Scottish Handicap Finals 2008

27 September 2008, Meadows

Bill Spalding won the final of the Scottish Handicap Singles, played at the Meadows on Saturday 27 September, and Martin Stephenson and Brian Cosford won the Doubles.  Bill had last won the Singles in 1985, 23 years ago - so if he keeps up his record we can expect to see his name on the trophy again in 2031.  Martin, in the Doubles, was also a former winner, and a more recent one: he had shared the victory in 2005 with James Hopgood, but they couldn't both win in the 2008 final as they were now on opposite sides.

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West of Scotland Championship 2008

4-5 October 2008, Glasgow

A week in advance, this concluding tournament of the SCA season looked like matching last year's maximum entry of 19 players.  A few withdrawals (including that of the holder Campbell Morrison) left the number at a still healthy 16 - a perfect fit to the four lawns available.  Accordingly Allan Hawke's "croquet bus" which left Edinburgh on Saturday morning contained not only five players and their mallets, but also two sets of balls to augment the six sets kept in Glasgow.

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20+ Tournament 2008

20 September 2008, Meadows

The holder of the 20+ quaich, Robert Inder, was not defending it this year, being now ineligible as his handicap was down to 14.  But he turned up at Meadows West in the afternoon to deliver the trophy and to get some practice on a spare lawn for the delayed Scottish Short Croquet Championship final which he was to play at Lauriston Castle the following day.

Those who did compete were Joe Henderson, Jola Jurasinska and Joan Marshall at handicap 20; Ruth Munro and Andrew Macmillan at 22; and Sarah Duguid and George Geis, both new to Association Croquet this season, at 24.  Five of the seven were Meadows Club members, while Andrew and Sarah were accustomed to the slower and bumpier lawns of Lauriston, but had had some experience of the Meadows the previous month when they took part in the Golf Croquet Challenge between the two clubs.

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Chairman's Rosebowl and Malmet Trophy 2008

13-15 September 2008

Both SCA invitation events had their full complements of six players this year, and, unusually, no one withdrew during the few weeks beforehand.  The Chairman's Rosebowl had a stronger entry than in recent years: Bruce Rannie at handicap -0.5, James Hopgood at 0, Martin Stephenson at 1, David Appleton at 1.5, Brian Murdoch at 2.5 and Fergus McInnes at 3.  Contesting the Malmet Trophy were Bill Spalding and Alan Wilson (both 4.5), Allan Hawke and Tony Whateley (7), Jamieson Walker (9) and Joe Lennon (11).  In each event, the previous winners were in the lower half of the ranking - David having won the Chairman's the last two times, preceded by Fergus in 2005, while Joe was the holder of the Malmet and his predecessor was Jamieson.

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Walker Cup 2008

6 September 2008, Meadows

Nine players contested the Walker Cup on a cool and windy Saturday at the Meadows.  Duncan Reeves, the holder, came through from the west, as did fellow Glasgow member Robert Lay, while the Meadows Club was represented by Brian Cosford, Robert Inder and Jola Jurasinska, and the Edinburgh Club by Hamish and Janice Duguid and Morven Wardley; Joan Marshall could claim membership of both Edinburgh and Meadows.  Handicaps ranged from Robert Inder's 14 to Joan's and Jola's 20.

Read more: Walker Cup 2008