Surbiton Open Golf Croquet Championship 1,2 May

A full field of 24 players assembled for a very competitive championship. Some stars chose under the covid guidelines to stay away and this gave an opportunity for for some less experienced to play against a quality field.

In Blue Block Stephen carried all before him. But who would secure the other semi-final spot? Richard Brooks , as usual was in the mix, this time with Liz Farrow and they had the manager reaching for the regulations.... With a player withdrawal overnight , it came down to the result between the players in the block and Richard played Stephen in the semi.

Stephen won taking his place win the final.

In Red Block, a group where the top 4 seeds were from Dulwich, it was a more of a scrap. Of the 12 players nine won 5 or more of their eleven games.

Guy headed the field with 9 wins and Mark Daley came second with 8. It has been good to see Mark's steady development into a top player at this event over recent years.

Mark did take a game off Guy but Guy made it through to the final.

Mark beat Richard 7-6 in the third place play-off.

A special mention to our Spanish visitor who came and quarantined in order to play, Luis Alvarez-Sala. His enthusiasm for the game could be seen from the practice sessions prior to the weekend. He may well be a name we will see more of in the future

Another first was Max Holland working as co-manager for the weekend. A good opportunity to gain experience in running a top event.