Golf CroquetThe East Anglian Golf Croquet league is divided into four areas, the Northern, Eastern, Central and Western areas, and the clubs in each area played in an all-play-all block over the course of the season. The results of the matches in each block can be found by following the corresponding links. The four area winners then proceed to a knock-out stage for the semi-finals and finals to determine the overall winner, to be played respectively on 5th September at Newport and 6th September at Bury St. Edmunds.
Click on images for an enlargement |
GC League play-off results by year: |
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| Area | 2009 Area Winners: Semi-finalists |
2009 Finalists |
2009 Winners |
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| Hunstanton 'A' |  |
Enfield 11-7 |
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Enfield 10-9 |
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| Enfield | ||||||
| Bury St. Edmunds (W) | |
Stony Stratford 12-6 |
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| Stony Stratford | ||||||
 The finalists: Enfield (left) and Stony Stratford (right) |
 The winning Enfield team, L-R: Alan Foott, Ken Pickett, Wendy Spencer-Smith, John Street |
 Ken Pickett receiving the trophy from Chris Howell |
At short notice, the semi-finals were played on the neutral ground at Newport as Bury St Edmunds were qualifiers. The first match was the Bury West team against Stony Stratford. After eight games all was level, however as the morning progressed Stony Stratford forged ahead eventually leading the singles by 10 games to 6. They then went on to win both doubles games, thus progressing into Sunday's final. The most successful player in the Bury team was Chris Howell and Roy Healey was unbeaten in his games for Stony Stratford.
The afternoon semi-final featured Hunstanton 'A' against a team from Enfield. After 8 games Enfield edged ahead by 5 games to 3. The next rounds went to 4 games each, with Enfield still maintaining their 2 game lead going into the doubles. The final score was a win for Enfield by 11 games to 7, David Thirtle-Watts being the most successful player for Hunstanton, losing only 1 singles game and Ken Pickett for Enfield remaining unbeaten.
The finals were played on the more challenging lawns of the Bury St. Edmunds club between Stony Stratford and Enfield. The teams were unchanged but Ken Pickett had a reduced handicap from the semi-finals, thus he was conceding a further extra turn when playing against opponents with a higher handicap. At the end of the singles Stony Stratford were leading by 9 games to 7. An absorbing doubles challenge followed, accurate ball placing, bold hoop running and successful team strategies gave Enfield both doubles games resulting in a 'golden hoop' play-off; again 'nail biting' to watch, Enfield finally running the hoop and taking the trophy.
Chris Howell
See also:
GC League play-off results by year:
Previous GC league winners - summary
The fee for taking part in the League this year has been increased to £10 per club. Cheques (made payable to the EACF) should be sent to Chris Howell by 10th May 2009.
Chris Howelll
GOLF CROQUET LEAGUE RULES – 2009
Chris Howell |
