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• 2017 >
• Soham winter 2017-18

Soham winter 2017-18

Association Croquet Golf Croquet	Click on images for an enlargement	Soham by season: 2024 - 25 2023 - 24 2022 - 23 2021 - 22 2020 - 21 2019 - 20 2018 - 19 2017 - 18 2016 - 17 2015 - 16 2014 - 15 2013 - 14 2012 - 13 2011 - 12 2010 - 11 2009 - 10 2008 - 9 2007 - 8 2006 - 7 2005 - 6
See also: Indoor Doubles Speed Croquet Laws ( 15 kb) Timer software Summary of indoor events & winners Summary of indoor trophies & winners

 10-11 March 2018 - Speed Doubles

L-R: Heather Bennett,
Terrey Sparks, Terry Mahoney

Saturday 10th - the Millennium Cup

A full entry of a wide range of handicaps from -2 to 14 provided a very interesting day of play for the last week-end session indoors this winter at The Soham Ross Peers Leisure Centre, in which 17 of the 20 games finished in time and generated a very tight finish.

The Hunstanton pairing of Jeff Race & Peter Brown, having played all their games, stood on 4 wins equalling the Letchworth pair of Terry Mahoney & Heather Bennett, also on 4 wins with one game to play. However, as Hunstanton had one win on time the cup was destined for Letchworth even if they lost their final game, having finished all their games at the peg.

Surprise of the day was the production of a selection of cakes home baked by David Maugham in celebration of his birthday. (Age still a mystery).

Sunday 11th - the Soham Trophy

Winners
Peter Whiting & Robert Skeen

There was a slight hiccup to the start of play when one of our visitors from the Big L more used to driving in conurbations managed to lose himself in the rural idyll of Cambridgeshire. However, despite a 20 minute delay in getting away, play was intense and by the end of the day lost time had been made up as the final session would determine the overall winner. The Bygrave pairing of Peter Whiting & Robert Skeen with one game to go stood on 4 wins, equal with David Maugham & Alison Jones of South Ockendon who had finished their programme and also stood on 4 wins, all within time. However the Bygrave pair having won two of their games out of time needed to win or draw the final game to lift the trophy, or it would go to South Ockendon. Peter & Robert, using their bisques wisely, managed to outfox Nick Mounfield & Tobi Savage +6 to end the day unbeaten and overall winners.

 Sun 11 February 2018 - Speed Doubles

Runners up
Bryan Saddington & Jeff Race

The Cornelius Cup

It was back to the regular speed format on the Sunday, in which Nick Mounfield stood in at the last moment for Cliff Jones who is still recovering from his visit to the hospital. Nonetheless the play was still intense and of a high standard, and as with the previous day nothing was decided until all the games had been completed with three teams Hunstanton, Wrest Park and Colchester 1 all tied on four wins apiece, giving the Manager the headache of splitting the group using the Quality of Wins formula. This meant that the Hunstanton pair of Jeff Race and Brian Saddington led the field with a rating of 15 followed by Nick Mounfield and Alison Jones on 12½, and Rich Waterman and David Haslam on 11. [But see the postscript below.]

It was interesting to note that only one game during the day went to time and bearing in mind the number of times the Quality of Wins has had to be used this winter to split the teams it clearly demonstrates that the standard on the indoors carpet continues to improve.

Winners
Nick Mounfield & Alison Jones

Postscript:

Following a later review of the results it was found that there was an error in the final calculations of the winners 'Quality of Opponents' by the Manager. It was discovered that in fact the Hunstanton pair of Jeff Race & Bryan Saddington had been over-compensated by 3½ and their final "quality of wins" rating was in fact discovered to be 11½ instead of 15. Therefore the winners are in fact Nick Mounfield & Alison Jones on 12½. The table above and the photo captions have been amended accordingly.

As the trophy had not been to hand after the original tournament during February it was presented during the March gathering at Soham.

 Sat 10 February 2018 - Progressive Doubles

The Martin Trophies

Low Handicap winner Terry Mahoney

High Handicap winner Jonathan Toye

Sixteen entrants split by handicaps into two groups played the normal indoor speed rules, being allocated a different partner each round. It provided an interesting and competitive day, in fact so competitive that the final positions were not determined until the last games. In the final round the leader Terry Mahoney partnering Al Brown needed to beat the pair of Heather Bennett and Peter Brown to finish top of the Low Handicap Block; a defeat meant that there would be a major problem for the manager to sort as there would be five players all finishing on equal points. However, luckily this was not to be as the old warhorse managed a +7 win to take away the Low Handicap Block victory.

Things were not so tight in the High Handicap Block were Jonathan Toye steamed on like a WW1 Dreadnought undefeated for the whole day, winning all his five games. However, there was a chance he could be over taken by Jim Potter if Jonathan lost his last game, which would mean there would be a four way tie to for the manager to separate. Again he was let off the hook as Jonathan was not to be denied.

