Following on from the successful tournament held in the Centenary year the format was repeated this year at the end of August on a cold and blustery day, but at least there was no rain. This year Caterham, Ember, Merton and Purley Bury clubs entered teams of two players. To keep the balls rolling and the half lawns full, Reigate entered three teams: the Roquets, the Runners and the Rushers.
The competition format was hybrid in that each team to play two doubles games of short croquet and two doubles games of golf croquet; full details of the format, method of scoring and handicap allocation are given in last year’s report.
This year games were time- limited to 75 minutes and five rounds were played to ensure that each team played two SC and two GC games. Three rounds were completed before lunch.
As the weather was not ideal for alfresco dinning the seating arrangements were split along gender lines with the ladies around a table in the clubhouse while the chaps stoically sat outside under the canopy. Nevertheless the meal was enjoyed by all choosing from:
- Butternut squash curry, naan bread and yoghurt
- Reigate-Royal sausages on roast vegetable medley
- Late-Summer pudding, Tiramisu, Melon & Strawberries
- Cheese selection, biscuits and French bread
After lunch two more rounds of croquet were completed by which time Ember was clearly the winning team having scored maximum points in four rounds. Whilst participants took tea with fruit scones and lime drizzle cake, Ember’s Roger Stearn and Simon Charrington were each presented with a suitably endorsed bottle of bubbles and a tournament certificate.
Despite the chilly weather every game was played in a warm and friendly way. Everything went smoothly despite the complexity of two different codes and handicaps, largely due to the organisation by Simon beforehand and the team of Freda, Martin and John Bristow on the day.
On leaving, every guest team said they would come back next year if the tournament runs again; which it is very likely to do given the positive response this year.