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Hunstanton 102nd Annual Tournament

[<<] [>>] by Paul Hill
25-28 Aug 2001 (AC - Mixed)

With the weather looking promising and the lawns getting faster it was time to celebrate the opening of the New Club House, this was on the evening before the start of our 102nd Annual Tournament.

The building contractors required access and as a result lawn 1 was out of commission, consequently with only four lawns the field was reduced to 21 players.

On the first two days temperatures reached the 80's (I've yet to be converted) and the lawns, so well prepared by the groundsman Geoff Race, got faster and faster. Under these sweltering conditions Su Stenhouse, who kindly offered to carry some food for Sarah Hampson, suffered a leakage from the container she was carrying. Unfortunately it was beetroot, this was followed shortly by a coffee spillage which necessitated a complete change of clothing. The only alternative was her waterproofs creating an unusual sight and presumably an uncomfortable microclimate. This did not prevent Su from eventually winning the B block.

The A block was won by George Noble despite David Tutt's first ever STP.

The D block ( handicap ) was won by Vi Lester.

The C block was a three way tie. As each player had been defeated by one of the other two under Regulation F3 (d) (5) it was necessary to apply Regulation M1 (h) (6). As Tournament Manager Martin Kolbuszewski decided that there should be a ten ball shoot out at the peg from A baulk This added an extra entertainment at the end of the four days with ROT Nick Harris, finger on the peg , giving a round by round commentary in the idiom of the Eurovision Song Contest. The final result was Martin Kolbuszewski who scored 1, Paul Hill 4 and to win the C block Celia Pearce scored 5! As some compensation for Martin he won the Egyptian with Nick Harris the runner-up. Finally Neil Chalmers was presented with a brand new wooden spoon.

On this occasion the prizes were presented by Carol Mattacks wife of David Mattacks. David who as Club Chairman has given so much time and energy to overseeing the planning, construction and equipping of the new clubhouse. All players enjoyed the new facilities which had been declared a "no smoking" zone by the committee. As a result Martin could often be seen writing results up on the boards with one hand out of the doors carefully clutching a cigarette. The ROT had a dual role as i.c. the plunger because we had a slight problem in the men's changing room, overall the new facilities will be a great asset and many thanks to all who have helped in one way or another.



 

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