Scottish Croquet Association

Aberdeen Tournament 2023

9-10 September 2023, Albury

ACCC held its annual AC Tournament for the Aberdeen Quaich on 9/10^th September at Albury Community Sports Hub. Six players entered: John Owen (Holder), Stefan Colling, John Henderson, Roger Staples, Mark Shanks and Robert Bell.  The format was all-play-all, 18pt, AC Handicap rules, 2hr 20min duration.

Play started on Saturday morning in glorious sunshine and it got progressively hotter as the day progressed. After the day's play Mark S (53 hoops) narrowly losing to John O (17-18), John O (48 hoops) and Roger S (44 hoops) all had two wins, while all the others had one win each. Mark’s wins resulted in a handicap reduction to 7.

Roger, Mark, Stefan with Zosia (his mum), Robert and Edna (celebrating her birthday), Bill and Meg enjoyed a very sociable evening at the Italian restaurant Al Fresco.

Sunday’s play started slightly overcast but soon warmed up as did the play. John O and Stefan C both won and with Roger S beating Mark S 18-10, the final round matches could result in numerous permutations of an eventual winner. Stefan C produced a devasting 18-0 win over John O. Mark S had to win and score 18 hoops to beat Stefan by one hoop. This was all academic should Roger S win his match against John H which he did 18-10 and with 4 wins won The Aberdeen Quaich for the first time.

Roger has played in almost every Tournament since it was first held in 2014 without featuring in the final results. It was with great pleasure that I presented him with The Aberdeen Quaich and a bottle of wine as this year’s worthy winner with 4 wins out of 5.

My thanks to Mark (the sweeper) Shanks for clearing the dew on the lawns every morning and everyone who helped setup and dismantle the lawns. Hopefully see you all next year.

Bill Strachan

Results