Pendle and Craven Advanced Weekend 2006
10-11 June 2006, Pendle and Craven
The 10 players in this year's Pendle and Craven Advanced Weekend were almost symmetrically distributed in both latitude and handicap. Two came from Scotland, two from the South of England, and the other six from nearer at hand in the northern counties of England. (The lawns are in Lancashire, but less than half a mile from the boundary with Yorkshire - a circumstance which caused one visiting player some discomfiture in the bar on Friday night when he rashly assumed that the inn where he was staying was in Lancashire too.) Ian Lines had handicap -2, Martin Stephenson was a 5, and the rest ranged from David Barrett at 0 to Robert Essler and Fergus McInnes at 3.
The lawns, levelled and seeded in early 2005, were much improved from their "sand pit" condition of Easter 2006, but still bumpy, and, with two-hour time limits in most rounds, 77% of the games went to time. In four of the eight completed games it was Ian Lines who pegged out, and his +26TP in 62 minutes against Paul Rigge - the only triple of the tournament - easily won him the Chris Hudson Trophy for the fastest game. (Peter McDermott was the only other player to win more than one game with a peg-out, while Martin Stephenson had the most peg-outs completed against him: one each by Peter, Paul and Robert.)
The format was draw and process, with extra games for those knocked out of either or both - choreographed by manager Abdul Ahmad with an impressive system of colour-coded cards. Abdul was not playing, but did a good deal of refereeing as well as management, alongside the joint Tournament Referees Ian Lines and Fergus McInnes. (One interesting refereeing incident involved all three of them - Ian playing, Abdul refereeing, and Fergus shooting the video with his new digital camera. Ian played hard through hoop 3 to get close to a distant reception ball, and Abdul called a fault. Unfortunately the video was taken from too far away to yield conclusive evidence about the correctness of the decision, even when viewed in slow motion.)
Both draw and process could be completed in seven rounds if the same player won both, but otherwise an extra game would be needed. In fact Ian Lines won all his games in the Draw, and got into the final of the Process against Ian Parkinson, which he narrowly won (+2 on time) to clinch the victory without the need for a playoff. Ian Parkinson won the B-class trophy, awarded on games won and Egyptian points, and he beat Roger Schofield 1-0 in a peg shoot-out to determine the runner-up in the main event. Completing the inventory of trophies was a magnificent wooden spoon, obtained by Fergus McInnes with six losses and only one win. This too was decided by a narrow margin, as one of Fergus's losses was a -1 in extra time against Martin Stephenson - in a game where Fergus had been 17-4 up when time was called, with Martin needing a break from hoop 2, a peel at hoop 4 and a one-ball peg-out to equalise. Had that game gone the other way, the spoon would have gone to Graham Brightwell.
It only remains to mention the weather (hot), the club's facilities (very nice apart from the bumpy lawns - which should improve in time) and the catering (provided in excellent quality and overwhelming quantity by Barbara and Julie on Saturday and by Kathryn and Charlotte on Sunday - apparently competing in a vain attempt to fatten up the Tournament Referees). Altogether it was a most enjoyable weekend, and I certainly intend to take part again in 2007, though on the principle of playing to win I must reluctantly abjure the defence of my wooden spoon.
Some photographs can be found below.
Fergus McInnes
Results
(supplied by Abdul Ahmad)
MAIN EVENT: 2-Life knockout.
DRAW SECTION:
Last 16 Round:
Ian Lines beat Robert Essler +3t
Martin Stephenson beat David Barrett +2t
Quarter-Finals:
Ian Lines beat Ian Parkinson +24
Paul Rigge beat Fergus McInnes +4t
Roger Schofield beat Graham Brightwell +1t
Peter McDermott beat Martin Stephenson +13
Semi-Finals:
Ian Lines beat Paul Rigge +26TP
Roger Schofield beat Peter McDermott +9t
Final:
Ian Lines beat Roger Schofield +23
PROCESS SECTION:
Last 16 Round:
Paul Rigge beat Martin Stephenson +20
Robert Essler beat Graham Brightwell +1t
Quarter-Finals:
Ian Lines beat Peter McDermott +8t
Roger Schofield beat Paul Rigge +8t
Robert Essler beat Fergus McInnes +5t
Ian Parkinson beat David Barrett +4t
Semi-Finals:
Ian Lines beat Roger Schofield +22
Ian Parkinson beat Robert Essler +12t
Final:
Ian Lines beat Ian Parkinson +2t
By virtue of winning both knockout halves Ian was declared the 2006 Open Winner. Ian Parkinson took second place after beating Roger Schofield in a peg shoot out.
ADDITIONAL GAMES:
Peter McDermott beat Ian Parkinson +13
David Barrett beat Robert Essler +8t
Graham Brightwell beat Fergus McInnes +6t
Ian Parkinson beat Martin Stephenson +9t
David Barrett beat Fergus McInnes +3t
Graham Brightwell beat Peter McDermott +2t
Martin Stephenson beat Fergus McInnes +1et
David Barrett beat Roger Schofield +7t
Paul Rigge beat Graham Brightwell +6t
Robert Essler beat Martin Stephenson +17
Ian Parkinson beat Fergus McInnes +13t
Peter McDermott beat Paul Rigge +13t
David Barrett beat Graham Brightwell +6t
Paul Rigge beat Robert Essler +8t
Fergus McInnes beat Roger Schofield +2t
Martin Stephenson beat Graham Brightwell +3t
David Barrett beat Peter McDermott +3t
B CLASS EVENT:
Each competitor played 7 games during the tournament. The results of all the matches were recorded using the Egyptian Rating System. The winner of the event was the player who improved his initial rating most.
Winner: Ian Parkinson won 4; +10 rating
Runner-up: Paul Rigge won 4; +4 rating
3rd Martin Stephenson won 3; +9 rating
4th= Roger Schofield and Robert Essler won 3; 0 rating
6th Peter McDermott won 3; -3 rating
7th Graham Brightwell won 2; -16 rating
8th Fergus McInnes won 1; -11 rating
HANDICAP CHANGE:
Graham Brightwell from 2 to 2.5
Photographs
Martin Stephenson on the lawn in the idyllic setting of the Pendle & Craven Club. (Someone in the background seems to be supporting England - probably in the football rather than the croquet.)
A rush on yellow reveals the bumps in the lawn - note the gap of at least a ball's diameter between the yellow ball and its shadow.
Ian Parkinson considers his next stroke.
Ian Lines caught just too late to get a ball in the picture.
Peg shoot-out between Ian Parkinson and Roger Schofield for the runner-up position (Ian Lines refereeing).
Presentation of the Commonwealth Jubilee Trophy (standing in for the David Openshaw Trophy, which last year's winner had not returned) to Ian Lines. Manager Abdul Ahmad is on the left.
Fergus McInnes with the wooden spoon.
