The lawns in our pleasant seat looked a treat in the Spring sunshine – hath Britain all the sun that shines? – as 20 players girded their loins for a great day’s play in this fun-for-all competition which saw a handicap range from 2 peels to 10 bisques(in short croquet terms).

And as the block results below show – neither a low handicap, nor indeed a pocket full of bisques, are everything: skill, good strategic play and luck (which happens when preparedness meets opportunity) all have their role to play. As one or two players learnt, bisques are to be used, not saved! Indeed, delays have dangerous ends.

In the end the winner of each block emerged and will play the semi-finals over the semis weekend – as you can see, some were shorter than others – maybe we should introduce a short game for short players.

So thanks to everyone for making it a great day, and for those of you who would have appreciated a few more wins: better luck tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow

Brevity is the soul of wit, but can you find the ten quotes from Shakespeare in this report? Beware – in that way madness lies.

The results

Here are the block winners who will play in the semi finals in September.

August came in rather ashamed of its attire – grey and chilly with a spot of rain, but undaunted, the 10 players who signed up for this competition more than made up for it in their sparkling whites and sunny dispositions!

The first round witnessed a series of closely fought games with only one going to time and at the end of round three, margins stayed close with two games going to time.

Time for lunch with mostly everything to play for – a bye for each player making accurate forecasting a nightmare for all but most determined bet-layers.

By the end of the day, some win margins had opened up a little with +4 or +5 results in a few cases.

A little calculating as to who beat whom determined semi-finalists: Polly, Robin, Jim and Peter, who are keenly anticipating semis weekend.

Thanks to everyone who took part – it would be great to have more competitors next year particularly in the light of the excellent Mad Monday experience that is being built up – so do give that some thought – you may even be mentioned in dispatches.

Block A

Block B

Semi Finals

July 18th – 20th

After 3 days of conditions varying from bone dry lawns to intermittent showers, Pat Long has qualified to play in the Women’s AC World Championship at the Nottingham club, played between 25th July and 1st August.  Pat goes with our very best wishes.

The final standings were:

1.  Anne Quinn 7/7