GC Open Singles 17th October 2026

Thirty players gathered on a chilly morning for our penultimate Singles competition of 2026. The temperature increased notably as the morning wore on and Dom was able to justify his decision to wear shorts. However, the afternoon was different as the wind increased and the temperature dropped (so thought the manager). The leaves on lawns 10 and 11 added an extra dimension to the play.

There was a good range of handicaps, from -2 to 10, spread across 5 divisions of 6. It was the strongest field I can remember in my short time at Southwick with 13 players of 2 handicap or below.

Division 1 was perhaps not surprisingly won by Dom Nunns, winning all 5 games with a net hoop tally of +17. David Dickins gave him a good run for his money, winning 4 games and only narrowly losing to Dom 5-7.

It was closely fought in Division 2, where Martin Daniels, Steve Collett and Douglas Shand each won 3 games so it went to net hoops. Martin & Steve were neck and neck on + 5 but as Martin had beaten Steve he was declared the winner.

The third division was another close affair, Tim Bick and Jill Richardson winning 4 apiece but Tim's +13 hoops against Jill's + 10 saw him home. Jill had actually beaten Tim in their head-to-head.

Mike Pudney cruised home in Division 4, winning all his 5 games (+18), with Richard Ellis hot on his heels with 4 wins (+11).

It was very evenly matched in division 5, where three players won 3 games and three won 2 games. It was settled by net hoops with David Round on +5 and Janice Frohnsdorff +3, with Richard Law finishing third.

Congratulations to the winners and thanks to everyone for taking part. Thanks are also due to Jackie Thwaites and Anne Thirsk for serving a warming bowl of soup (kindly made by Linda) with bread and cheese at lunchtime.

Vincent

Thanks to Vincent for managing the event.

GC doubles 9th October

Sixteen pairs entered this competition and despite the unpromising weather forecast there were no late dropouts. There was very little rain but the wind increased as the day went on and conditions became trickier. The lawns were in excellent condition once again and firm enough for jumping, of which there were some fine examples (Konstantin and Fiona to name but two).

We welcomed two players new to competitive croquet, Andy Smith who has recently joined Sussex County and David Round from Littlehampton.

Pairs were in two divisions of 8, each subdivided into blocks of 4 for the morning session, comprising 3 games. The afternoon featured 2 knockout games based on the finishing positions in the blocks.

In Division 1 Brian & Konstantin and Liz & David made it through to the final, with the former triumphant 7-4.

Division 2 saw Jim & Fran take on Marc & Truida in the final. It was a close match which stalled on hoop 10 as each sought to gain the advantage. Time was marching on and once that hoop was settled they agreed an honourable draw at 5-5 and shared first place.

The full results can be seen here.

Thanks to all for entering.

Vincent L'Estrange 

And thanks to Vincent for managing the event

Photos to follow.

MacMillan Coffee Morning

Thanks to Linda for organising a very successful Coffee Morning in aid of MacMillan Cancer Support. And to everyone who attended. More than £800 was raised.

Playing croquet at 100

Congratulations to Jean, firstly on the occasion of her 100th birthday which was earlier this summer; and secondly, on playing in her first GC open tournament on 19th September at Sussex County.

Jean is a member of Lodsworth Croquet Club and a contingent of club members came to play and support her.

The competition was in four divisions. Divisions 1 and 2 were sub-divided into 2 blocks of 4 players with semi-and final rounds for the top 2. Div 1 was won by Rob Harper, and Div 2 by Francis Ainley.

Division 3 was a block of 6 players and was won by David Larkin. Division 4 was also 6 players and was won by Sue Caulfield.

A special prize was awarded to Jean Farguson for being (we believe) the first centenarian player in golf croquet at Sussex.

Thanks to Linda to managing the event.

Full results

Playoffs: Sam Holder w/o v Paul Green; Simon Ancell 7-6 v Bob Clark

Playoffs: Tim Bick 7-4 v Tim Weller; Dominic Webb 7-4 v Robyn Clark