10/08/2008: Hawke swoops to win McKendrick trophy

This traditional curtain-raiser to the Edinburgh Tournament (well, it’s been contested two years running, so that’s a tradition!) is played as a progressive doubles.  For those unfamiliar with that format competitors play several rounds of games with a different partner each time.  The winner is the player with the best overall record – points scored by your partner count towards your personal score over the whole tournament, since obviously you helped put them in a position to score.

This year’s competition was played over three rounds of 14-point games with one-hour time limits.  The field of 18 included members from Edinburgh, the Meadows and Surbiton Croquet Clubs.  In the end three players had won three games and they were separated by net points:

1^st: Allan Hawke +14.

2^nd: Jamieson Walker +7

3^rd: Hamish Duguid +6

A storming second-round game, partnering Sarah Duguid against John Clark and Surbiton’s Graham Brightwell was the key to Allan’s victory, the +10 score sending him into the final round well clear of the field.   Congratulations to Allan on his win, and to everyone else for coping with the conditions, which included a water-logged lawn 2!

09/08/2008: Duguids at the Double

It appears that husband-and-wife teams make good doubles partnerships.  Following in the tradition of Sheila Tibbels and John Clark, who have won in four of the last five years, Janice and Hamish Duguid, entering the doubles for the first time, succeeded in winning both the Draw and the Process to render a Final unnecessary.  In fact though, their victory came in what was effectively a best-of-three final, the Wilkinson Sword-winning partnership of Allan Hawke and Fergus McInnes being their opponents in both semi-finals.

The first game was straightforward affair, but the second was anything but.  On Tuesday evening, the game was pegged down in the gathering gloom at 21:45 with the Duguids on Peg and Penult and Hawke and McInnes yet to score.  When play resumed on Saturday morning Hawke and McInnes struck back and Janice and Hamish scraped home +3 after an epic struggle lasting 5¾ hours.  Congratulations to the winners and commiserations to the losers.

08/08/2008: Janice Duguid wins Full Bisques – Twice!

For those unfamiliar with croquet, the two-life knock-out competition is perhaps one of the stranger aspects of the game.  Each player gets two entries, one in the Draw and the other in a parallel competition know as the Process, so-called because it is derived by a fixed mathematical process from the Draw.  It is therefore theoretically possible for a player to face themselves in the Final, by winning both the Draw and the Process.  And that is precisely what Janice did, beating Sheila Tibbels in the final of the Draw and her husband Hamish in the final of the Process.  Congratulations to Janice on her maiden victory!

12/07/2008: Harold Wright Rosebowls

The 2008 edition of the Harold Wright Rosebowls (aka the Fun Doubles) attracted a large turnout, with 20 players fighting it out for the trophies.  Although it was a close run thing for the minor placings, the clear winners were Jean Forshall and John Dewar.  Congratulations to them!  Full scores can be found on the Competitions and Tournaments page.

21/06/2008: Beginners’ Welcome Day.

The 2008 Beginners’ Welcome Day saw a large turnout from both old and new members with 28 players on the lawns.  This despite poor weather and the inconvenient parking resulting from the Gala being on the same day.  Everyone enjoyed themselves, especially after partaking of the Pimm’s provided for the occasion.

14/06/2008: Lauriston Ells

The 2008 Lauriston Ells competition was held in glorious weather, in sharp contrast to last year.  In fact this year’s Beginners’ Coaching Course has been blessed with good weather all the way through, with sunshine every weekend.

There were ten entrants, with the competition played over two rounds, each match being limited to 50 minutes.  Play was extremely competitive, with most matches won by a single point, and two going to sudden-death after time.

The eventual winners were Muriel Sim and Sarah Duguid, following in her father’s footsteps.  Congratulations to them both and to everyone else for making it such a close competition and for playing to such a high standard after just a few weeks!