Content
Social News ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 1
Social Events……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 1
New Croquet Trolleys ………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 2
Laura Haywood Shield ………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 2
League Competitions ………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 3
Friendlies ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 4
Coaching ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 4
WhatsApp Group for Members …………………………………………………………………………………………. 5
Social News
The Charity Tournament, postponed at the end of July due to the excessive heat, was held
on Sunday 13th September. This turned out to be a much better day for the tournament but
I’m sorry to say that only 10 members turned out to play – the worst turn out since the charity event was started in the memory of Pat Hancocks a former member and Treasurer.
The afternoon went well with everyone playing 4 games of 7 hoops, out of the 6-game
tournament – Nigel Neale won with 18 hoops and was presented with the Buxton Bowl, a
Medal and a half bottle of white wine. Dee Ancrum came last with 10 hoops and was
presented with a Booby Prize. A raffle was held and £125 was raised for Ashgate Hospice.
Social Events
End of Season Tournament
The end of season tournament has been scheduled to take place on Saturday 24th October, 13:30 on the Courts. Please arrange to arrive early to set up the courts.
The event will be run as usual with each member being given a number and playing four
rounds of a 6-round competition. The winner being the player that scores the most hoops.
A break will be held half way through for the sale of raffle tickets – all money raised will go to Club Funds, please bring a prize if you can.
Curry Night
The annual Curry Night has been arranged for Thursday 19th November, 18:30 at the
SHALIMAR RESTAURANT, Darley Dale.
In order to make the evening less expensive for Members the Manager has suggested that
we have a set menu of Popedom’s Starters and Mains for £25 per person, any desserts will
be extra. We will have a choice of starters and mains to choose from nearer the time. They would like a deposit on ordering of £15 (which I will be sorting out) with the £10 balance to pay on the night. He worked out that on average the same meal purchased separately with be over £35 per head. I think his suggestion in one to be considered!!!
Any feedback on this would be grateful as if the majority of you are against it I will revert
back to everyone choosing from their Menu.
Christmas Lunch
No arrangements have been made for this yet but it’s anticipated that it will be held at
Matlock Golf Club at lunch time one Thursday early in January 2027.
New Croquet Trolleys
A well-deserved pat on the back is due to Colin Davis who has produced three new trolleys
based on sack barrows for the hoops and balls which should be much easier to handle.
This means that the two green trolleys are now surplus to requirements and if anybody can
use one or both of them, please let Colin Davis know otherwise, they will end up at the tip.
Laura Haywood Shield
Donna Hawkins Claims Victory in Thrilling Laura Haywood Competition
The Laura Haywood competition took place on Friday, 11th September, kicking off at 1:30 PM. Finalists Colin Turnbull, Donna Hawkins, John Travis, and Louis McMeeken were met by a fantastic crowd of members who turned out to show their support and enjoy the afternoon’s play.
It proved to be an exceptionally tight contest. With both Donna and Louis securing two wins
out of three, the entire competition came down to the total hoop count. In the end, Donna
clinched the title by a single hoop! Congratulations to Donna on a well-earned victory, and
well done to all four finalists for delivering such an exciting spectacle.
League Competitions
A Team
Colin Turnbull writes:
Our final match of the season was away to Long Eaton and having postponed this due to the heat in August it was a pleasant day and not too hot.
We knew we were at the bottom of Division 3 going into the game so hoped we could get a
victory to try and stay in that division. Enthusiasm was on our side bit unfortunately the
results were not and rather like the first match of the season when we were soundly beaten, we again came out losing 1-11 with Colin managing to save the whitewash.
Who we will be playing against next year remains to be seen but hopefully we will be better
and stronger as a team and get some better results.
B Team
David Gregory writes:
Team B went to Nottingham on 8th September for their last match of the season. The team comprised David G, Nigel, Eleanor and Colin D, who substituted for David G after two rounds. Nottingham certainly got their own back from their 10:2 loss at Darley Dale
earlier in the season with the same score win for them this time. What was interesting is that only one game got as far as 7 hoops, the other 11 being timed out, and that 7 games finished with only one hoop between the teams. One game did not even get beyond 3:2. All so very close that the overall score does not reflect.
Nottingham of course, for those who do not know, has 9 full size courts extremely flat upon
which recent World championships have been played. The experience is worth the
disappointment of losing. Nigel, playing his first league match, was partner in the winning doubles and won on his own one of the singles. This looks good for his involvement next season. Well done.
Friendlies
Debbie writes:
In spite of a confusion over starting time, a good time was had playing the home friendly with St Elphins. We had 3 newcomers on our team, Chris and Chris Burn and Des. They all enjoyed the experience of playing with different people. “Our” Christine Winterbottom was playing for the opposition, which made for some confusion as we had 3 players all called Chris! By the way, excellent cakes guys!!
Coaching
Colin Davis writes:
The long promised coaching session was held on 23rd July. Hopefully, those who attended
were able to benefit. The general feedback was very positive. Further coaching sessions will be put in the programme for the 2027 season.
In the meantime, Club Members may wish to try the following as a means of improving or
perfecting their shot taking skills. Long established Members may recall that in the past this was a way of establishing a handicap for league games.
Rules
The game is for one person and, until somebody thinks of something better, is called Par for
the Course.
- Select a mallet and one ball.
- Select a court that is not in use and does not have Members waiting.
- Follow the normal 12 hoop course at normal walking speed, running each hoop in
turn. - Count the number of strokes needed to complete the course.
- Not essential, but note the time taken to complete the course.
- Put a short note on WhatsApp to record each of your results.
The initial objective is to gradually reduce the number of strokes taken, based upon
improving shot accuracy. For information, the first round was carried out on Court 1 on 15th September by Colin Davis. His score was 38 strokes in 6 minutes 35 seconds.
Once enough scores have been added to WhatsApp, the average will be taken and this will
become par for the course.
WhatsApp Group for Members
This has been set up by Donna Hawkins and has proved very useful in making sure
members know when anyone is interested in playing. It enables members to arrange to play
a lot easier as well and pass on important information about the Courts and other Club
matters.
It would be great if ALL members would sign up to this – if you are interested, please
message Donna Hawkins