Season pushed back by pandemic
Bath Croquet Club’s competitive season has been put back due to Covid regulations which has resulted in a shorter campaign with smaller divisions in the various South West Federation leagues.
Since late June there has been a hectic restarting of matches, with the club fielding teams in eight different leagues to suit all abilities, as well as internal club competitions.
The club’s GC Handicap team visited Nailsea for their first match and came away with a 12-8 win. The successful team was Sally Helvey, Lyndon Hughes, David Veal, Clare Fletcher, Miriam Bolger and Pat Bellham. The club has also entered a team in the GC Level league this year for the first time since 2018.
The team of Ian Morrison, Paul Francis, Peter Miles, Bob Hart and Tony Curson played their first match at East Dorset last Thursday. The morning session went well with the team going to lunch 8-2 up and the afternoon continued in the same vein with Bath eventually winning 16-4.
This year the SWF have a included a new league, the Short Croquet League. It is basically Association Croquet played on half size lawns with its own handicap system. Bath started their season with a home match against Camerton & Peasedown. The team consisted of two experienced players Philip de Glanville and Paul Francis - plus two new-comers - Alex Hudson and Martin Alabaster.
Hudson, who only started playing late last year, in his first competitive AC match, starred in a 10-6 home win with four wins out of four, resulting in a reduction in his handicap.
The club has welcomed a significant number of new members this year and an evening GC doubles event was held last Friday to give them an opportunity to play a fun competition and meet existing members. Each new member was paired with a more experienced player. After a number of close matches Jane Meyer was the overall new member winner closely followed by Martin Alabaster.