7th London Masters Golf Croquet Championship 2020

[<<] [>>] by Donald Beck at Surbiton
10 Aug 2020 (GC)

The tournament was played in a heatwave with temperatures exceeding 35C on lawns that were quick but fair. The entry promised top quality croquet and we were not disappointed.

On Saturday the story was of two families. The Gees, Will and Rachel, both won their 3 matches 2-0. In the other block Euan Burridge won all three matches, including beating his father Ian, to be the only undefeated player overnight.

Top shots of the weekend both belong to Will

Firstly, a missed clearance hit the stop board rose and hit the guttering of the clubhouse. There was some debate as to whether it would have cleared the roof.

Then on Sunday in his match with Rachel an attempt at hoop 12 hit his partner ball which hit Rachel's blue a further 5 yd away and sent both balls to the boundary. A missed hoop strongly improved his position. Despite this he lost the second game and the match t the 13^th.

Rachel having won her match 2-0 against Will squeezed into the final by one net game relegating will to second. Will had gone into the match a narrow favourite as his play to date had yielded four 2-0 wins.Pierre finished third also with 4 wins.

Euan qualified with 4/5 wins and by winning his last match against Liz Farrow 2-0 could not be overtaken. Ian tried but finished one net game behind. Most of the players stayed, partly because the bar was open, but mainly fascinated by the clash of styles. Euan playing a positive game and hitting the ball with purpose. Rachel a past European champion and experienced international playing a steadier game with accuracy and hitting long clearances but with less power.

So to a final played on a fast lawn 3 Euan won the toss and the first game running several clean hoops. Rachel fought back to take the second and at the seventh hoop with the scores level Euan missed a short slightly angled hoop. He didn't let this affect his game and he ran out a 7-4 winner of the decider.