The lawns are all ready for the Northwest Handicap Golf Croquet League match tomorrow against Westmorland. Good luck team.
Ready to Go
Longman Cup Match v Bowdon
The day started out unpromising with drizzle but was forecast to improve as it did with the weather turning hot and dry by the afternoon making the lawns speed up noticeably.
The Pendle and Craven team(P&CCC) consisted of Paul Dowdall(7), Catherine Parnell(8), Andrew Gould(10) and Mark Kerr(12) with Mark, Andrew and Paul travelling to Bowdon together whilst Catherine travelled on her own from Bury
The Bowdon team were Andrew Thomson(4), Lorna Frost(11), John Bagnall(16) and Mike Blackburn(18).
The morning matches went well with Paul & Mark playing against Andrew & Lorna winning +1 on time. The others also won, Andrew beating Mike +9 and Catherine beating John +5 on time. This left the P&CCC team three nil up at lunch with only one win needed to secure the win.
The afternoon matches were all singles and all went our way:
Paul beat Andrew +12
Catherine beat Lorna +12T
Andrew beat John +3T
Mark beat Mike +1T
This gave P&CCC a seemingly convincing 7-0 win but most of the games were very close and could easily have gone the other way.
Thanks to all the team, as well as to Libby Dixon, our non-playing captain.
See you in the next round
Pendle and Craven Croquet Club,
B and C Level Advanced A/C
17th and 18th May.
Manager: Brian Medley.
Reporter: Liz Wilson.
Wonderful weather and interesting lawns welcomed 12 players to Pendle. One of the original 12 entrants had to pull out with 24 hours’ notice due to injury but Bowdon’s Adrian Apps stepped up at short notice to avoid a Manager’s nightmare! The tournament was run as a 5 round Swiss Amalfi by Brian Medley in his 2nd year of Tournament Management. With the sun beating down constantly for the whole weekend at times it felt like we were on the Amalfi Coast! Handicaps ranged from scratch to 10 – the C Level competitors being in the range 6+. Surprising giant killer results started to appear in the first round with Peter Wilson (3.5) beating Brian Medley (0.5), Steve Skelton (3.5) beating Charles Harding (0), Andrew Gould (10) beating Stephen Pratt (3.5) and Phil Snowden (7) beating Stephan Colling (0.5). In the 2nd round Phil continued his onslaught beating Steve Skelton whilst the other matches went with handicaps. The final round was played in the evening sunshine where the only surprise was a very lucky win for Liz Wilson (4) vs Charles (0) who in the time turn needed to scoop off penult and rover and peg out in a 3-ball ending. Two hoops negotiated but the roquet on reception ball was missed only for the strike ball to trickle to corner one where Charles had “safely” left his ball – fluke roquet of the year gave Liz the win! Day 2 started with Adrian Apps and Peter on 3 wins each. Phil Snowden had to take on his coach and mentor Liz and was beaten on the golden hoop (age and experience wins over youth) who for once didn’t want him to win! Scottish visitor Stephan continued to claw back 1 or 2 points per game after his 19-point loss in the first round and joined Liz and Peter Wilson on 3 wins with Adrian on 4. The Amalfi system is supposed to throw up an exciting final round and so it proved to be. 5 of the 6 games were going to affect the results. Liz had to play her husband Peter and Stephan played Adrian. If Stephan won then there would be a 3-way tie of 3 players on 4 wins all of whom had not played each other. Magnifying glasses were out to read the small print! Adrian had the upper hand and eventually all he had to do was rush to the peg and finish. Did you know in B Level hoops often get in the way! The rush to peg put the croqueted ball in rover. Adrian took croquet from the ball in the hoop which didn’t quite make the distance to the peg but did stop his strike ball from shooting at it! A scatter shot sent the two balls in a wide split. Stephan hit in – just 4 hoops to make and a rover peel – unfortunately 4 back rejected his ball. Game over for Liz and Stephan and the Tournament winner was the unbeaten stand-in, Adrian! Much fun and B level hacker play made the whole atmosphere quite amusing. Many swear words as hoops were blobbed and some new terminology (which hoop are you on? 5 back was the reply) Congratulations to Adrian Apps (B Level winner) and Phil Snowdon (C Level winner and a handicap reduction to 6) and to Alan Dix playing in his first tournament. The picture shows the competitors including Stephan in black mourning garb due to his handicap going the wrong way!
Thank you to the hospitable Pendle and Craven Croquet Club and to Brian for excellent management.
