Welcome to Enfield Croquet Club

Great to seeing you visiting our website which is full of information about the game of croquet and our Club. If you have any queries or want further information please contact secretary@enfieldcroquet.org.

Nigel Owen Is New National Grassroots Champion

The national tournament to find the 2023 Grassroots Champion took place at Hunstanton on Sunday, 24th September and saw players from around the country playing in four blocks to become the number 1. Nigel, who didn't lose a game throughout the day came through victorious having a 7-4 victory in the semi final against Cheltenham's Graham Brooksbank and in the final, a 7-5 win again Dee McKibbin from Phyllis Court. Many congratulations to Nigel who becomes the 3rd member of the Club to add his name to the Cup.

Frances Broadway Retains The Chairman's Cup

The Chairman’s Cup was held on 21st September and Frances Broadway won through to the final to reclaim the Cup for a second year. Many congratulations Frances.

As reported by Brian Dawes “We had an enjoyable and reasonably sunny day until the 5th round of the group stages when very heavy rain appeared as forecast and waterlogged lawn 1. After sheltering from the downpour and completing the group stage, the delayed final was moved to lawn 2. Nicola Hyde won group A with 4 wins, while in group B Frank Palmer and Frances both had 3 wins each but Frances narrowly won on hoop difference. Despite a brilliant day’s play up until this point by Nicola it was Frances who forged ahead and won the match thanks to some superb hoop running and great clearances.”

Celebrating Our 30th Anniversary

A fabulous afternoon of celebrations took place on Bank Holiday Monday, 28th August 2023, as over 75 members, family and friends united to celebrating the Club's 30th Anniversary. The weather shone and in addition to raising a glass from The Croquet Arms, we played some croquet related games, enjoyed a lovely buffet and our longest and newest members (John Street and Angela Beanlands respectively) joined Chair Nicola Hyde in cutting the cakes.

Thomas Win!

13th August - Many congratulations to Thomas Halliday who won the South-West Federation's regional final of the All-England Handicap. He was the lowest handicap player by some distance and would have had to score 50 hoops over 5 games to have a perfect day.

As it turned out, he managed 47 of them, losing only one game 4-7 (from a -4-2 start) when his 9-handicap opponent Lynn Wulcko ran hoop 4 from behind hoop 3, jawsed hoop 8 from behind hoop 7, and jawsed hoop 12 from behind hoop 12. Not much to be done against that!

Enfield East Take On Newport Elms

10th August 2023 - Enfield East (Ian Moore, Graham Curtis, Chris Twomey and Nicola Hyde) took ourselves off to Newport to take on the Newport Elms in the EACF GC Handicap League. The weather was lovely, the games were close and we returned home triumphant with a 12-6 win and appetites sated with a home cooked cream tea!

Nigel Owen Wins The Sheila Rudling Cup

3rd August 2023 - 16 members with handicaps of 8+ battled it out under clear and for once dry skies in a series of GC level play games. There were some great performances, especially from some of our newer members, and the semi finals between Nigel Owen and Julie Emery, and Frances Broadway against Graham Curtis provided some tense moments. Ultimately Nigel won with a 7-5 win over Frances Broadway.

We're Out!

28th July 2023 - For the first time in several years, despite a really close series of games, we could not make it through to the next stage of the EACF B Level tournament. All due credit however though to Chelmsford who have been our main adversary over the years and to whom we succombed on with a 10-8 scoreline. It was pretty neck and neck all day - rounds 1-3-4 were all shared but we lost 302 in round 2 of the singles which was the deciding factor. We've had a great run and will be back in 2024 stronger and wiser!

Showcasing Our New Pavilion

EACF GC Handicap Latest

18th July 2023 - Enfield East led by Captain Dave Hill and comprising Ian Moore, Frank Palmer and Nicola Hyde, had a lovely day at Letchworth where, as always we were well looked. The lawns were freshly cut and pretty fast. We started off ok and shared the honours for the doubles and round one of the singles, we then took 3 of the 4 games in round 2 to go into lunch with a 2 game lead. As often happens lunch changed the day and we only managed 2 wins in rounds 3+4 and lost the match 8 - 10. All the games in round 3 were very close and on another day we may have triumphed!

Delivery Day of the Benches

13th July 2023 - Our croquet players and spectators will be sitting happily on three benches donated by Palace Shopping in Enfield Town. The management team at the shopping centre were looking for a new home for the benches, and our club was the lucky recipient. The Club sends its thanks to Palace Shopping for the generous donation.

Advantage GC Doubles Tournament

- 6th July 2023

Our 30th Anniversay Doubles Tournament saw our biggest internal tournament to date with the maximum of 24 players on the lawns at a time.

The weather held up and the standard of play was excellent with the Advantage set-up leading to lots of very tightly fought games - 16 of 33 games played went to 7-6. A full report can be found here but to summarise - the king and queen of the day were Brian and Jean Dawes who beat Gillian Porter and Colin Carver to the wine! Congratulations all round!

June's Alternate Strokes AC Competition

Thursday, 1st June saw 14 club members including 9 who had never really played full AC before, turnout to play this tournament. Due to numbers, our AC experts - Thomas, John Street, Michael Broadway and David Frost – each played at least one match where they played for both sides and all acted as coaches for the novices. Three rounds were played and whilst there was no formal winner, we’re pleased to highlight that Graham Curtis won all three matches he played and Frances Broadway won two and only lost the third by one point. Some great performances all round!

Our 400th Competitive Club Match - and it was a home derby!

Thursday 11th May saw the Club's 400th competitive team match and what a tight match it was too. The Enfield derby featuring Enfield East and Enfield West in the EACF GC Handicap tournament was played in sun and rain with the odd rumble of thunder! Enfield East won 10-6 with a hoop difference of +15 so is top of the league meeting Newport Oaks next. Regardless we ALL enjoyed a nice glass of fizz under the canopy of our gazebo to celebrate the landmark game! Congratulations to Thomas Halliday, Frank Palmer, Dave Hill and Nicola Hyde against a valiant side of David Frost, Alan Bateman, Mary Grove and Nigel Owen.

And we also had the chance to try out our new Advanatage Handicap Scoreboards - which were great!