Report by Manager Philip Jay
The AC Handicap Tournament again saw a maximum filed of12 competitors (all of whom were from York and Huddersfield Croquet Clubs) arrive to do battle. The only difference this year was that, due to a number of withdrawals for various reasons, the field included everyone who had entered by the allocation date and was still available.
In keeping with many croquet lawns in Yorkshire, there had been reports that the lawns at York were becoming fast due to the ongoing drought conditions. However, thanks to a few showers in the days prior to the event and some heavy rain on Saturday evening, the lawns had started to revert to a shade of green. This resulted in the lawns being much more user friendly and the majority of games being pegged out.
The biggest hazard turned out to be the early onset of Autumn with falling leaves and seed heads on the lawns, which was rapidly rectified with the aid of a leaf blower and an excellent team effort.
The tournament was played as a Swiss format with six rounds of games. At the end of Saturday, Debbie was out in front with 3 wins from 3 games but there were several others on 2 wins each.
Sunday saw a change of fortunes for many, but after the first game of the day 9 players were on 2 or 3 wins and the manager had visions of a multiple tie at the close of play. However, Game 4 changed things considerably with only Malcolm and Philip on 4 wins. As they had not previously player each other, they were paired for the final round which would then determine the overall winner.
The game turned out to be a tense encounter; both players had more than one chance to peg out but Philip finally managed to do so, winning the tournament by the narrowest of margins. So (much to the embarrassment of the manager) Philip was awarded the trophy having 5 wins, with Anna, Helen, Malcolm and Patrick in joint second with 4 wins.
Philip was also presented over the weekend with the Queen Elizabeth 70th Jubilee Cup for winning the National Veterans C Class Level AC event which was held at Cheltenham in June, as unfortunately the trophy was not available for presentation at the time.
Many thanks to York CC for hosting this event and to everyone who helped over the weekend to make it such a success.