Once the mulled wine had been drunk, the mince pies eaten and Freda Knight’s always-excellent spread of bites had been enjoyed, John Prior and his partner Phil Davies wrapped up the final of the 2024 Christmas Cracker by beating Sue Rice and John Dawson, 4-1.
It was a repeat win for John P, who had been in the winning pair in 2023 while, for John’s winning partner from a year ago, Geoff Gunton, this year’s cracker was a damp squib as he finished 18th and last in Martin Peacock’s GC doubles challenge.
It was a simple but effective concept: entrants were split into two groups of nine, based on their handicaps, and players paired up with someone from the other group for each seven-point game.
These were each played through three hoops, keeping the double-banked games apart to ensure no hold-ups from slow play.
After four rounds, the top two high-handicap players – John Prior and John Dawson – were paired with the top-scoring low-handicap players – Phil Davies and Sue Rice – to play the best-of-seven final.
Although Sue was on the losing side of that match, she was the winner in the best-dressed-player contest. The dress code was ‘primary colours’ and Sue’s modelling of the centre peg’s colour scheme won her a box of multi-coloured Quality Street chocolates.