Category: European Club League

European Golf Croquet Club League – The Grand Final

Roehampton played host to the inaugural European Club League final. Six teams had won through qualifying heats across Europe to be represented CERN (Switzerland), Dulwich (England), Ealing (England),  Ikskile (Latvia), Roehampton (England) and Sherry (Spain).

The all-play-all tournament was exceedingly closely fought. Each four player match was played to a best of 10 format (2 doubles, 8 singles) and the largest scoreline achieved in any match was 8-2. The final round pitted all the teams against their closest rivals. CERN beat Ealing to secure 5th place and Ikskile beat Sherry to come 3rd.

The deciding match was a close affair with Dulwich only needing to draw the match to win the title, after Roehampton had only managed to draw with Sherry the previous evening. Dulwich took a quick 3-1 lead but Roehampton were able to peg this back to 3-3 before the final round of singles. Andrew Hobbs scored first for Dulwich, beating Mark van Loon, at hoop 13 to leave Dulwich needing just one of the remaining three games for the title. However, Joel Taylor and Nick Yates beat Guy Scurfield and Johnny Claxton respectively to make in 5-4 to Roehampton. With Pierre Beaudry leading 6-3 against Tim Russell it was still looking good for Dulwich but Tim managed to take the game to the golden hoop. Tim had the first two attempts from 4 yards 45 degrees and the boundary but the second failure left Pierre a 2 yard hoop to secure the title for Dulwich.

The lawns at Roehampton were in excellent condition for the time of year and they extended excellent hospitality towards all the visitors, including hosting a tournament meal on the Saturday evening.

And next year - 2024:
The event is aimed at club sides from all over Europe. Next year there will be qualifying heats in, Carrickmines (Dublin, Ireland), Ealing (London, England), Hambury (Germany), Ikskile (Riga, Latvia), Novo Sancti Petri (Cadiz, Spain) and Telc (Czechia), leading into the Grand Final. Full details will be sent to national associations and made available on the WCF website in the coming months.

Congratulations to Dulwich
The 2023 European Club League Champions

The winning Dulwich team: (l to r) Pierre Beaudry, Jonathan Claxton, Guy Scurfield and Andrew Hobbs.

Final Standings

Dulwich 4 wins, 1 draw
Roehampton 3 wins, 2 draws
Ikskile 3 wins
Sherry 2 wins, 1 draw
CERN 1win
Ealing 0 wins

Full results can be found here https://croquetscores.com/2023/gc/european-club-cup-finals

European Golf Croquet Club League Results – IKSKILE Heat 8/9 July

60 games were played, among them 48 singles. After the first two matches all teams were tied at one match won out of two. On the second day, the play continued with further narrow margins.

Ikskile Club defeated Hamburg by 6-4, and secured not only a place at the Grand Final, but also the overall top position. Ealing beat Tolkis by 7-3, and thus earned the other ticket to Roehampton.

Overall, the top team has won just two games more than the last team – a clear indication of the closeness of the playing level of all teams.

Ealing Club presented an elegant table-top flag with national flags of all four clubs.

On Saturday night, there was an enjoyable barbecue party at the club for all players and accompanying persons. After the meal and a few drinks, the players went out to the lawns again to play some friendly matches that lasted until dusk at around 11pm.

For full results visit Croquet Scores: 2023 GC European Club League - Ikskile Heat 8/9 July 2023

European Golf Croquet Club League Results – CERN Heat 10/11 june

European GC Club League 2023 - CERN Heat June 10th and 11th

CERN (Switzerland) ran out narrow victors over Suedwest (Germany). With only two teams participating the heat was played as a direct head to head match. The captains opted for an all-play-all best of three format over the weekend. Ian Sexton (CERN) won all four of his matches 2-0 and was ably supported by Danny Davids who won three of his matches. The top German performer was Kevin Ferguson (3 match wins).

The final score was CERN 9 Suedwest 7.

For full results visit Croquet Scores: ERC Club League - CERN heat 10/11 June

European Golf Croquet Club League Results – Dulwich Heat 29/30 April

European GC Club League 2023 - Dulwich Heat 29/30 April

Four teams took part in the second heat of this competition. Dulwich (England), Sherry (Spain), Sussex (England) and Zurich (Switzerland). Unfortunately shortly before the event Sussex became unable to field and eligible team for the whole duration of the event. It was agreed in advance that their results would not count towards determining the finishing positions and the two qualifiers for the Grand Final at Roehampton in October.

A fantastic weekend's croquet saw Dulwich comfortably winning but second place came down to the final two games with Sherry just edging out Zurich.

Dulwich beat Sherry 7-3
Dulwich beat Zurich 9-1
Sherry beat Zurich 6-4

1st Dulwich (2 wins), 2nd Sherry (1 win), 3rd Zurich)

Other matches

Dulwich beat Sussex County 7-0
Sherry drew with Sussex County 5-5
Sussex County beat Zurich 8-2

Full result are available at https://croquetscores.com/2023/gc/euro-league-dulwich-heat