With players travelling from across the UK to enter, very few tournaments are as popular as the Sidmouth GC Team Challenge. Eight teams of three players compete in what is essentially a points race accumulated in a mixture of singles and doubles games.
Although highly competitive, it is the camaraderie amongst the teams and players themselves that makes this such a special tournament. There are not many opportunities where players of all levels are bought together to compete as a team, especially at such a great venue that Sidmouth CC provides...!
As ever, the local Sidmouth team, aptly named ‘The Sharks’; Philip Harris, Steve Pearson, and Paul Bradley, stayed true to their previous form, and steadily added to their points tally. They finished the tournament in a very well deserved third place.
There was a closely fought race for first place between ‘Hoop Dreams’ – Lionel Tibble, Northampton; Liz Drury, Compton; and Niall Litton, Budleigh; and the team ' Fun Boy Three' - Stuart M. Smith; Peter Chadwick; and Adrian Coward, all from Budleigh CC. It is noteworthy that playing off a newly acquired 8hcp, this was Adrian’s first ever tournament.
The last round featured these two teams, resulting in two nail biting hoop 13 finishes. In the singles, ‘Hoop Dreams’ prevailed with Niall Litton’s win over Peter Chadwick, 7/6 cementing his team’s overall victory.
Meanwhile, Lionel and Liz, ‘Hoop Dreams’, fought hard to keep the ‘Fun Boy Three’ doubles pair, Stuart and Adrian, at bay. Despite a 6/5 lead, Lionel and Liz succumbed to Stuart and Adrian, 6/7.
‘Fun Boy Three’ achieved a very commendable 2nd place, but it was the combined efforts of ‘Hoop Dreams’, Lionel, Liz, and Niall that were victorious overall.
Messages of thanks have been received from many of the players stating what a fabulous weekend they had at Sidmouth Croquet Club. Thank you to all members and volunteers for supporting the event.
