Spring Weekend 2014
26-27 April 2014, Meadows
The number of players in this first SCA tournament of 2014 matched the year, and the same number, 14, was also the most frequently occurring handicap, held by four of those competing. So it's not surprising that it was one of these, David Houston, who came out as the winner - although by the end of the tournament he had got his handicap down to 12.
The Meadows Club's three lawns were in good condition, if a little on the slow side. They accommodated 12 players at a time, and so there were two late starts on offer on Saturday morning, which were allocated to Simon Robins and Lyn Gilpin as two of those with relatively long journeys to make (from north and south respectively). The other 12 players were in action from shortly after 9:30am, with the results that Joe Lennon (handicap 11) beat Alasdair Adam (14), Brian Cosford (18) beat Jola Jurasinska (14), Hamish Duguid (9) beat Alistair Malcolm (16), Robert Inder (4.5) beat Janice Duguid (5), David Houston (14) beat Alan Wilson (3.5), and Jamieson Walker (7) beat Fergus McInnes (3). Simon (another 14) and Lyn (22) joined battle when a lawn became available, and it was Simon who won, though only by one point on time. Everyone got one or two further games in the course of a mainly dry but cool day, with the best of the sunshine in the evening encouraging a few to play on till about 8pm. Three games were pegged down overnight for completion on Sunday morning, including one between two of the leaders, David (on 3 wins from 3 games so far) and Brian (on 2/2).
The other undefeated players, Joe (3/3) and Simon (2/2), were set to play each other on Sunday morning, and the results of this and the pegged-down game meant that David, with his handicap reduced, met Joe in the decider on Sunday afternoon. This turned out to be David's closest game of the weekend, but he still won, +6, to reach an unassailable position and receive the Spring Weekend tankard.
Those with just one loss were Joe, Robert and Simon, and Robert's handicap came down to 4 at the end of the tournament. The other handicap change was an increase to 24 on Saturday for Lyn, who had been unlucky to lose that close game against Simon (and had another -1 on time against Alistair on Sunday, though she did win her first game of the day).
Close results, in addition to those already mentioned, occurred between Janice and Alasdair (+1 to Janice when Alasdair conceded after pegging out one of his balls); between Brian and Hamish (+2 on time to Brian); between Fergus and Hamish (Fergus winning +3 with three minutes on the clock after peeling and pegging out Hamish's forward ball); and between Fergus and Brian (+2 to Fergus after Brian broke down when 23-0 up with one bisque left in a position where he would have needed two bisques to finish). At the other extreme, David's first three scores were +24, +25 and +26 against Alan, Jamieson and Fergus respectively, and Simon finished the tournament with a +26 against Alan.
Sunday was a dull day with low cloud and mist, contributing to the slowness of the lawns, but fortunately the rain held off until well into the evening when the croquet was over.
Fergus McInnes
Results
("Egyptian" system):
1. David Houston 5/5, 124 points: beat Alan Wilson +24, Jamieson Walker +25, Fergus McInnes +26, Brian Cosford +8T (21-13), Joe Lennon +6
2. Joe Lennon 4/5, 114: beat Alasdair Adam +3T (15-12), Robert Inder +19, Jola Jurasinska +20, Simon Robins +18
3. Robert Inder 4/5, 111: beat Janice Duguid +4T (18-14), Alistair Malcom +4, Jola Jurasinska +5T (25-20), Alasdair Adam +16
4. Simon Robins 3/4, 110: beat Lyn Gilpin +1T (19-18), Jamieson Walker +17, Alan Wilson +26
5. Fergus McInnes 3/5, 106: beat Alan Wilson +22, Hamish Duguid +3, Brian Cosford +2
6=. Alan Wilson 3/6, 100: beat Lyn Gilpin +18, Janice Duguid +9T (23-14), Hamish Duguid +12
6=. Janice Duguid 3/6, 100: beat Alasdair Adam +1, Hamish Duguid +16, Brian Cosford +14
8. Jola Jurasinska 2/5, 98: beat Janice Duguid +24, Jamieson Walker +10
9=. Brian Cosford 2/5, 95: beat Jola Jurasinska +9T (23-14), Hamish Duguid +2T (23-21)
9=. Alistair Malcolm 2/5, 95: beat Alasdair Adam +19, Lyn Gilpin +1T (25-24)
11. Jamieson Walker 2/5, 94: beat Fergus McInnes +17, Alistair Malcolm +5
12. Lyn Gilpin 1/4, 90: beat Alasdair Adam +12T (18-6)
13. Hamish Duguid 1/5, 85: beat Alistair Malcolm +16
14. Alasdair Adam 0/5, 78