TONY ELLIOTT of ENFIELD has won the 2016 ALL ENGLAND ASSOCIATION CROQUET FINAL
Tony in play on court 1 at Hamptworth. (Photo: Peter Wilson)
Report and photo supplied via the CA website by Peter Wilson at Hamptworth, in Wiltshire on 18th September (CA Official News)
At the end of round four the Swiss format had declared a winner. Therefore, by agreement, lunch was extended and the final round was shortened to 18 point games allowing extra time for the return trips across the country.
Many, if not most of the games, were very exciting and close. With handicaps ranging from 1 to 20 all sorts of challenges were created.
Tony played exceptionally well throughout the tournament and ended with 5/5. His fourth round game versus Will was decisive and decided on the time turn. Had that gone the other way the tournament would have been wide open in the final round.
The trophy and tray were presented by Quiller who thanked Hamptworth for the provision of single banking and ideal hoops, lawns and weather.
The finalists who also included an ex-Enfield player were:
Bury; Phil Nuttall
Bowdon; Will Mellor
Enfield; Tony Elliott
Guildford and Godalming; Stephen Stuart-Matthews
Wrest Park; John Bevington
Watford; Wendy Spencer-Smith
Camerton & Peasedown; Mo Boys
Kington Langley; Ian Wills
Runner up: Stephen Stuart-Matthews.
Many thanks to them for exemplary sportsmanship throughout and to their clubs for supporting this tournament.
WORK ON LAWN TWO 15th September
Marian and Alan luting David and Brad spreading topsoil
Blessed are the tea-makers Lawn 2 Crew photographed by Des Taylor
The Pub Buffet - Tuesday 6th September 2016
Many thanks to Marian Cuckson, our Club Secretary, for organising a fine Evening Buffet at the Stag & Hounds in Bush Hill Park.
Those attending and enjoying a good night out were: Marian Cuckson, Tony, John (& Tina), Dave Hill and Fiona, Mary, Phillip, Graham, Brian Dawes (& Jean), Henry (& Linda), Alan Foott (& Maureen), Michael and Frances, Valerie Rennie (& Bill), Richard D, Valerie M & Peter L, Helen & Peter Neal and Brian Sturt.
Following the buffet there was a pub quiz which despite the Quiz Master being even slower than our lawns was a testing challenge. Those marked in bold type above pushed two tables together and formed a team unimaginatively called Enfield Croquet, but brilliant enough to win the pub quiz. Mind you it did help that we had a team of ten and I’m still slightly irked that we didn’t get David Walliams or opt for Pan. Anyway these superstars unanimously decided to donate their prize money to our Club funds. So not only did they all have a good time but the kitty is £56 better off – which can’t be bad. Wild horses couldn’t force me to divulge how the other Enfield Croquet Quiz team fared…. but a donation to Club funds will and I’ll even name names.
I for one am already looking forward to next season’s Pub Buffet, wherever it is.
Action on lawns 3 and 2 Featuring Chris, Peter E, Christine M and Des.
Michael & Frances B. Sun hats and umbrellas on the same day appear to have been the norm this season.
Many thanks to Mary Grove for the above photos
ENFIELD 4-2 NORTHAMPTON - 31 Aug Beds & Herts AC - report here
ENFIELD NORTH 13-5 ENFIELD SOUTH - 26th Aug - report here
ENFIELD 17-1 CHELMSFORD - 24 Aug EACF Level Play - report here
LEIGHTON LINSLADE 11-7 ENFIELD - 22 Aug EACF Level Play - report here
LETCHWORTH 13-5 ENFIELD - 20 Aug EACF Level play - report here
MELGRAVE 3-1 ENFIELD - 5 Aug – Beds & Herts AC - report here
NEWPORT ELMS 8-10 ENFIELD WEST – 4 August - report here
WREST PARK 3-3 ENFIELD - 25 July - Beds & Herts AC - report here
ENFIELD EAST 11-7 NEWPORT ELMS - 22nd July - report here
ENFIELD 8-10 NORTHAMPTON - 18 July EACF GC Level Play - report here
LETCHWORTH 3-4 ENFIELD - 16 July AC Longman Cup - report here
WATFORD 8-10 ENFIELD - 14 July EACF Level Play - report here
LETCHWORTH BLUES 7-11 ENFIELD EAST - 12 July - report here
8th July ENFIELD WEST 14-4 LETCHWORTH BLUES match report here
6th July ENFIELD WEST 12-6 NEWPORT OAKS EACF GC Handicap report to follow Many congratulations to Frances Broadway on winning 3 of her singles games on her debut. match report here
1st July ENFIELD 6-0 St. ALBANS AC Beds & Herts League Association Croquet report here
28th June LETCHWORTH REDS 13-5 ENFIELD WEST ECF GC Handicap match report here
22nd June ENFIELD EAST 8-10 LETCHWORTH REDS EACF GC Handicap match report here
15th June COLCHESTER 1-6 ENFIELD AC Longman Trophy match report here
Friday June 3rd NEWPORT OAKS 8-10 ENFIELD EAST EACF GC Handicap match report here
How many members does it take to measure a lawn prior to lawn work? And how much more difficult is it to supervise?
