THE ROAD TO EASTBOURNE PIER PART 2: THE JOURNEY
Tournament Manager I made the decision to withdraw from this one. A'er all I’m confident not stupid, and so the third lesson was learnt: know your limits! However, I was now le' with a gap in my calendar, but there was another Open with spaces, in Tunbridge Wells. Although technically a similar level, as most of the top players were converging on East Anglia the entry,
By Michael Pudney [Magic Mike]
And I would drive 2,000 miles, Then I would drive 2,000 more Just to be the man who smacked four coloured balls Although it’s made me rather poor. So where was I? Ah yes, my first C‐Series at Budleigh and buoyed with confidence! Well in the intervening four months I’ve learnt a fair amount about this croquet lark; 164 ranking games tends to do that to you. The first and most disturbing thing I learnt was that “Magic Mike” is in fact a male stripper featuring in films and stage shows. In fairness to our Compe77ons Manager John Effingham, who gave me this moniker, I’m not sure he knew either. Anyway it’s too late now, I have the beanie hat. However, I promise not to try and emulate my namesake on the lawns. The second major educa7on involved the TES tournament entry system. Apparently the comments sec7on next to your name in a tournament entry is not a private place for you to make comments about your prepara7ons or opponents, as it is visible to at the least the Tournament Manager and possibly other players. Fortunately, I did discover this before I made any serious faux pas, so be warned before making any tac7cal or other observa7ons about a fellow compe7tor, or derogatory comments about a town’s
whilst good, wasn’t quite so daun7ng, and I entered fully expec7ng a day of defeat but educa7on. Perhaps the expecta7ons for the day made me play in a more relaxed fashion, and along with my fellow 7‐Handicapper I qualified for the main knock‐out. Unlike Edward Patel I lost my quarter‐final, but then went on to win two further matches and finished 5th, whilst Edward a'er a narrow defeat to his dad 7‐6 in the semi‐final finished 4th. (A lesson learnt for others that day – never underes7mate a 7.) So buoyed with confidence again I moved on to my first overseas
hotels and general state of repair. Although thinking about it, it may in fact be a useful addi7on to the website if a personal comments sec7on was available to record your own accommoda7on and leave arrangements. It is probably worth at this point thanking James at HQ who was a great help when entering my first tournaments; if you are ever unsure about anything pick up the phone. In my experience you will be met with great knowledge and support. Onto the croquet itself. A'er my ini7al rela7ve successes and planning out my season I discovered a gap, and decided much to the surprise of my
croquet tournament, well the Isle of Wight counts doesn’t it? Much of my season had been built on a plan to qualify for the C‐ Level Finals in Eastbourne, and I had entered as many tournaments as possible, and was confident that a'er a 4th and a number of 5ths I would eventually be triumphant, but the problem was by this stage I was in danger of not being eligible for any tournaments that hadn’t been allocated. I considered this as I
clubmates to enter the East Anglian Open, which at the 7me had an entry of eight and one fellow highish handicapper. A few weeks later he had dropped out and been replaced by eight of the top players in the country, but with an hour to go I was s7ll in the tournament, along with 15 players with handicaps of 1 and below. My blushes were spared at the 11th hour when I was pushed to 1st reserve. Following a very kind and suppor7ve exchange with Ian Burridge the
dragged my kit bag up the long and surprisingly steep road from Ryde Harbour to the croquet club, and had a quick nap under the beau7ful White Isle early morning sunshine, but I was top seed so what could go wrong today. As I walked back 11 hours later having finished last, I texted my club coach Tony Elkin, who has been my mentor and has ac7vely supported my journey, with four simple words: “make it
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