10th May . “B” Level GC
Report from Cathy O’Brien
A full complement of 16 players from as far afield as Guildford competed in the Pendle and Craven ‘B’ series GC competition. The parched lawns were playing really fast and some very close games resulted in two players from Pendle, Libby Dixon and Andrew Gould, plus two from Bishop Monkton, Jo-Ann Hughes and Robert Strover winning their Round Robin blocks. After lunch the glorious sunshine continued and the knock out phase of the tournament continued. Congratulations to Jo-Ann who beat Andrew (7-5) in the final. Peter Adams (Guildford) beat Libby 7-6 for third place. Richard Sanville (Ashby) beat Robert for the Shield. Full results can be seen on Croquet Scores.
”C”ADVANTAGE GC TOURNAMENT 4th MAY
As an experiment Pendle and Craven Croquet Club introduced a “C” Advantage GC competition into their Tournament programme.
Pendle and Craven CC welcomed Simon A from Bury Croquet Club and Brenda K from Crake Valley Croquet Club, along with four club members.
The day was very cool and despite periods of sunshine the temperature only reached 10deg.
Players gathered by 8.45am and after a managers briefing, time was allowed for a warm up on the lawns.
In an all-play-all , no time limits , and using the Advantage 2024/25 framework, play got underway. Despite the initial fear of long games the players played expeditiously. No game went past 45 mins.
At lunch everyone gathered in the clubhouse to warm up. Chatter centered on croquet and forthcoming competitions for C class players.
The afternoon went without any problems and the clear winner was Sharon D with 4 wins out of 5 games.
Sharon was presented with her trophy by Libby D ( Tournament Manager).
Competitors all reported they enjoyed the friendly atmosphere and the competition.
”D”Level GC Series
Pendle and Craven Croquet Club
“D” Level series was held on 3rd May 2025. This is a new exciting addition to the CE fixtures calendar to @encourage new players to develop their skills.
There were 7 entries with only one other club represented, Fylde.
After the managers briefing at 9.00 am and a warm up, play commenced at 9.15. All the competitors were finding the cold conditions difficult after the previous few hot days. Many had not enough layers but managed to warm up with hot drinks.
It was an all play all format with one competitor sitting out each round. The games flowed freely with no game taking longer than 1 hour.
Everyone commented on how surprised they were to enjoy the experience and it was fun. For the majority it was the first Tournament they had ever played. Many games were fiercely fought with six 7/6 games.
In the afternoon the sun came out briefly which had everyone hoping for higher temperatures.
Afternoon tea was enjoyed watching the last match to finish.
The ultimate winner with 5wins out of 6 games was Leigh Dixon who triggered to an 11.
The manager was thanked for running the Tournament by all the players. The manager thanked all the ground staff and volunteers for all their hard work in watering the lawns so there was grass to play on and setting up the lawns.
Results can be found on Croquet Scores
Murphy Shield
The Murphy Shield is the Inter Club knockout competition for Golf Croquet.
Today, 1st May, the Pendle and Craven Team were victorious over Ashby Croquet Club. The team of Mike Bradbury, Libby Dixon, Andrew Gould and Paul Dowdall travelled down on Wednesday afternoon staying over night so as to be fresh for a full days play. The weather was unseasonably hot(warmest 1st May on record). Our hosts provided an excellent lunch along with cool drinks
The result was a 5-1 win
25th Lancashire GC Open 26th-27th April
Twelve individuals competed for the 25th Lancashire Open GC Tournament managed by Paul Rigge. It was an international affair with 2 from Lithuania, 1 from Ireland and 1 from Malta.
The start on Saturday saw a dry but cool windy day. The contestants were from Leighton-Linslade through to Penrith despite many other GC events taking place on the same weekend. For two it was their first ever GC event. Partners of players along with Pendle and Craven Club members cheered on the good play.
The first days play was slow with the players coming to grips with fast running lawns and tight hoops. One game took 1hr 40mins to complete which saw Paul Rigge adding a few more grey hairs to his head. The manager had predicted the cross blocks and the quarter finals started by the end of the first day. The cross blocks finished at 6.08pm.
Sunday dawned bright and sunny with elevated temperatures expected. The days play started at 9.10am after a warmup. The manager decided the quarter finals would be a single game of 19 points to enable the final to start hopefully in the late afternoon.
