Neil Morrison Trophy A SUMMER REPORT FROM SWINDON
by Tony Mayer Tournament Manager, Swindon C C The first tournament for the Neil Morrison Memorial Trophy was held over the August Bank Holiday weekend. Neil was a keen AC player and excellent coach and it is fitting that the Trophy in his name is for AC players of handicaps 7 and above – a group for whom Neil’s coaching helped most. In fact there are very few tournaments specifically designed for this group of AC players to engage in Level Play using the so‐ called ‘Advanced’ rules. This first tournament involved 6 players with five rounds so that all played all. It is gratifying that this first playing of the Trophy attracted players from Bath, Blewbury, Bristol/Nailsea, Kenilworth and High Wycombe as well as from Swindon
The tournament opened on Saturday in a torrential downpour. Standing water made Court 1 unplayable and court 2 was just about usable and so, double banking on Court 3 took place as this was relatively unscathed. The heavy rain made arduous work as it took a lot of energy to move a ball any distance. Consequently, all the first‐ round games went to time. However, by the afternoon with drying conditions we were able to use all three courts and avoid double banking. Some differential drying left the lawns a little bumpy which created a different
challenge to the players. Fortunately, the second day was dry albeit with a very strong wind – again another challenge! It soon became evident that Andy Evason from Blewbury was the favourite as he played some excellent croquet creating lengthy breaks usually including peels. The early prediction of his success was borne out as he remained undefeated throughout the tournament often winning by significant margins. So not only did Andy win all his games but he ended up with a hoop difference of plus 50 – a really impressive achievement. There was a close fight for second place with Mervyn Harvey and Phil de Glanville tied on 3 wins each with Mervyn having a good positive hoop difference to become runner‐up.
Lynette, Neil’s daughter came on the afternoon of the second day to present the cup to the winner. One should note that with Andy’s impressive and rapid progress it is unlikely that he will be able to defend the Trophy in 2025 as his handicap will be much too low by then! Despite the conditions on the first day, we saw some excellent play and close finishes over the two days which is a reflection of the standard achieved by all participants. We are all now looking forward to 2025 for this to become a well established feature of the Croquet England calendar.
L to R: Alan Braunton, Philip de Glanville, Andy Evason, Kathy Wallace, Mervyn Harvey and Richard Coward
CROQUET REPORTERS WANTED From Alison Maugham, Editor, editor@croquetengland.org.uk I would like to welcome a fresh approach to our reporting in the Gazette. Can you help me?
Do you have experience in writing, are you a good story teller, a follower of the championship players or keen to share news and ideas from the grass roots of our community? In our Gazette there should be something for everyone, which means I need the voice of everyone to help me. Email me or call me for a chat if you are interested, 07766 720 830.
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