Broadwas Croquet Club’s High Handicap squad was first to go into Golf Croquet battle at the start of the club’s 2024 season, on May 8th.
Just five days after the Broadwas lawns were finally declared open for play and with little time to practice, the High Handicap team travelled to the Cotswolds to face Moreton-in-Marsh A in the South West Federation’s High Handicap League (North).
The team received the customary warm welcome from members of the Moreton-in-Marsh club. The club only opened three years ago and has just in the past few weeks seen its brand new clubhouse installed.
A few weeks before the match, two experienced members of the Broadwas team had to drop out and Hazel Felton and the rookie captain had to fill the playing vacancies.
The final score of the match belied the spirit with which the Broadwas players fought.
Jean Faulkner led the Broadwas charge, with two straight wins in her first two singles games. She beat Moreton’s Len Summers 5-4 in the first round, followed by a second round win of 7-5 against Doreen Exton. Jean was beaten in her gruelling third singles match, by 9-handicap Silke Bruening, 5-7.
Making her debut for Broadwas, Paula Armstrong put in a splendid performance when she beat Len Summers, a fellow 12-handicap player, an outstanding 7-1.
Paula followed up her singles win with another great performance in Round 4 when just before time was called in the doubles match, she peeled Paul Felton’s ball through to make it 6-5 against Silke Bruening and Doreen Exton. With only her two extra shots left, Paula then went on to make the final score 7-5 with a magnificent long drive to the hoop, followed by a confident final hoop shot.
Malcolm Armstrong – also making his debut for the team – fought valiantly in the first round during the doubles match with partner Paul Felton. The two only narrowly lost 5-6 against Moreton’s Silke Bruening (9) and Doreen Exton (12).
In his first two singles games, Malcolm participated in a number of hard-fought battles close to the hoop, but lost
3-7 to 8-handicap Ken Mercer and 4-6 to fellow 12-handicap Ron McAlpine.
In his final singles game of the day, Malcolm confidently held David Heitler, who had been previously victorious in all of his previous singles and doubles matches, to a 5-5 draw.
Having been drafted in as a late replacement for a squad member who had to drop out of the match, Hazel Felton – a 20-handicap – lost out in her first match to David Heitler, 3-5.
But in her second round game, Hazel then went on to win the hard-fought tie against 12-handicap Ron McAlpine, 7-5.
Hazel teamed up with Jean Faulkner in their doubles match against David Heitler and Moreton A team captain Veronica Courtney, but the Broadwas duo lost 1-5 in a battle that timed-out. Hazel was defeated in the final singles round by Doreen Exton, 3-6.
It should be mentioned that in an extraordinary display of commitment to the High Handicap team, David Creed-Newton actually postponed surgery in order to participate in the match against Moreton A. Thank you David, from a rookie captain.
In the first round, David, partnering Paula Armstrong, lost out 4-7 to Ken Mercer and Ron McAlpine.
In his first singles game, David (10) only narrowly lost out to Silke Bruening (9), 6-7, but lost 1-7 to Moreton A captain Veronica Courtney.
In his final round of singles, David battled hard to hold 8-handicap Ken Mercer to a well-earned 5-5 draw.
I’ll gloss over the rest quickly. In his singles games, Paul Felton lost 3-7 to David Heitler and 1-7 to Ken Mercer.
The final match score :
Moreton-in-Marsh A – 14
Broadwas – 6
Unashamed Plug
On 1st August, Broadwas Croquet Club is hosting a heat of the national GC C-Level (7+) Series Tournament, which is being organised by club coach Jeff Faulkner. The Broadwas tournament still has a few places to fill, so why not head off to the Croquet England website and put in an application? These tournaments are great fun and give you the opportunity to meet and play against players from other clubs. Just type into Google ‘GC C-Level (7+) Series’ to get started.
Paul Felton