There are many wonderful things about Hampstead Heath but croquet players have a particular soft spot for their gem, Hampstead Heath Croquet Club. There will be plenty of opportunities to try out this summer – see dates below, and watch for news updates.
Continue reading Play croquet on Hampstead Heath in 2024!Category Archives: General News
Croquet season starts on 13 April
Members of the club will now be eagerly looking at the weather forecast! For the moment the second half of this week looks fairly dry so fingers are crossed that play will start on Saturday.
Continue reading Croquet season starts on 13 AprilGolf croquet is resurgent
Thanks to the efforts of some dedicated members golf croquet has grown from almost nothing to now play a full role in the club’s activity. Golf croquet is, according to the The Croquet Association, “a game with a long history and a recent resurgence of interest at all levels” and “has simpler rules and is more interactive (each turn is just a single stroke), but it requires a similar level of accuracy and tactical awareness”. The club’s dedicated players had the fullest season to date as summarised below (with thanks to Chris Elliott for the words).
Continue reading Golf croquet is resurgentHHCC competition success
Our club plays in the southeast region U-league. This involves playing four of the other ten clubs during the summer – two home matches and two away. The results page for 2023 is here. A detailed report of the final match of the season (against Caterham) is below. As Caterham and Hampstead Heath were the only teams remaining unbeaten after three matches, the final match was a winner-takes-all decider for the League title. It turned out to be a most satisfactory end to a most enjoyable season with all players contributing to the final winning scoreline of 4-3. Congratulations to everyone who played a part in this success.
Continue reading HHCC competition successClub KO reaches its climax
Following a nervy start in which his first four bisques yielded but one hoop, Alex was a worthy winner +14 to take the 2023 Club AC Singles Championship. After Phil failed to capitalise on a good early opportunity Alex got to peg and 2 back with eight of his 15 bisques remaining. At this point Phil realised that what the game needed was a futile gesture, so duly hit a 25 yarder and played a break to the peg and pegged Alex out. He could then only sit and watch as Alex finished from 2 back requiring only two of his remaining eight bisques so to do.
So many congratulations to Alex, a truly worthy winner. Hopefully he will find his defence next season a bit more challenging off his new handicap of 10.
Catherine Weinstein Trophy
It took some time to find a suitable date to present Robin Ferner (left) with the Catherine Weinstein Trophy (for most improved player) for 2022. Congratulations, Robin! The winner for 2023 will be announced at the club’s AGM.
Robin is photographed with Sandy Nairne.
Croquet “fiesta”
Last Thursday the club held its first full day event. Over 20 members attended at some point through the day enjoying matches (both association and golf) with old friends and new. We look forward to another such opportunity.
Club President reaches world final
Club members were delighted to watch Gabrielle Higgins, President of Hampstead Heath Croquet Club, progress through the rounds and reach the World Final at the start of the year.
In a back-and-forth finals match held on January 13, 2023, in Christchurch, New Zealand, Debbie Lines defeated Gabrielle Higgins, by a score of 26-3, 19-22, 22-11, to claim the 2023 WCF Women’s AC World Championship.
The all-England final provided an entertaining and interactive match, with both players showing great skill and determination. Lines took the first game by a convincing score of 26-3, but Higgins fought back in the second, narrowly winning 22-19 as the game timed out. Lines took the decider 22-11 in another timed-out game to claim the world title.
Lines is only the third winner of the event, following Miranda Chapman (ENG) in 2015 and Jenny Clarke (NZL) in 2012.
More information about the 2023 Women’s AC World Championship can be found on the WCF web pages. And there is a YouTube video of the final should you want to watch some or all of the 11-plus hours of play.
A quick visit from a member of the New York Croquet Club in Central Park
Phil Cordingley played Jim Collins on Tuesday morning. Luckily, it did not hail or snow! The sun came out to welcome our guest in perfect English tradition! Just missed a warm cup of tea.
Jim sent a very nice email to the committee and formally extended an invitation to our members to play on their NY green in Central Park. So if you ever are in NY, I will send you Jim’s email. Jim says “I know our members would look very forward to “international” play”.
Swishing!
Dear members,
I had a brief demonstration in “swishing” the lawn which is necessary to do if you start playing at PH at 9am:
Get the yellow stick from the cupboard, extend it, but not too much, and sway the rod over the lawn in a gentle manner back and forth as if watering the lawn. Do cover the whole lawn, the process should not take more than 5 minutes.
Picture of Steve in Action!
