6th/7th July 2024, Venue: Hamburg Croquet Club
This is the second year the event has taken place at venues throughout Europe. The winners of each heat (semi-final) qualify for the final in Madrid.
Our opponents – Germans (Hamburg), Spanish (Sherry), and British (Dulwich, last year’s winners) – were all, on paper, at least one and sometimes up to five rankings better than us. We knew it would be a serious challenge. The format comprised level play and first to seven, with all play over two days: 2 doubles and 8 singles from a team of 4 for each of the 3 matches.
To prepare for the challenge, the Reigate team arrived 1-2 days early to sample the local beer, and of course, practice before Saturday. To say the lawns were like the Himalayas would be unfair, but there were some serious slopes in various directions and at various times depending on wind direction, with a circa 4-5 foot drop from top to bottom. Definitely home advantage before we had even started. After practicing on Friday morning, we lunched at the local golf club.
The clubhouse and accommodation were 5-star, privately funded and maintained by Margrete and Jurgen (brother and sister, both in their 80s). The accommodation comprised 4 double bedrooms, some overlooking the two lawns, gardens, and pond (where Jean encountered an early morning ‘male’ swimmer!) with countryside in the distance. The rooms were set over a large dining/kitchen area.
A huge first-floor conference hall with timber beams, etc., became the venue for Friday evening’s food (fresh mackerel and salad) and entertainment, Germany vs. Spain. You can probably imagine the banter and conversation, particularly around the disallowed penalty (which the Germans surprisingly seemed to take quite well) with a few beers inside them. We British could, of course, enjoy the game. Jean and Derek stayed at the club whilst the rest of us stayed in the nearby town of Quickborn, about a 12-15 minute drive in the hired car. Our accommodation was a semi-basement Airbnb. It served its purpose.
First up on Saturday morning for Reigate were the Hamburgers. Being advised on the previous Friday night after the football that it was a 10:00 start, the three of us duly set off at 9:00 from our accommodation in Quickborn, only to receive a call from Jorn (Hamburg Captain and tournament organiser) that we were supposed to be there at 9:00! Yes, after a few choice words, increased pressure on the accelerator, and possibly a speeding fine, we got to the club by 9:20. Was this cunning German tactics to disrupt us before we got going or payback for losing at football? We will never know. There were, however, a lot of references throughout the day to 10:00 being 9:00 and vice versa.
We kicked off against Hamburg with the two doubles: Bye/Dykes vs. J Vinnen/Pfizner and Davies/Healey vs. P Vinnen/Jenquel. Both games went to the golden hoop and shared the spoils. The singles followed and were a mixed bag of performances. We won 3 and lost 5, making the score 6 to 4 to the home team. We just needed a bit of luck and it could have gone our way.
Lunch was followed by the Spanish, Sherry. They brought an improvement in the weather with them as it became very hot. Again, starting with the doubles Bye/Dykes and Davies/Ryan, the spoils were shared. The singles followed and were again a mixed bag of results, with regular cheers of ‘Ole’ and ‘Pedro’ when Alfonso hit a jump shot from 5-6 meters out. We finally lost 6 to 4 to the Spanish. Derek’s victory vs. Pato was commendable, but overall, lady luck eluded us again.
Within minutes of the end of the day’s play, the heavens opened, so a retreat to the clubhouse bar was essential.
Jorn had organised a team dinner at the ‘Gut Kaden’ Golf Club, about 20 minutes away; a lovely evening in a grand clubhouse/dining area setting. It gave us some time to mingle over a few beers and wine, and we didn’t have to bite our nails through extra time or a penalty shootout.
Sunday arrived very quickly and we knew we had a serious day ahead of us vs. Dulwich. It was enjoyable, despite the result, to be able to play against experienced hard hitters. In the doubles, Bye/Dykes and Davies/Healey, it was 2-0 to Dulwich. It looked ominously like a whitewash, but Jean prevailed with an excellent win vs. Peter Haydon. So, yes, 9-1 to Dulwich. In hindsight, our preparation wasn’t good. We should have bought Dulwich a few more beers the night before, but I’m not sure it would have made much difference in the result.
Something I have failed to mention before and was a key obstacle in running hoops throughout the day was the presence of chickens. They would regularly appear out of nowhere and proceed to move across the lawn, then be chased away by mallets. There was also a black cat that would decide it was time to cuddle a croquet ball, with no preference for colour!
The final result was Reigate Priory CC 4th. Dulwich prevailed by two games to beat Sherry.
Plenty of takers already for next year!