GC Progressive Doubles Tournament
This year’s Progressive Doubles was under a late threat from Covid as well as other dramas, and in the end we had to call on no less than five generous GC-playing reserves to fill the resulting gaps, but finally the requisite 16 people turned out to play on one of this summer’s most glorious days, with cloudless blue skies and many hours of lovely warm sunshine. Rather too warm actually; the shade on the lower lawns was a very welcome relief!
All four lawns had been cut close that morning and were running quite fast, to the satisfaction of some and the dismay of others. The format was five rounds, with the winners parting company and moving up/down a lawn, while the losing pair separated but stayed where they were. This worked pretty well, new partners being found for every game, but it did trap the less successful on the same lawn, which was a great trial for Kate New who played all day in the blazing sun on Lawn 1! Fortunately games were strictly limited to 50 minutes, with no final shots after the whistle, and the majority finished inside the time limit. There was also plenty of opportunity for much-needed rehydration.
The relatively less experienced higher handicappers did particularly well – the honours going to Neil Baker (10) and Monica Baker (11), each with 4 wins. Neil was aided in his efforts by Sally Helvey, Sue Duncan, Roger Hayes and David Holt. Monica won with David Holt, David Veal, Feona Bickley and Clare Fletcher. Rather than try and work out which of the Bakers had the higher nett hoop score, Philip de Glanville as Tournament Manager decided they could share the bottle of Prosecco between them! Kasia Laganowska came a close second with 3.5 wins, and Ann Short and Pam Burgoyne also did very well with 3 wins.
Amongst the lower handicappers, David V, Feona, Sally, Roger and Sue all got 3 wins, but David H (7) just pipped them with 3.5 wins, and he too took home a bottle of Prosecco. As for Kate, who had virtually melted in the heat but played on valiantly without complaint (or success, sadly)… she was awarded a large family-size box of Jaffa cakes as a well-deserved consolation prize!
It was a great day, played in very good spirit, and felt like the highlight of the internal Tournament season. It seems a shame that numbers are limited to 16. It might be possible to run it with 32 next year if there’s enough interest…
Photos below show competitors relaxing and Sally in play watched by Pam and Neil.