WATFORD 6-0 ENFIELD - Beds & Herts AC League match report here
CLUB MEMBERS SHOULD CHECK OUR DIARY PAGE FOR THE LATEST NEWS ON SCHEDULED MATCHES AND LAWN UPDATESENFIELD EAST 10-8 ENFIELD WEST - EACF GC Handicap League match report here
ENFIELD 5 - 1 LETCHWORTH - Beds & Herts League Association Croquet 4th April 2016 report to follow - but I know that Brian Havill, David Frost, Tony Elliott and John Street all won their singles, I also know they got wet.
Despite the somewhat moderate weather our 2016 Training Course was a great success and has resulted in a number of new members joining the Club
Photos taken on Wednesday 8th April 2015
The photos shown above were of just some of those who took part in our Introductory Croquet Course throughout April 2015. Looking again at the pictures I can spot about 9 of those features who have since become members. More photos can of previous courses can be found further down the page.
Tony, Marian C, Valerie Z, Brian D, David N F, David G F, Ken, Peter B, Sheila R
Enfield’s AC Knockout Level Play Competition 2015
WINNER Brian Havill who beat David Frost 23T-12T in the Final
Enfield’s AC Knockout Handicap Competition 2015
To be completed
Enfield Ladies GC Handicap Competition 2015
WINNER Frances Broadway who beat Valerie Zaater 7-2 in the Final
Enfield’s GC Handicap Knockout Competition 2015
WINNER David Minihane who beat David Fenner 7-5 in the Final
Enfield’s GC Level Play Knockout Competition 2015
WINNER David Frost who beat Tony Elliott 7–4 in the Final
Enfield’s GC Ladder Leagues 2015 OVERALL WINNER David Minihane
Would you believe the photograph below is of Billy the Kid playing croquet in 1878?
Obviously the guy on the right is claiming a double hit and Billy looks more than a bit peeved.
As seen in 'The Times' and circulated by Graham:
An amateur Californian historian claims to have revealed an unknown side of America’s most notorious gunslinger — a photograph of Billy the Kid (in the cardigan) enjoying a game of croquet.
Randy Guijarro bought the 4in by 5in image for $2, along with two other photos at a junk shop in the city of Fresno in 2010. If genuine, the tintype picture would be only the second known photograph of the Kid, a character who has been immortalised in 66 feature films.
It is now for sale having been valued at $5 million (£3.3 million). Facial recognition has been used to check its authenticity, its sellers say.
The photograph is said to have been taken in Lincoln County, New Mexico, in 1878. The Kid would have been about 19 years old; months earlier he had been swept into the so-called Lincoln County War, a deadly local feud between his employer, the English rancher John Tunstall, and a local racketeer by the name of Lawrence Murphy.
Have to say I'm absolutely gutted to see Billy wearing a cardigan.
Obviously the guy on the right is claiming a double hit and Billy looks more than a bit peeved.
Northampton 13-5 ENFIELD - EACF Level Play League 24 September
Amazing how many famous croquet players you can find on the internet:
Phil, Liz, Ann and Charles Windsor George & John Bobby Kennedy
Enfield East beat Southchurch Park - EACF GC Handicap Semi-Final 13th September - score 9-9 - Enfield won the play-off game report here
Enfield 4-2 Melgrave - Beds & Herts AC League 11th September report here
Our team against Melgrave complete with the League Shield
Michael Broadway modelling next season's team uniforms for Enfield Pirates and Enfield Bandits...
and if I'm not mistaken look really close and you'll see the white bow tie. Wonderful.