 Sun 14 January 2018 - Speed Doubles

The Albert Lawrence Trophy – Letchworth Storm Through

After a few months of indifferent form Terry Mahoney and Heather Bennett must have changed their breakfast cereals, as they stormed though the opposition without losing a game to run out the undisputed winners of the Cornelius Cup. In second place were the pairing of David Maugham and Alison Jones with 4 wins, equalling Hunstanton but having finished 4 of their games within time to Hunstanton's 3. The day was managed by Duncan Hector who stood in at the last moment as Terrey Sparks had to withdraw suffering from the winter flu the day before.

 Sat 13 January 2018 - EACF GC Inter-Counties

Suffolk & Herts Share Honours

Due to the small carpet, accurate hitting in and the loose hoops, play proved difficult indoors at Soham as a field of low handicappers struggled to make progress pass the 5th hoop in what proved to be a frustrating day which in the end had to be abandoned as all the scheduled games could not be fitted into the time allocated. At the end of the day the position was as follows:

As both Suffolk and Herts had each beaten each other and it was impossible for Herts to get in their last game against Norfolk which would have altered the outcome, the Manager decided to call it a draw.

 Sun 10 December 2017 - Speed Doubles

Bygrave winners Duncan Hector and Peter Ross

Bygrave Clinch the Day

It was back to the normal format on Sunday, and despite the adverse winter conditions outside things were a lot warmer inside the Soham Sports Centre, where a day of very competitive play again produced only two games going to time. Five teams Bygrave, Colchester, Downchester, Cambridge and Essex battled it out all day and not until the last games did it became clear that the Bygrave pair of Duncan Hector and Peter Ross had managed to clinch the day.

 Sat 9 December 2017 - Alternate Shot Doubles

Hunstanton winners Jeff Race and Peter Brown

Hunstanton Retain Their Grip for a Fourth Year

Alternate shots, always a popular fixture, again attracted a full entry in which only two games went to time proving its popularity. However, despite the keen play the Hunstanton pair of Jeff Race and Peter Brown managed to retain the trophy for a fourth year with a clean slate, closely followed by Letchworth who only dropped one game.

 11-12 November 2017 - Speed Doubles

Bygrave winners Robert Wilkinson and Nick Mounfield

Saturday 11th

It was a strong field with only two teams receiving bisques and, on the other hand, two teams having a time penalty and 3 peels to do. Bygrave 1 prevailed and continued their 'deem in corner three' answer to a standard East boundary opening. Ironically, they drew against their Bygrave 2 compatriots. Except for a loss to St Albans 1 they had comfortable wins against everyone else. Time proved to be no problem with only two games going to time yet it was a very evenly matched day with only one point separating the top five teams.

Sunday 12th

Hunstanton winners Jeff Race and Bryan Saddington

Some early morning lawn repair was necessary to re-set the carpets that had drifted apart on Saturday. We had a full complement of eight teams of which five received bisques and two having a time penalty and peels to do. Enfield's team had little experience on the carpet and struggled with the quirks of speed croquet. The Hunstanton first team dominated thanks to Jeff's well honed tactical game. The two Bygrave teams had the same game wins but lost out due to 'games on time'. In fact time was much more of a problem than yesterday with seven games out of eighteen going to time.

 Sun 15 October 2017 - Speed Doubles

Speed doubles winners
Duncan Hector and Peter Whiting

MCP Mallets Shield - Hertfordshire's Day

It was back to normal on the Sunday with a full entry of eight pairs which provided some very tight and intense play. However, despite the pressure the Bygrave pairing of Duncan Hector and Peter Whiting held their own with a 100% record of wins to take the day.

 Sat 14 October 2017 - EACF AC Inter-Counties

Cambridgeshire winners
Cesar Miranda-Reyes and Adrian Kirby

It was a whole new world at the Soham Sports Centre as the winter programme got under way. The old orange fluorescent lights had been replaced by brighter, whiter LED lights which gave the impression that the carpet had been fertilised as it appeared much greener and not so well used.

Cambridgeshire Triumphant

This year five counties entered: Cambridgeshire, Lincolnshire, Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire and Norfolk. The first round was played as a round robin with the top three teams going through to a semi-final knock-out and the bottom two playing off for the fourth place, which proved to be Bedfordshire with the Lincolnshire pair eliminated. In the other two matches Herts beat Norfolk +3 and Cambs beat Beds +1(T), resulting in a final between Cambs and Herts which went Cambridgeshire's way running out the overall winners +2. This was in itself was a surprise in that the Cambridgeshire side had started badly, losing their first and only game to the bottom team Lincolnshire -4.

Click on images for an enlargement