Surbiton Charity One-ball Final

Kevin Carter writes: writes:

Nigel Trotter and Monica Dibben

The winner of this year's competition was Nigel Trotter, from Caterham. Playing off a handicap of 14, Nigel remained unbeaten through the long and hot day (by mid-afternoon the temperature was 28C). He was awarded the traditional engraved crystal decanter.

Runner-up was Mike Town, of Woking, who lost only to Nigel. These two were clear of the others and third place in the swiss was multiply tied and resolved by the 'Quality of Opponents' formula. By a narrow margin, Stephen Stuart-Matthews, of Guildford & Godalming had played the toughest opponents and so he was awarded third place. It was the third year in a row that Stephen had reached the final and so he should not be begrudged some crystal to take home! He and Mike received engraved glasses.

Some other performances are worth a mention. In the dying minutes of the tournament, Jonathan Lamb completed an eleven-hoop break, which was by far the best of the tournament and post the prizegiving he was awarded a pot of marmalade in recognition. David Nicholson, playing of -4, did not display his usual flamboyance early in the tournament but having missed the cut to become involved in the finish he won three games in quick succession and would have been a challenger if only he had had his wins in a different order..... And Ivor Nunn, 91 years young, showed he was no back number with a couple of fine wins.

The lawns were fast and the lunch superb - both courtesy of George Noble and his Surbiton helpers. As is so often the case with this competition, there are several first and records. This was the first year that we had an international heat (Uruguay) and the first time that a heat had been played on astroturf (Crawley). A record 35 heats were scheduled but unfortunately the poor April weather caused three to be cancelled and the total number of players was also down, at 409. However, 37 qualifiers came to the final.

Despite numbers being down slightly, we raised a record amount for this year's charity, Myeloma UK: £3400, which Gift Aid is likely to raise to slightly above £4000.

Thank you to everybody who took part or donated, and especially thanks to the heat organisers up and down the country (and, indeed, on another continent).

Surbiton Croquet Club
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NF 10/05/16