The quarter finals began between Sarah C and Ged S (10/6), Chris H and Ted F (10/3), Ross B and Mike B (10/4) and the last one Howard B and John Armer (10/6)
The Semi final saw Ross B and Chris H winning through to the final. Meanwhile the Plate games were ongoing and saw many close games. With the warm temperatures taking the toll on players and exhaustion from the number of games played some players decided to sit out and watch the games for the Shield Semi final.
One exciting game was the Playoff between Sarah C and Howard B for 3rd and 4th place. Sarah had been 5 /3 up but Howard fought back and took the game to the golden hoop. Sarah was the first ball up with black but her second ball ended up giving her a hampered shot on the hoop. Going for the win Sarah hit the black only to see it deflect off the hoop upright. Howard stepped forward and won the game 7/6. Sarah was very philosophical by saying “she was fourth seed and ended 4th”.
The final gave excellent watching for all the observers, who took up positions in front of the pavilion. The final was the best of three, 13-point games. Both players showed their skills in long range clearance shots and delicate placement shots. The players fiercely contested every hoop. The ultimate winner was Ross B who won through 7/4,7/4.
The presentation of prizes was held at 4.15pm. The Manager, Paul Rigge, began by thanking all those present for their support for the 25th Lancashire GC Open Tournament. He commented on the excellent standard of play and thanked the Pendle and Craven ground staff (Paul Dowdall and Team) for the superb standard of the lawns and the hoop setting. Players had complained to him that the hoops were tight and well secured in the ground from the first game on Saturday and on inspection on Sunday none required resetting.
Paul also thanked the management of the Club on the facilities provided and the excellent catering from a team of dedicated members. He also noted the helpful attitude of all players to the new GC players, where some even went so far to advise which shot to play. Gabby was happy to be the winner of the Wooden Spoon as she now has a D grade and can enter further tournaments. Gabby thanked everyone for their support.
Overall winner of the Tournament, Ross Bagni, received the Lancashire Trophy amongst applause and Andrew Gould the Plate. The Plate had to resort to a count back over all games played by David Beddy and Andrew Gould as the plate games had both with 3 wins each.
The Chairman of Pendle and Craven Croquet Club thanked the Manager, Paul Rigge for his excellent management of the Tournament and presented him with a bottle of wine.
All results on Croquet Scores.
Crake AC Alternate Stroke Doubles
Paul Dowdall and Andrew Gould teamed up for the AC Alternate Stroke Doubles at Crake after Libby Dixon lost her fight with the lawnmower and she and Leigh withdrew.
The competition started with two groups of four teams, one group of higher handicaps(including Paul & Andrew) with the top two playing in the final. Each team would score a point for each hoop run plus four points if they won. The games were 18 point and timed at 100 minutes with a full stop finish. All teams got at least some bisques.
Unfortunately the Pendle team didn’t get off to a good start losing their first game 7-11. In the second game they faired better, although still not finding their form, managing to scrape a 10-9 win. This meant in the final game of their group they needed to win by at least six hoops to secure top spot by one point. Fortunately, the pair’s form improved, managing to get six hoops ahead with less than a minute to play putting them into the final.
This meant Paul and Andrew met the Harding brothers, winners of the other group and winners in 2024, in the final in which they came out victors pegging out with a score of 18-15.
The John Beech 40th Anniversary Memorial Tournament.
It is 40 years since Pendle and Craven Croquet Club was founded by John Beech in his garden, and the club has moved from strength to strength since then. Now playing on 5 lawns in Cemetery Road in Earby, Lancashire, the club is now becoming a firm member of the local community.
The Easter weekend involves the club in the first big tournament of the season. The John Beech Memorial Tournament which takes place from lunchtime Good Friday until late afternoon on Easter Monday, where players come from all over the country to play at Pendle and Craven croquet Club.
This year the tournament was full, and, with the help of a couple of days excellent weather it was a great success, the lawns were in great condition and were running fine plus the hospitality was excellent, players reported they had really enjoyed themselves. The atmosphere was very friendly and spectators were most welcome, and did, come and watch.
Many thanks to Roger Schofield who managed this years tournament, and the many club members who managed the lawns and the hospitality.
The Winners were: Peter Dowdall Cup: Angharrad Walters.
The John Beech Trophy: Fiona Crompton.
Fastest Game: John Crompton
Most Games: Lee Hartley
Fastest Game: John Crompton
Highest Handicapper: John Crompton
Lowest: Handicapper: Phillip Jay
The winners are pictured below being presented with their trophies by the tournament manager Roger Schofield and the Clubs’ Chairman Sharon de Maine.
The club is looking forward to many more exciting events this summer. many thanks to all our volunteers who made this weekend possible.