dynamic of the game, which then, equally quickly, progressed to 6-6 and a nail-biting final hoop. After an exchange of clearances John NOBLE emerged in control with two balls in position, next to play 6” in front of the hoop. His last clearance, however, had left Pete DOWD with a chance of an in-off, albeit from 10 yards. Either player could have won. The final wasn’t croquet at its best but, finishing at 1930, it was certainly an entertaining game for the 30-strong crowd to watch! Congratulations to John NOBLE.
Sunday 2 July - John NOBLE beat Pete DOWD of Northampton to win the Hunstanton GC Open Tournament and retain the HAMPSON MEMORIAL SALVER.
John NOBLE dropped just one game, and that against our old friend Duncan HECTOR, to finish second in his block. He then made short work of Northampton’s Les HEARD, the winner of the other block, to book a place in the final. Meanwhile in the other semi-final, Duncan HECTOR playing on his new home ground - and playing better than ever - was fighting hard with the starting favourite, Pete DOWD, who just had the edge to win 7-6 some 45minutes after the other semi-final had finished. The final was an error-strewn game and very much a game of two halves. John NOBLE initially played poorly and quickly slipped to 1-5 down before an uncharacteristic error from Pete DOWD gave him a second chance at hoop 7. This completely changed the dynamic of the game, which then, equally quickly, progressed to 6-6 and a nail-biting final hoop. After an exchange of clearances John NOBLE emerged in control with two balls in position, next to play 6” in front of the hoop. His last clearance, however, had left Pete DOWD with a chance of an in-off, albeit from 10 yards. Either player could have won. The final wasn’t croquet at its best but, finishing at 1930, it was certainly an entertaining game for the 30-strong crowd to watch! Congratulations to John NOBLE.
Letchworth beat Surbiton(winners in 2016) in GC Inter-club!
11 Jul 2017
Congratulations to our team- Nick Mounfield, John Noble, John Skingsley and David Tutt
Final score, 5-2 to Letchworth.
Letchworth will now face Dulwich in the semi-final.
11 Jul 2017
Congratulations to our team- Nick Mounfield, John Noble, John Skingsley and David Tutt
Final score, 5-2 to Letchworth.
Letchworth will now face Dulwich in the semi-final.
Herts win the Ken Wheeler Shield with two players from Letchworth
Herts winners L-R: John Skingsley,
Robert Archer, Nick Archer, David Tutt
For the fourth time in the seven years since this popular event The Ken Wheeler Shield was introduced, a strong Hertfordshire team consisting of Nick Archer (Captain), David Tutt, John Skingsley and Robert Archer proved triumphant with a convincing win despite strong resistance from the other five Eastern Counties.
Staged on 3rd June on the five well-prepared lawns at the Hunstanton club on a glorious summer day, both Hertfordshire and Essex made strong starts, despatching their opponents convincingly to build up unassailable leads, and at the end of the block round both qualified for the Gold Medal Round with 4 match wins and 11 game points. Norfolk had 2 match wins along with Cambridgeshire and Bedfordshire, but just managed to qualify with 7 game points, 1 more than the other two.
In the final Gold Medal Round Hertfordshire with some determined play managed to consolidate their lead by beating both the Essex and Norfolk sides to lift the trophy; whilst despite a win over Essex, Norfolk were unable to secure the second place.
Report by Terrey Sparks,
photo by David Thirtle-Watts
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GC Fun Doubles
Strawberry Tea Tournament On an amazingly hot and sunny June afternoon twenty members gathered to compete in our annual Strawberry Tea tournament. Congratulations to Tracy and John who won the Doubles event! Tracy had an exceedingly successful afternoon as she also won the highest individual score with Beryl runner-up. Thanks to Sue Watson for organising all the splendid refreshments and to Colin for running the event. |
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Back to the Classroom
A course on Sports Psychology and Croquet run by Cliff Jones gave members plenty to think about when they play their next match.
A course on Sports Psychology and Croquet run by Cliff Jones gave members plenty to think about when they play their next match.
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Edward Martin Trophy May 29th Twelve entrants enjoyed their day of golf croquet which was impeccably managed by Keith as always. The final was between Andy Kennedy (who had also been in the final last year) and Andrew Fall with Andrew Fall winning the cup. Congratulations to all contestants. |
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B-Level Champion at Colchester-
George Woolhouse
A very successful day for George who won all five of his AC games!
Letchworth beat Watford 6-1 in First round of GC Inter-Club
Congratulations to our team Nick Mounfield, John Noble, David Tutt and John Skingsley for a very successful day. The team will next face the winners of Surbiton and Sussex.
Congratulations to our team Nick Mounfield, John Noble, David Tutt and John Skingsley for a very successful day. The team will next face the winners of Surbiton and Sussex.
Local Derby Match - GC teams Reds v Blues on Tuesday 2nd May!!
Come and support Letchworth - well one of them is bound to win......................
................................ after seven hours the result was a draw!! 9-9
Come and support Letchworth - well one of them is bound to win......................
................................ after seven hours the result was a draw!! 9-9
Start the Summer Fun Doubles Tournament
Congratulations to the winning couple Janet Mathews and Heather Bennett and to Vernon McClure who had the highest individual score |
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Enjoyable and valuable GC Coaching Course
with Cliff Jones - April 10/11
Over two days, 23 members took part in day-long courses seeking to improve both technique and tactics. Thanks to both Cliff and John for their boundless patience and enthusiasm.
with Cliff Jones - April 10/11
Over two days, 23 members took part in day-long courses seeking to improve both technique and tactics. Thanks to both Cliff and John for their boundless patience and enthusiasm.
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Croquet Association AC 14pt Tournament
April 8th The tournament was won by Chris Farthing (-1) from Surbiton who won all of his games. Three Letchworth members, Nick Mounfield, Terry Mahoney and Brian Havill took part. |
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AGM and Awards Evening
Ladies Cup Lynn Wood GC Level Play Nick Mounfield GC Handicap David Tutt GC Improver Tracy Martin GC Doubles Colin Gregory/Andrea Carr Edward Martin Cup Robert Staddon Monday Challenge John Alabaster AC Level play Nick Mounfield AC Handicap Peter Whiting AC Improvers Colin Gregory |
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Annual Dinner 2017
Farewell to Duncan
Duncan was presented with a weather vane, depicting him playing croquet, to thank him for 30 years of service to the club. We hoped that it would remind him of happy years at Letchworth when he moves to Norfolk after Christmas. |
'Would I Lie to You?' evening
Two teams competed in telling tall tales - some of which turned out to be true! |
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Letchworth Croquet Club
We have had an active membership since our founding in 1987 and now have over 70 members with a range of abilities and interests.
There is a regular programme of club tournaments and social events throughout the year. |