[<<] [>>] by Cliff Jones at Ryde Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club
19 May 2013 (AC)

Kevin Carter won the Isle of Wight Championship Bowl for the second year in succession with five wins out of five.

The Isle of Wight Advanced Association Singles was first competed in 1932 for the Championship Bowl. A welcome guest was manager and player, Cliff Jones from Honiton, with both he and Jonathan Lamb (Surbiton) playing with a handicap of minus 0.5. No time limit matches were played using a Flexible Swiss format, and it soon became clear that defending champion, Kevin Carter (0) from Surbiton was on good form although pushed in his second match by Richard Wood (2) from Sidmouth to win +4. The only Ryde player, Philip Kennerley (1.5) also played well against strong opposition.

The final result was that Kevin Carter again remained unbeaten with Jonathan Lamb, Cliff Jones, Philip Kennerley, Richard Wood and Alwen Bowker all with 60% in joint second place. Presentations were made by the Ryde Club chairman, Pam Sim.

The Isle of Wight Festival of Croquet had 26 entries in total from both the home club and the mainland. Several supporters also attended taking advantage of a holiday on the Island as well as the Walking Festival at the same time. The tournament was spread over a full week with the main competitions at the weekends.

Unfortunately a couple of local players were also involved with organising walking events and the Sunday Walk, so were unable to play in the Association Handicap event for the Mary Robinson Shield. This meant that the field was reduced to four, with three locals, Philip Kennerley (Handicap 1.5), Pam Sim (11) and Richard Harris (11), being joined by Derek Beard (7) from Devon to play each other twice in the weekend. Matches were 22 hoop games timed for 2 ¾ hours.

In the Mary Robinson Shield, Richard Harris won all three of his matches to be the overnight leader, followed by Philip Kennerley with 2 wins, Derek Beard with one and Pam Sim still to make a score. All was different on Sunday, as in cold conditions, Richard could not make a hit in and Pam played steadily to beat him by 21 hoops in the first game. This was definitely Derek's day, with him being unbeaten to take the title by 4 wins from 6 games. Philip and Richard were runners up with 3 wins from 6 games each.

The Unrestricted Level Golf Croquet Singles, managed by Roy Tillcock, had eight local players who were joined by pairs from Cheltenham and Hamptworth. The players were divided into two groups by handicap, and on the second day, two moved down and two moved up to provide a final competition in three groups. Matches were 19 hoop games.

In Group A, there were five players with a handicap of 2 and one player on 5, so the group were bound to be close. The overnight leader was Les Bowker from Cheltenham with 5 wins out of 5 followed by Ryde players, Robin Thornton and Richard Harris with 3 wins each. In Group B, Ryde's Joan Grove and Judy Walker led the field for promotion on the second day.

An exciting finale was provided by the fact that after nine rounds there could have been a three way tie with 7 wins each. In the event, Les beat Richard 10 - 8 and Robin beat Alwen Bowker 10 - 5, to give Les and Robin 8 wins each. On the head to head matches, both had won, so the decision was on hoop difference in favour of Robin with 18 hoops to 14. Richard was third with 6 out of 10.

Group B was won by Joan Grove with 5 wins, with Stuart Peters in second place. Group C was won by Pam Sim, with Nick Westmore in second place.

A tournament supper attended by 22 players and partners was held on Saturday evening and was thoroughly enjoyed by all. Cliff Jones, on behalf of the visitors, thanked Pam for the excellent hospitality provided and many of the players have pledged to return.

