HAVE MALLET WILL TRAVEL
By Brenda Duplock, Budleigh Salterton Croquet Club
This is a personal reflec7on on my 2025 croquet season, which I wanted to share, as I hope it might inspire others to experience the fun and camaraderie of travelling to tournaments in other places. Over the year, I’ve enjoyed travelling and compe7ng in seven Croquet England GC Level Series ‘C’ (7+ hcp) compe77ons at Chester, Swindon, East Dorset, Bath, Cheltenham, Sidmouth, and of course at my home club, Budleigh Salterton. I didn’t win any of the compe77ons but measured my real success in winning more games than I lost and, in all but one event, I qualified for the main knockout rather than the (consola7on) plate. I finished 3rd once and 4th twice.
The tournaments I entered had 16 par7cipants. Play started in blocks. Then the most successful block players were entered into a knockout, with the remainder going into the plate. Players generally play 6 games over the day. The warm welcome at all the venues was very much appreciated along with hot & cold drinks, excellent cakes and, notably, the outstanding lunch at Chester! The experience was great for my game, playing many different people on very varying lawns. My handicap has changed from 8 at the start of the season to 5, and my DGrade has gone up by 92 points. I played 60 games, including LP 5+ league matches which counted towards this rise, and achieved a 63% win rate. I found that the experience, especially adap7ng to playing on varying lawn condi7ons, was very useful when playing away in league matches and when playing condi7ons changed at home. My croquet ‘family’ has also expanded, and I look forward to playing many of the same people next year – although now in the GC B Level Series. The whole season was great fun, but also a fantas7c learning curve for me ‐ so I'd recommend giving these tournaments a try! Check out the Croquet England Tournament Calendar and put yourself forward! You may even be able, as I did, to combine a day’s Croquet with a visit to family or friends or being a tourist in a different area ‐ which added to the whole enjoyment of travelling to play. I'm looking forward to the tournament calendar opening in February, so I can plan my next adventures ‐ I hope some of you will join me! Finally, I'd like to end with a massive Thank You to fellow Budleigh club member Stuart M. Smith. At the start of the year, Stu asked me if I would like to partner him for our season‐long club Doubles compe77on. This was a great boost to my confidence and Stu's constant encouragement 'to get out there and play' inspired me to do just that! Photo: Brenda is pictured here (centre) with the victorious Budleigh LP 5+ Team a!er bea0ng Broadwas at Bristol in the Final to win the SWCF LP 5+ League.
www.croquetengland.org.uk | 18
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