AC Association Croquet

This Tournament is a one-day Association Croquet singles competition held at Watford and open to members of the national Croquet Association. It is also listed in the CA fixtures calendar.

Title: Watford One-Day AC Tournament Watford AC Open Tournament
results by year:
Handicaps: AC: 16-
Date: Saturday 16 June 2012
Number of places: 12
Secretary: Email:   click on link to send an email
Phone: 01923 241582
Manager: Simon Hathrell
RoT: Arthur Reed
Entries: Allocation: 16 April. Closing: 9 June.
Entries should be submitted using the standard CA Tournament entry form.
If you have a preference between Level Advanced and Handicap Advanced, please remember to indicate this with your entry.
Entry fee: £8. Cheques payable to "Watford (Cassiobury) Croquet Club".
Format: Two independent blocks:
Block 'A': Level Advanced (8 players, 3-round Swiss with round 1 seeded by handicap)
Block 'B': Handicap Advanced (4 players, all-play-all)

Notes:

  1. Play starts at 09:30, and players must be prepared to play three games in the day.
  2. Refreshments and a light tea are provided free of charge but please bring your own lunch.
  3. Dawson balls will be used.

Other conditions set on the day of play:

  1. 3-hour time-limit for all games.
  2. A consolation prize awarded to the player in the Level Advanced block (other than the winner) with the largest net handicap index point gain.
  3. In the event of a tie in the Handicap Advanced block, the winner to be decided by the number of wins against those tied, and if still tied then by a 2-ball break challenge starting from a rush to hoop 4 with striker's ball in Corner IV, repeated if necessary until a winner emerges.

The club staged its return to the CA tournament circuit for Association Croquet after a gap of 6 years with a change of format to a one-day event, which appeared to work out well. It may not be so much to the taste of hardened tournament-goers who prefer weekend or longer events, but there are not many one-day AC tournaments in the CA calendar, so this one appealed to a number of players who would like to play in the occasional tournament which they can get to and from within a day without the need for overnight accommodation, and find that a whole weekend ties up too much of their time.

A few days before the event the weather forecast had looked pretty terrible, with the prospect of being quite cold with lots of rain and wind - not a very summery prospect at all. But on the day the weather gods relented and diverted the worst of the weather elsewhere, leaving Watford lucky enough to stay almost completely dry all day. There was even some occasional sunshine to brighten things up, so the worst that the players had to contend with in the end was some blustery wind and, since rain had prevented grass-cutting on the preceding days, court conditions that most visitors found slow and rather heavy going compared with what they were used to.

Click on images for an enlargement

Since there was only enough time for three rounds, which is not enough to resolve a single winner from amongst 12 players, the tournament entry was split into two independent blocks, with the lower handicappers playing Level Advanced in an 8-player Swiss 'A' block and the higher handicappers playing Handicap Advanced in a 4-player all-play-all 'B' block. As an additional incentive for players in the larger block, a consolation prize was also offered for the one (other than the winner) with the largest net handicap index gain in the day.

Results:

Block ALevel Advanced
Results vs.: GBr GBe JS IP AR JP NP JB WINS NET
INDEX
POINTS
Graham Brightwell   +25     +4T     +18 3 +25
Gary Bennett -25   +13 +26         2 -2
Jeremy Scott   -13       +5 +16   2 +25
Ian Parkinson   -26     +6T +9     2 +4
Arthur Reed -4T     -6T     +3T   1 -1
Jon Palin     -5 -9       +11 1 -6
Nigel Polhill     -16   -3T     +25 1 -33
John Bee -18         -11 -25   0 -12
Block BHandicap Advanced
Results vs.: GJ RW RB MH WINS NET
INDEX
POINTS
Geoff Johnson   +12 -15 +10 2 +10
Rick Weinstein -12   +12 +17 2 +10
Robin Barry +15 -12   +6 2 +10
Mark Homan -10 -17 -6   0 -30
WINNERS
Graham Brightwell,
Geoff Johnson

Graham Brightwell (L) receiving
the Alfred Purvis Memorial Cup
from club chairman Arthur Reed
Participants
Name Club H'cap
Nigel Polhill Ealing -½
Gary Bennett Watford 0
Ian Parkinson Watford 1
Graham Brightwell Surbiton 1½
Arthur Reed Watford 2
Jeremy Scott Letchworth 4
Jon Palin St. Albans 4
John Bee Watford 5
Mark Homan Watford 5
Geoff Johnson Watford 9
Rick Weinstein Hampstead Heath 9
Robin Barry Watford 10

Handicap change: Jeremy Scott 4 to 3½


Level Advanced
consolation prize
winner Jeremy Scott

Handicap Advanced
winner Geoff Johnson


In the Level Advanced block Graham Brightwell emerged victorious with 3 wins out of 3 to take the Alfred Purvis Memorial Trophy, and the consolation prize went to an in-form Jeremy Scott, handicap 4, with 2/3 and a net handicap index point gain of +25, most of which came from an against-the-odds win against Nigel Polhill, the highest ranked player in the block.

In the Handicap Advanced block there was a 3-way tie with Geoff Johnson, Rick Weinstein and Robin Barry each on 2 wins out of 3. Each of them had also beaten one of the other two. The winner therefore had to be resolved using the 2-ball-break challenge described above. It was decisively won by Geoff Johnson who made three hoops while Rick Weinstein and Robin Barry could each only manage one.

Click on images for an enlargement

Geoff Johnson
Ian Parkinson
Gary Bennett
Graham Brightwell