Jack Good won the European GC Singles Championship

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Jack Good in action (Photo: Rob Edlin-White)

The annual European Golf Croquet Singles Championship was held at Nottingham for the first time this year, ably organised and directed by local member Catriona Peterson. Although three of the newly relaid lawns puddled during heavy rain on the practice day, they drained overnight and, despite other heavy showers, the only time lost was by players cowering under shelter, rather than unplayable courts.

The event was played in an exceptionally good spirit, with the appeals panel being entirely redundant. There was excellent support behind the scenes from club members engaged in the usual tasks of providing catering and bar, setting up and clearing away and welcoming visitors. The ball boys were under-employed, with only one or two balls needing to be fished out of the stream, but they became expert hoop setters. Duncan Catterall provided two days of video streaming.

The experienced manager, Chris Clarke, completed all the games in a demanding schedule bar the final of the main event in time for a presentation at 3pm, enabling those with flights booked to catch them, though he was fortunate that the locals won both the England v Spain semi-finals. The winner, Jack Good, is a student at the University of Nottingham and his opponent, Sam Cuthbert, lives only two hours away, at Cheltenham. It was encouraging for the future of the sport, if not for the more senior players, that it was the youngsters who came through to take the medals.