All England GC Handicap SWF Regional Final at Bath

The 10 qualifiers, including Elaine Morrison and Ally Hoyland from Bath, for the SWF Regional Final were divided into two blocks of five. Both top seeds Andy Loakes (Camerton) and Dom Aarvold (Bristol) suffered defeats in their opening games. Andy losing 6 -7 to his fellow Camerton player Nigel Wulcko and, Dom losing 5 -7 to Cheltenham’s Ray Bassett.

However, both top seeds recovered well from these early setbacks each going on to secure three wins to top their blocks. The handicap system seemed to working effectively with 6 of the 20 block games resulting in a one hoop margin. A further 7 of the 20 games went to just a two hoop margin.

In the knock round for places 1 to 4, Andy and Dom were joined by Nigel Wulcko and Elaine Morrison. Andy’s consistent play enabled him to overcome Elaine 7 – 4 despite giving away six extra turns. In the other semi-final, Nigel’s astute use of extra turns produced a 7 -6 win against Dom.

These results set up an all Camerton final and a re-match from the morning’s block. In a close fought contest, Andy’s accurate hoop running and positional play eventually soaked up Nigel’s extra turns and he finally triumphed on the thirteenth hoop. Despite receiving free turns from Dom Elaine was beaten for third place 7-2. Meanwhile Ally was competing for 5th to 8th position and beat Marian Button and Patrick Knight, both Camerton, to finish in 5th place overall.