Tournament News
2026 Match Reports
A splendid performance by our level play team
Despite losing 12-6 on the day, we are very proud of our level play team of John Watson, Rose Gillett David Ball and Judith Pengelly for an excellent result against a very low handicapped Watford team, one of whom was wearing his England shirt. Each of our team won a match and many of the matches that we did not win were closely fought.
It is a pleasure to watch such high standard croquet at close proximity. Those lucky enough to be there saw some fantastic hoops and clearances. For my part it is also reassuring that, even top top players can, and do, miss shots. There is hope for us all.
I now look forward to an afternoon of social croquet, as a complete contrast. See you at Pages Park.
A very successful week
It has been a very successful week for LLCC. As noted below, on Monday we were victorious in the Murphy Shield and go forward to meet Enfield at Home in our next match. Our 3+ team (or is it B level, I never remember) won on both Tuesday 28th April and Friday 1st May against Watford and Letchworth. Congratulations to all players and thanks to our scorers.
Gwyn, following the example of Peter, Carol and Anna last week, travelled to Phyllis Court. This was a C level competition in which she narrowly missed getting into the top 8 losing a closely fought match 7-5. However, getting to the final in the Plate compettion was very satisfying. It is enjoyable to get out and about in competition and seeing familiar, and new, faces from around the country. Interestingly the competitions was won by the same chap who beat Carol in last week's final.
Victory in the Murphy Shield
More individual success at Phyllis Court this time
It was with little nervousness that I set off with Peter and Anna W on a beautiful April morning to Phyllis Court, Henley on Thames to play in my first “D” level croquet tournament. The 7am start was a little earlier than I am used to these days but the instructions from our hosts were very clear about arrival times with tournament briefing scheduled for 9.01am!!. We duly arrived 12 mins ahead of schedule and were directed by the security guard to visitors parking
There were 16 players in the competition, and we were split into 4 groups of 4 for the initial games. The Leighton and Linslade 3 were all in different groups and didn’t play each other in the initial round of morning games. The outcome of the mornings play determined whether you went forward into the main cup or the plate competition.
Anna and I went forward in the main cup competition and Peter into the plate event. Anna and myself were drawn against each other in the Semi-final which I was fortunate enough to win (after first checking with Anna before making the winning hoop that she would still give me a lift home if I beat her – she very graciously agreed that she would). Anna was involved in the playoff for 3rd /4th place and I was in the final . Unfortunately neither of us were able to win and we finished 2nd and 4th respectively.
Phyllis court is currently being refurbished, in readiness for the Henley Rowing Regatta later in the year so was not looking its best. However, the setting, at the side of the river Thames, is quite spectacular and throughout the day you can hear rowers being put through their paces. ( I failed to get any photos of the setting, hopefully Gwyn might be able to remedy this oversight when she plays in the “C” level competition next week)
We were made very welcome by the hosts and by all the other players. We exchanged information about clubs, how long we had been playing etc and when playing against them like us they missed hoops, didn’t clear opponents balls etc. So it’s just like social play but with results being recorded. If you haven’t entered for a competition I would definitely encourage you to do so. I had a great day, enjoyed chatting to others, playing games against different opponents and discussing entry in future tournaments. Peter and myself have also entered the “D” level competitions being held in Watford, Northampton and of course at Leighton and Linslade. If you haven’t already done so get your name down and give it ago.
Individual successes
Written 23rd April
The past week has been very successful for LLCC players. David Ball won the Plate at the Wrest Park A level competition, Ross Bagni was Runner up in a similar event in the Lancashire Open. Anna Watson and Carol Bailey met each other in the semi final of the D level tournament at Phyllis Court, with Carol losing in the Final. Big congratulations to all.
Home Friendly vs Wrest Park
Monday, 20 April saw our first Friendly of the season, this was against Wrest Park. This was all doubles, 16 matches in total. John W and Caroline won 3 of their four matches. Unfortunately, we lost all the remaining matches (though a few did go to the golden hoop), but an enjoyable day was had by all. Cakes were kindly supplied by WP, and Les Heard (WP team captain) invited us back to play at WP later in the year.
EACF [East Anglian Croquet Federation] Handicap League
The first match of the season was played on Friday, 17 April. It involved both teams from LLCC – the Lions (Carol and Peter Bailey, Anna Watson and Elizabeth Wallace) vs the Leopards (Gwyn Grout, David Thompson, and David and Marilyn Walter). For those unfamiliar with the handicap league, the day starts with two games of doubles, followed by four games of singles for each player. Players were informed in advance that the games would be timed with a limit of 50 minutes each, hence some games finished before a player had scored 7 hoops.
In the Doubles, the Leopards (David and Marilyn) beat the Lions (Peter and Elizabeth) 7-4, while in the second game the Lions (Carol and Anna) beat the Leopards (Gwyn and David) 5-4, so there was all to play for in the Singles.
The Singles games were played using the original Advantage rules, so unless players’ handicaps were the same or only 1 different, the lower handicap player in each game had to score more than 7 hoops. 4 of the games went to the golden hoop but, at the end of the day, the Lions were victorious, having won 12 games with the Leopards having won 6.
Level Play EACF League
Our first match of the 2026 season sadly ended in a 14:4 defeat to Enfield. However, congratulations go to the players of our first entry into the Level Play EACF league. We were playing against seasoned players with consistent very low handicaps.
The team comprised John W, Judith, David B and Gwyn.
Onwards and upwards.
Peter Davis 2025
The 2025 Peter Davis Trophy semi-finals and final were held on Sunday, 21 September. The first semi-final, going to the "golden hoop", ie 19th, was won by Judith Pengelly who beat David Ball. The second semi-final was won by Rose Gillett who beat Jean Ball.
After a short break, the final also ended 10-9, with Judith Pengelly winning for the first time. Congratulations to all those who took part in the competition.
Croquet England D-Level Competition 2025
2025 was the first time we had hosted a Croquet England competition. We had a full complement of 12 players from various clubs who were split into three groups of four in an all-play-all in your group format.
The top four players competed for the trophy which was won by Gwyn Grout, with Jill Watt as runner up. The second group was won by Elizabeth Wallace, with Alison Chard of Northampton victorious in the third group.
It was a very enjoyable day and we plan to host another D-Level competition next year.
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