Success for Bob and Sue at the Alternate Stroke Doubles

Ten people signed up to play, in pairs, at this year’s Alternate Stroke Doubles on Wednesday 8th June. It was held earlier than usual this year so that some could get in a much-needed bit of rehearsal for the resurrected Walter May Doubles, scheduled for the weekend 9th/10th July.

As usual the format for Bath’s internal tournament was four 14pt handicap games on full lawns, played ‘all-play-all’ in five rounds. Though the 75 minute time limit proved too short for most pairs to have any chance of going round to peg out, Bob Hart and Sue Duncan proved it could be done, with a magnificent 14:2 win over Roger Hayes and Tony Jackson, who themselves had previously beaten the tournament favourites Pete Miles and Neil Pinker 13:2.

Pete and Neil went on to win two of their four matches, as did Roger and Tony, and Philip and Martin. Only Hester and Mike Henebury failed win any of theirs, despite some spirited croquet played with great good humour.

Bob and Sue however continued their winning streak, unbeaten all day, and emerged as clear victors. Sue’s play was particularly impressive, having only very recently taken up AC, but she showed rapid improvement under Bob’s careful guidance and her current AC 24 handicap is likely to come down steadily this summer. They will be presented with the Founders Cup at this year’s Annual Dinner.