Day 7 brought a sunny morning, cloud in the afternoon but mercifully none of the rain that was forecast earlier in the week.
The morning events were the finals of the Open singles and the Handicap singles, Events 1, 6X and 6Y. The Open singles, between Jane Morrison and Alastair Burn-Murdoch, got off to a slow start (perhaps because Jane’s mind was on her big winnings at Musselburgh races the day before). She eventually got her first ball round to 4b and set a leave which relied on distance rather than position. However, Alastair hit in and got his own first ball to 4b. Jane missed the lift shot and Alastair eventually got position on 4b with his other ball on peg, only to blob 4b and give Jane a fighting chance. She got round to peg from hoop 3 in one turn and pegged out Alastair’s ball. There then followed some tense cat and mouse positioning with the score equal. Time was called in Jane’s turn, much to her surprise - she had no idea they were that far on. Alastair hit a long roquet from corner 2 to half way down the west border and was able to score one more hoop in the final turn, winning 23-22.
In Event 6X Hamish Duguid quickly used his four bisques against Lorna Dewar and made good progress until he blobbed hoop 2b. Lorna then took one ball round from hoop 3 to the peg in 20 minutes and set a leave which Hamish just missed. Lorna was able to finish off with her other ball and ran out the winner +17.
In Event 6Y Brian Cosford was pitted against Rosemary Saunders Robertson. Brian used most of his nine bisques to get his first ball round to rover while Rosemary was still on the early hoops. Then Brian got his second ball round to join his other which was now on peg. Rosemary was stuck on hoops 1 and 3. Brian pegged out one ball but missed with the other from two yards, then in a later turn pegged it out from six yards, winning +24. Not surprisingly, Brian’s handicap has come down to 14.
The lunch interval was different this year - a splendid barbecue, complete with burgers, baked potatoes, salad and all the trimmings, cooked by Kevin Russell, our very own Hairy Biker. Many thanks to Kevin and also to James Thomson who provided free Pimm’s for everyone.
In the afternoon the traditional doubles final was watched by a small crowd (is that an oxymoron?) of players and spectators from Edinburgh’s three croquet clubs. Lorna Dewar and Alistair Malcolm took on Bob Darling and Allan Hawke. In a closely fought contest Lorna and Alistair’s solid play eventually prevailed and they won 21-17. The other game in the afternoon was the final of Event 3, played between Hamish Duguid and George Plant. Apologies for the lack of detail about this game but I was engaged elsewhere. The game went to time and was won by George 20-13.
In the presentation speeches sincere thanks was expressed to all who had supported the tournament and helped in a myriad of ways, but particularly to the manager, Alan Wilson, whose careful scheduling and re-scheduling, as well as refereeing and playing, was much appreciated by all participants.
For me personally the success of a tournament is measured by how many times I threw my mallet to the ground (off the lawn of course). The answer is three times - twice in anger and once in despair. You may draw your own conclusions.
The final results were:
Event 1, Open Singles: Alastair Burn-Murdoch
Event 2, 4+ handicaps: Lorna Dewar
Event 3, 8+ handicaps: George Plant
Event 4, 14+ handicaps: Kathy Brown
Event 5, handicap doubles: Lorna Dewar and Alistair Malcolm
Event 5Y, consolation doubles: Brian Cosford and John-Paul Moberly
Event 6, open handicap: Lorna Dewar
Event 6Y, Swiss handicap: Brian Cosford
Event 7, Golf Croquet: Bruce Bennet
Lauder Cup (for player getting furthest without winning an event): Hamish Duguid
Allan Hawke
