2013 Ken Wheeler Shield

Golf Croquet

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Suffolk win the Ken Wheeler Shield

There is a new name on The Ken Wheeler Shield this year as Suffolk managed to depose Hertfordshire, the holders for the last two years. This is the third year that this EACF Inter-Counties Golf Croquet event has been staged and the standard of play continues to rise year on year.

At the end of the first round of games Norfolk emerged as the early leaders, proceeding into The Gold Medal Round with 10 points, closely followed by Suffolk with 9 points and the surprise underdogs Essex on 8 points.

In the Gold Medal round the format becomes doubles with each county playing each other for double points added to the first round total. The first Norfolk pair of Simon Carter and Dave Watts had an early win against Essex, retaining the Norfolk lead on 12 points. However, the Suffolk pair of David Crawford and Paul Strover kept up the pressure likewise, by seeing off their Essex opponents to closely follow on 11 points. This meant that the overall winner would be decided by the final game of Suffolk pairing Jill Waters and Martin Hart and the Norfolk Pair of Jeff Race and Tony Lee. This game provided an exciting climax to the day by going to the 13th hoop by which the Suffolk pair, by keeping their composure, managed to secure an unexpected victory taking the trophy with an overall team win of 13 points.

The trophy was presented to the winning side by the Hunstanton Club President Ken Wheeler who had not only devised the current format but ably managed the tournament.

Report by Terrey Sparks, photo by John Cundell

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Venue	Hunstanton, Saturday 8 June 2013
Manager	Ken Wheeler
Format	Each team will play a match against each other over the first five rounds (i.e. an American Block). A 'match' will comprise two singles games and one doubles. In the first round a team may elect to allocate players in any role (Singles or Doubles) irrespective of handicap. In the second round the Singles/Doubles roles will be reversed. In the third round roles will revert to those of the first round etc. e.g. Round 1 A1 v B1 A2 v B2 A3/A4 v B3/B4     Round 2 A3 v C3 A4 v C4 A1/A2 v C1/C2     Round 3 A1 v D1 A2 v D2 A3/A4 v D3/D4 etc. (Thus, after five rounds each player will have played either 3 Singles and 2 Doubles, or 2 Singles and 3 Doubles). On completion of this Block Phase the three leading teams will qualify for the sixth 'Gold Medal Round'. The leading teams will be decided on Match Wins with any tie being resolved by 'who-beat-whom'. "Gold Medal Round" Format Each team will carry forward games won (each game scoring a single point). Each team will now comprise two Doubles pairs. The pairings may differ from the Block Phase. Pairs will be drawn to play a single game in the following format: X1 v Y1 X2 v Z1 Y2 v Z2 A game win will score two points and be added to the aggregate carried forward. The winning team will be the one with the most points, with any tie being resolved by the match result in the Block Phase.
Eligibility	To qualify for a County the team member must either be born, reside or be registered with a club within that County. (For this tournament the county of Bedfordshire includes the clubs of Northampton and Stony Stratford). If you are eligible and want to play, please contact the relevant team captain!		The Ken Wheeler Shield
Team captains	Beds: John Cundell (Leighton Linslade) Cambridge: Terrey Sparks (Peterborough) Essex: Judith Hand (Chelmsford) Herts: Robert Archer (Watford) Norfolk: David Thirtle-Watts (Hunstanton) Suffolk: David Crawford (Ipswich)
Entry fees	£26 per team		Ken Wheeler Shield results by year: 2024 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011
Previous winners	Hertfordshire	Click on images for an enlargement
Regulations	(PDF, 16kb) Note: the trial Wrong Ball Law will be used.

 

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