PENDLE B AND C LEVEL ADVANCED AC 17TH AND 18TH MAY 2025
you on? 5 back was the reply). Congratula7ons to Adrian Apps (B Level winner) and Phil Snowden (C Level winner and a handicap reduc7on to 6), and to Alan Dix playing in his first tournament. The picture shows the compe7tors, including Stefan in black mourning garb due to his handicap going the wrong way! Thank you to the hospitable Pendle Club and to Brian for his excellent management.
By Liz Wilson
Wonderful weather and interes7ng lawns welcomed 12 players to Pendle. One of the original 12 entrants had to pull out with 24 hours’ no7ce due to injury, but Bowdon's Adrian Apps stepped up at short no7ce to avoid a Manager's nightmare. The tournament was run as a 5 round Swiss Amalfi by Brian Medley in his 2nd year of Tournament Management. With the sun bea7ng down constantly for the whole weekend at 7mes it felt like we were on the Amalfi Coast! Handicaps ranged from scratch to 10 ‐ the C Level compe7tors being in the range 6+. Surprising giant killer results started to appear in the first round with Peter Wilson (3.5) bea7ng Brian Medley (0.5), Steve Skelton (3.5) bea7ng Charles Harding (0), Andrew Gould (10) bea7ng Stephen Pra8 (3.5), Chris Williamson (8) bea7ng Steve Skelton (3.5) and Phil Snowden (7) bea7ng Stefan Colling (0.5). In the 2nd round Phil con7nued his onslaught bea7ng Steve Skelton, whilst the other matches went with handicaps. The final round was played in the evening sunshine where the only surprise was a very lucky win for Liz Wilson (4) vs Charles. In the 7me turn Liz needed to scoop off penult and rover and peg out in a 3 ball ending. Two hoops were nego7ated but the roquet on recep7on ball was missed, only for the strike ball to trickle to corner one where Charles had “safely” le' his ball – the fluke roquet of the year gave Liz the win! Day 2 started with Adrian Apps (3) and Peter on 3 wins each. Phil had to take on his coach and mentor Liz, who for once didn't want him to win! In a close match, won by one point a'er the 7me turns, age and experience won out over youth. Sco9sh visitor Stefan con7nued to claw back 1 or 2 points per game a'er his 19 point loss in the first round and joined Liz and Peter Wilson on 3 wins with Adrian on 4. The Amalfi system is supposed to throw up an exci7ng final round and so it proved to be. 5 of the 6 games were going to affect the results. Liz had to play her husband Peter, and Stefan played Adrian. If Stefan won then there would be a 3 way 7e of 3 players on 4 wins, all of whom had not played each other. Magnifying glasses were out to read the small print! Adrian had the upper hand and eventually all he had to do was rush to the peg and finish. Did you know in B Level hoops o'en get in the way? The rush to peg put the roqueted ball in rover. Adrian took croquet from the ball in the hoop which didn't quite make the distance to the peg but did stop his strike ball from shoo7ng at it! A sca8er shot sent the two balls in a wide split. Stefan hit in – just 4 hoops to make and a rover peel – unfortunately 4 back rejected his ball. Game over for Liz and Stefan and the Tournament winner was the unbeaten stand‐in Adrian. Much fun and B level hacker play made the whole atmosphere quite amusing. Many swear words as hoops were blobbed and some new terminology (which hoop are
Adrian Apps
Phil Snowden
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