2014 Ken Wheeler Shield

Ken Wheeler Shield results
by year: 2024 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011

Golf Croquet

Click on images for an enlargement

Norfolk Reverse The Tables

Despite a wet start which saw heavy showers in the morning, this was not to dampen the spirits of the six eastern counties sides who mustered at Hunstanton on Saturday 7th June to contest who would be this year's champions in the 'Ken Wheeler Shield', under threatening skies which quickly developed into a prolonged downpour.

Both Suffolk and Norfolk, last year's gold medal round contenders, made an impressive start in their first games putting in 3 - 0 wins over their Essex and Bedfordshire opponents. Not to be outdone, Hertfordshire kept up with the pace scoring a 2 -1 win over Cambridgeshire. As the weather improved it became clear it was becoming a three-horse race with Norfolk and Suffolk after the first series of games each notching up 4 wins out of their first five games, and with Hertfordshire in close pursuit winning 3 out of their first 5.

These three leading teams then went forward into the gold medal round of doubles where they each played each other in a series of doubles, scoring double points. Norfolk had 11 wins with Suffolk and Hertfordshire both in hot pursuit on 10. It was all to play for.

Hertfordshire was the first side to finish their games, winning against Norfolk and losing the other against Suffolk. This meant that the winner was not going to be decided until the final game between Norfolk and Suffolk was concluded, as the position currently stood with Herts and Suffolk on 12 points leaving Norfolk still on 11.

The final game between Jeff Race and Tony Lee of Norfolk and David Crawford and Paul Strover of Suffolk was a tense affair that kept the watching crowd enthralled. However after several nail-biting moments Norfolk just managed to pip Suffolk 7/5 to run out the match winners, putting their name on the shield for the first time.

This is the fourth year the E.A.C.F. has staged this tournament and it is proving very popular, and the standard is improving year on year. As usual it was competently managed by Ken Wheeler, the President of the host club Hunstanton.

Report by Terrey Sparks

---

Venue	Saturday 7 June 2014, Hunstanton	The Ken Wheeler Shield
Manager	Ken Wheeler
Entry fees	£30 per team
Team captains	Beds: John Cundell (Leighton Linslade) Cambridge: Terrey Sparks (Peterborough) Essex: Judith Hand (Chelmsford) Herts: Robert Archer (Watford) Norfolk: David Thirtle-Watts (Hunstanton) Suffolk: David Crawford (MidSuffolk)
Previous winners	Suffolk
Format	Block Phase Each team will play a match against each other over the first five rounds (i.e. an American Block). A 'match' will comprise two singles games and one doubles. In the first round a team may elect to allocate players in any role (Singles or Doubles) irrespective of handicap. In the second round the Singles/Doubles roles will be reversed. In the third round roles will revert to those of the first round etc. e.g. Round 1 A1 v B1 A2 v B2 A3/A4 v B3/B4     Round 2 A3 v C3 A4 v C4 A1/A2 v C1/C2     Round 3 A1 v D1 A2 v D2 A3/A4 v D3/D4 etc. (Thus, after five rounds each player will have played either 3 Singles and 2 Doubles, or 2 Singles and 3 Doubles). On completion of this Block Phase the three leading teams will qualify for the sixth 'Gold Medal Round'. The leading teams will be decided on Match Wins with any tie being resolved by 'who-beat-whom'. "Gold Medal Round" Format Each team will carry forward games won (each game scoring a single point). Each team will now comprise two Doubles pairs. The pairings may differ from the Block Phase. Pairs will be drawn to play a single game in the following format: X1 v Y1 X2 v Z1 Y2 v Z2 A game win will score two points and be added to the aggregate carried forward. The winning team will be the one with the most points, with any tie being resolved by the match result in the Block Phase.
Eligibility	To qualify for a county the team member must either be born, reside or be registered with a club within that county. (For this tournament the county of Bedfordshire includes the clubs of Northampton and Stony Stratford). If you are eligible and want to play, please contact the relevant team captain!
Regulations	(PDF, 15 kb)

 

---