Newport Oaks 7-11 ENFIELD WEST - EACF GC Handicap - 21 August Report here
ENFIELD 5-1 Wrest Park – Beds & Herts AC League 7 August
Report here
ENFIELD 14-4 Leighton Linslade - EACF GC Level Play 5 August
Report here
DAVID FROST & DES TAYLOR in ALL ENGLAND GC HANDICAP FINALS
Golf Croquet All England Handicap 2015 - 4 August
The area finals were held on the lovely but exceedingly fast lawns at Surbiton on Tuesday 4th August where we had two representatives. Des Taylor was one and the other was David Frost, who came in as reserve for the holidaying David Minihane.
There were 7 qualification places for the final at Colchester in September up for grabs, and we are very pleased to announce that Des Taylor managed to secure th
e seventh spot and so earned a place at
the Final. David did even better by winning all his matches and secured
his place in the finals by securing first place in the area finals.
David Frost had to play his games off his National Handicap of 2 effective 0 which made life somewhat more difficult for David but he managed to win all his matches and so he qualified for the final in first place. Quite a remarkable achievement.
The good news / bad news for David – depending how you look at it is that when playing at GC Level play matches his handicap has gone down to 0 which means his National handicap is now 1 effective -2. This effectively means he now gives away a further 2 extra turns. This may possibly reduce his chances in the finals but at the end of the day it will all be about how David and Des cope on the day.
Good luck to them both.
ENFIELD 7-11 Watford - EACF GC Level Play 3 AugustReport here
ENFIELD 3-15 Letchworth - EACF GC Level Play 31 July
Report here
CONGRATULATIONS TO ENFIELD EAST who beat Newport Oaks 11-7 to win the Central Division of the EACF GC Handicap League - 29th July Report here
ENFIELD WEST 15-3 Newport Elms - EACF GC Handicap 24 JulyLetchworth Blues 11-7 ENFIELD WEST - EACF GC Handicap 21 July
Report here
St Albans 2-2 ENFIELD - Beds & Herts AC League 18 July 2015
Report here
Chelmsford 3-15 ENFIELD - EACF GC Level Play 17 July 2015
Report here
Letchworth Reds 9-9 ENFIELD EAST - EACF GC Handicap 13 July 2015 Report here
ENFIELD WEST 14-4 Letchworth Reds - EACF GC Handicap 3 July 2015 Report here
Newport Elms 5-13 ENFIELD EAST - EACF GC Handicap 26 June 2015
Report here
ENFIELD EAST 10-8 Letchworth Blue - EACF GC Handicap 19 June 2015 Report here
Report here
Hurlingham 5-2 ENFIELD - Longman Cup AC 13 June 2015 Report here
ENFIELD 4.5-2.5 Hunstanton - GC Murphy Inter-Club Shield Report here
31st May 2015
The final turned out to be an excellent match, with both players making good breaks and not too many mistakes, and an exciting finish when Jordan had a chance to run his final hoop from about 5 feet at a slight angle to draw level. However, his ball finished in the jaws of the hoop, giving Tony a victory 23-22 on time. Both Jordan and Tony achieved reductions of their handicaps to 7.
NELSON MORROW TRAY
Doubles win for John and David G F at Surbiton
For the second year running, John Street and David Frost entered the Association Croquet Speed Doubles competition at Surbiton and were hoping to improve on the one out of five wins last year. Having learned from last year, they won 3 full 26 point games before lunch, beating Clare Benson (10) and Nelson Morrow (-0.5), George Noble (-1) and Alice Williams (3.5), Christine Ormond (5) and Ian Plummer (-0.5).I have it on very good authority that John and David will shortly be serving champagne on the lawns to celebrate this fine victory but they are currently keeping rather quiet as to when this will be - Ed.
ENFIELD WEST 6 - 12 ENFIELD EAST in the EACF GC Handicap League played 29 April in the pouring rain for much of the match. Report will appear on our Inter-Club GC page
NORTHAMPTON 2-4 ENFIELD at Northampton in the Herts & Beds League 0n 23 April. Report will appear in our Inter-Club AC page
LETCHWORTH 1-5 ENFIELD at Northampton in the Herts & Beds League on 6 May. Report will appear in our Inter-Club AC Page
SAT. 5th JULY 2014 - ALICE IN WONDERLAND DAY at FORTY HALL
Where Enfield Croquet Club members held a demonstration of croquet which entertained numerous children and quite a few adults for a very hectic couple of hours.
I'm advised that our Club's efforts were very much appreciated.
Enfield's Association croquet match reports can be found here
SPOTTED ON THE LAWNS
Registered Charity No. 1123281