[<<] [>>] by John Swabey
30th September 2003 (International)

Croquet is alive and well in Germany - specifically in the Pfalz (Rheinland Palatinate) where on 27 & 28 September 2003 the South West Federation held its first Open tournament, 26pt advanced rules, at the Limburger Hof, Schifferstadt (near Speyer), manager Bruno Hess.

As well as local players, others came from all over Germany ... from Leipzig, from Munich, from Hamburg and from Frankfurt, altogether 10 players in 2 blocks.

The 2 full-sized lawns at Schifferstadt are maintained by the neighbouring golf club and are settling down well. The weather was glorious (until about 15.30 on Sunday anyway), and there were even a few supporters who dragged themselves away from the Golf Croquet taking place on the private lawn at a nearby vineyard.

Only a few attempts were made at a triple peel, but the standard of stroke play and shooting was high. Players suffering from heat exhaustion could refresh themselves with pastries, bananas and above all the much needed water - if they managed to keep themselves away from the golf club's bistro.

The battle for first place was noteworthy only for the high number of unforced errors made by both players. When Bruno Hess eventually managed to have both his balls for peg - during the turn when time was called - he failed to peg out Yellow. John Swabey was then for peg with Black (on the boundary near 3-back) and providentially for 3-back with Blue (near 1-back). He hit in, split Yellow to 4-back while going to Black ... and won +1.

Congratulations to Bruno for a well-run tournament.

A-Block Games

John Swabey beat Michael Scholl +15t
beat Christian Beitler +17t
beat Hans Felber +22
beat Jorn Vinnen +3t

Jorn Vinnen beat Hans Felber +21
beat Christien Beitler +2t
beat Michael Scholl +4t

Christian Beitler beat Hans Felber +7t
beat Michael Scholl 7t

Hans Felber beat Michael Scholl +4t

B-Block Games

Bruno Hess beat Hermann Hess +19
beat Alexander Kirsten +26
beat Martin Zander +18
beat Wolfgang Usbeck +21

Alexander Kirsten beat Wolfgang Usbeck +6
beat Hermann Hess +13
beat Martin Zander +14t

Martin Zander beat Hermann Hess +4t
beat Wolfgang Usbeck +2t

Wolfgang Usbeck beat Hermann Hess +3t

Place 7 game:
Wolfgang Usbeck beat Hans Felber +16

Third place game:
Alexander Kirsten beat Jorn Vinnen +13

Final

John Swabey beat Bruno Hess +1