CAMERTON and Peasedown High Handicap Golf Croquet team welcomed six players from Bath on a cloudy day with a few very light showers.

The first round of four games had to be played on two lawns double-banked as, when play started at 10am, the groundsman was still working on lawns 3 and 4.

CPCC took the lead 3-1 in those games and kept their noses in front all day, running out 11½ – 8½ winners. There were a number of very close games, with CPCC winning two on the golden hoop. The very competitive nature of the match was illustrated by the fact that only two of the twenty games were won 7-3; all the rest were closer.

Three of CPCC’s players (Simon Munton, June Farley and Peter Buchanan) won 3 of their 4 games, while Bath’s most successful player was Valerie Stanley with 4 wins from 5 games.

Referee Nigel Wulcko (with his canine assistant Pepper) made a very valuable contribution to the day’s proceedings, with the Bath captain saying that she had learnt some useful lessons. Reporter: Peter Buchanan

And in other news: Des Back captained the Camerton and Peasedown CC handicap team ‘B’ to an away win at Bath CC on July 18.

In the Croquet England National Doubles Championship weekend, held at Budleigh Salterton on July 27th and 28th, Andy Loakes and Colin Britt were placed equal third.

On the Saturday a field of 16 pairs, including many England and a few New Zealand players, were split into two blocks. The Camerton and Peasedown pairing won four of their seven games and progressed to the Sunday knockout rounds.

These took the form of the best of three 13-point games, and kicked off at 9am with the quarter-finals. Colin and Andy won theirs 2-0. In the semi-final they came up against a very strong pairing of Chris Clarke and Helen Reeves of New Zealand. Colin and Andy took the first game but couldn’t maintain their form and finally lost out 1-2.

In the 3rd/4th play-off against a pairing of Jenny Clarke, Chris Clark’s wife who is the second best woman player in the world, and Roger Goldring, a solid, straight-hitting competitor from the UK, the match was tied at one game all when the tea whistle blew and they agreed on an amiable draw; both teams coming in at equal third place. The winners of the Championship were Sam Cuthbert and James Death.