Heather Bennett won the Colchester Midweek Handicap

[<<] [>>] by David Haslam at Colchester Croquet Club
8 Aug 2013 (AC - Handicap)

A full compliment of 16 players assembled to do battle on the very fast and finely cut Colchester courts with a weather forecast promising lots of sun and warmth. Handicaps ranged from 0.5 to 18 and with lots of experience but including the well-tutored Susan Fulford playing in her first Colchester tournament.
At the end of Day 1 it was clear that there would be no runaway winner with John Andrews (14), Peter Kenward (3) and the evergreen Ron Atkinson (18) all unbeaten. They were followed by a further five players with 2 wins from 3. And so to Day 2 where Ron had 2 more wins ending the day on his own with 100% but with John Andrews close behind on 5 from 6 and Heather Bennett and Neil Chalmers both in contention with 4 wins from 5. A notable feature of the early rounds was Neil Chalmer's 45 minute quickfire win which earned him the Manager's reward of a bottle of Madeira!.
The final morning saw Heather beat Ron and John beat Neil thereby leaving just three competing for the trophy. In the event it was still open until the final match to finish saw John's dreams shattered by David Ebert playing in only his second tournament but winning +2 on time. Minutes before Heather had beaten Susan Fulford +5 in an excellent contest thereby winning the Rose Bowl which was presented by the Manager, David Haslam. The entire field had enjoyed delicious lunches over the three days thanks to the hard work of Ann Brookes. Roll on 2014!

1st Heather Bennett
2nd John Andrews
3rd= Neil Chalmers and Ron Atkinson