Results - Advanced Singles

Les Bowker beat Jonathan Lamb +15
Richard Wood beat Derek Beard +23
Kevin Carter beat Graham Thompson +19
Philip Kennerley beat Mike Cockburn +15
Cliff Jones beat Alwen Bowker +17
Kevin Carter beat Richard Wood +4
Derek Beard beat Graham Thompson +11
Cliff Jones beat Les Bowker +26
Philip Kennerley beat Jonathan Lamb +21
Alwen Bowker beat Mike Cockburn +9
Jonathan Lamb beat Mike Cockburn +26
Alwen Bowker beat Graham Thompson +13
Les Bowker beat Derek Beard +17
Kevin Carter beat Cliff Jones +18TP
Richard Wood beat Philip Kennerley +8
Kevin Carter beat Les Bowker +26
Cliff Jones beat Richard Wood +4
Alwen Bowker beat Philip Kennerley +16
Jonathan Lamb beat Derek Beard +23
Graham Thompson beat Mike Cockburn +18
Kevin Carter beat Alwen Bowker +19
Derek Beard beat Mike Cockburn +10
Philip Kennerley beat Graham Thompson +10
Richard Wood beat Les Bowker +18
Jonathan Lamb beat Cliff Jones +8

GC Unrestricted Level Singles

Group Winners: Robin Thornton, Joan Grove, Pam Sim

Richard Harris(2) beat John Sim(2) 10-9
Robin Thornton(2) beat Alwen Bowker(2) 10-8
Les Bowker(2) beat Stuart Peters(5) 10-6
Joan Grove(6) beat Janet Trueman(8) 10-9
Judy Walker(8) beat Richard Jenkins(5) 10-9
Pam Sim(6) beat Nick Westmore(6) 10-9
Robin Thornton beat Stuart Peters 10-9
Richard Harris beat Alwen Bowker 10-5
Les Bowker beat John Sim 10-6
Joan Grove beat Nick Westmore 10-5
Richard Jenkins beat Pam Sim 10-9
Judy Walker beat Janet Trueman 10-8
Les Bowker beat Alwen Bowker 10-9
Stuart Peters beat John Sim 10-6
Richard Harris beat Robin Thornton 10-6
Joan Grove beat Richard Jenkins 10-9
Nick Westmore beat Janet Trueman 10-7
Pam Sim beat Judy Walker 10-6
Alwen Bowker beat Stuart Peters 10-7
Les Bowker beat Richard Harris 10-3
Robin Thornton beat John Sim 10-2
Janet Trueman beat Pam Sim 10-5
Joan Grove beat Judy Walker 10-2
Nick Westmore beat Richard Jenkins 10-4
Alwen Bowker beat John Sim 10-8
Les Bowker beat Robin Thornton 10-8
Stuart Peters beat Richard Harris 10-5
Judy Walker beat Nick Westmore 10-8
Joan Grove beat Pam Sim 10-9
Richard Jenkins beat Janet Trueman 10-4
Alwen Bowker beat Judy Walker 7-3
Robin Thornton beat Richard Harris 7-5
Les Bowker beat Joan Grove 7-2
Pam Sim beat Janet Trueman 7-6
John Sim beat Nick Westmore 7-4
Stuart Peters beat Richard Jenkins 7-3
Alwen Bowker beat Les Bowker 7-5
Richard Harris beat Joan Grove 7-6
Robin Thornton beat Judy Walker 7-6
Pam Sim beat Stuart Peters 7-4
John Sim beat Richard Jenkins 7-1
Nick Westmore beat Janet Trueman 7-4
Richard Harris beat Alwen Bowker 7-5
Les Bowker beat Judy Walker 7-5
Robin Thornton beat Joan Grove 7-5
Pam Sim beat John Sim 7-6
Janet Trueman beat Stuart Peters 7-6
Nick Westmore beat Richard Jenkins 7-3
Robin Thornton beat Les Bowker 10-4
Alwen Bowker beat Joan Grove 10-8
Richard Harris beat Judy Walker 10-7
Stuart Peters beat Nick Westmore 10-3
Judy Walker beat Joan Grove 10-9
Robin Thornton beat Alwen Bowker 10-5
Les Bowker beat Richard Harris 10-8
Richard Jenkins beat Janet Trueman 10-5