PHYLLIS COURT CROQUET CLUB
15 July 2026 - PCC 'Federations Shield' reach National semi-finals with good win over Colchester
PCC 'Federations Shield' 4 - 2 Roehampton
Phyllis Court beat Colchester 4-2 in a close and long-fought match on the bank of the River Thames today.
Playing to Advantage rules, Phyllis Court pair Pete Falle (3) and Julia Green (8) got their team off to a good start with a straight games victory over Colchester's Alex Wood (2) and Marilyn Wood (5), in the doubles rubber.
Patricia Mulcahy (4) took time to find her stride against Colchester Captain ChrisM Clarke (10) with the latter showing excellent positioning skills throughout their three games match.
Clarke won the first game but Mulcahy bounced back to win the next two for the match win.
In the other morning singles, Phyllis Court's Dee McKibbin (4) toiled long and hard with Colchester's Simon Bird (2) but their match had to be suspended after three hours with the score 1-1, to be returned to if necessary, as Phyllis Court took a 2-0 lead into a late lunch.
McKibbin lost in straight games to Marilyn Wood in relatively quick fashion, to bring Colchester back into the team match, but another straight games win for Phyllis Court's Falle soon after, recovered the hosts' two games lead cushion.
As the clock ticked past 1800, Clarke let a first game lead go when Green tied the number 4 match, and all eyes turned to the battle of the number 3's, where Muclahy had won her first game and her second against Bird went to their final hoop.
Mulcahy made a crucial centre-ball clearance to hold position well, and then score the winning hoop on the next rotation, to give Phyllis Court an unassailable 4-2 lead.
Green and Clarke's rubber was halved, as was McKibbin and Bird's suspended morning rubber, in favour of Colchester setting out on their long drive home to Essex.
There is a digest of results on Croquet Scores here soon -
​PCC ''Federations Shield' - Pete Falle (3), Patricia Mulcahy (4), Dee McKibbin (4), Julia Green (8)
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Phyllis Court 'Federations Shield' are through to the National semi-finals and next face Backworth (Northumberland) at and date and venue to be decided.
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Winners Patricia Mulcahy & Paul Franklin with their Cup
and celebration beverages, flank the Manger Chris Donovan
14 July 2026 -
Mulcahy & Franklin retail their NATIONAL Seniors Handicap Doubles title
Paul Franklin reports:
Patricia Mulcahy and Paul Franklin competed at the National Seniors Tournament at Budleigh Salterton yesterday and today, and came away with the Handicap Doubles title, retaining the honour from last year.
Along with the National Veterans title, which they also retained at Cheltenham in June, they are tournament winners two years running for both national titles!
Conditions in Budleigh were quite challenging with super fast lawn speeds on very dry courts, and the first day required players to learn to handle the speeds.
The opening game against Neil Coote and Roger Mills was close, with the scores level with about 45 mins to go and there was a long duel to secure the lead.
The Phyllis Court pair managed this well and the result was a win by just one hoop.
The second game, against David Warhurst and Australian David Wise, was also close and our pair achieved another close win by four hoops.
The final on Today against Peter Thompson and Jonathan Toye was on a slightly more forgiving court and the Phyllis Court pair now had an improved feel for the conditions.
They achieved much better positioning in their hoop approaches than the previous day but also succeeded with several good hit-ins, which ultimately gave them control of the game.
There will be a digest of results posted to on Croquet Scores here soon -
https://croquetscores.com/2026/ac/cqe-seniors-championship
Congratulations Patricia & Paul!​​​​​
Dee McKibbin is a first time winner of the
Red Ball trophy (photo by Rob Eagle)
13 June 2026 - McKibbin wins our 3+ Singles 'Red Ball' trophy tournament at the deciding hoop
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In an exciting 'last hoop' finish, Dee McKibbin snatched victory from Michael Marcel in the final of today's 3+ Singles tournament, to lift the Red Ball trophy for the first time.
And excellent day's croquet from a talented and well-matched field was good good to watch on a hot day made comfortable by a pleasant breeze throughout, as the 11 strong field played in two blocks of 5 and 6, with the top two places in each to win semi-final places.
Pete Falle was undefeated in the larger block B and qualified with ease, but behind him it was very close.
Dianne Browne only lost by a singe point to Falle, and but for that would have tied on wins with Carol Huntington and Bob Clapp, ended-up with 3 wins each and that same 'net hoops' tally, so had to be separated by their 'head to head' result in Huntington's favour.
Net hoops came into play in the other block too, where Marcel had seemed to be on his way to an undefeated session, only to lose 4-7 to Jeff Smith in the last round.
This opened the door for McKibbin and a good win over Rob Eagle in her last round drew her level on wins with Marcel and with a crucial two net hoops advantage, to win the block.
So, after an absorbing five rounds of play and two tight finishes in block positions, the top four seeds did make it through on the semi-finals but in an unpredicted order.
Marcel handed Falle his first defeat of the day 7-4, but the latter was at least able to celebrate a first-time handicap reduction to 3 for his exploits, and in the other semi, Mckibbin eventually pulled away from Huntington 7-5 in a much longer contest.
The final started around 6pm and was hard fought throughout, as Marcel took a 3-1 lead which McKibbin closed down at 3-3 and then matched Marcel's progress hoop for hoop to 5-5.
Marcel played a high risk, but expertly played, promotion of his partner ball into the jaws of hoop 11, which not only won him that hoop, also given him a first stroke advantage to 12 and that should have been enough for the game, but Mckibbin capitalised on a loose stoke that hit a hoop leg, to score and take the game to the 13th and final hoop.
Marcel played his first stroke well to a safe, if rather long, position and McKibbin matched that with her first ball but was then short with her second, so had to defend for a number of interactive rotations of play, and she did well to the achieve hoop shooting chance which she converted for a very hard fought win.
Top finishing order: (1) Dee McKibbin, (2) Michael Marcel, (3=) Pete Falle & Carol Huntington.​​​​​​
11 June 2026 - End of the road for PCC '4' at Roehampton
PCC '4+' 2 - 5 Roehampton
Phyllis Court 4+ let a 2-1 lead slip to a 2-5 defeat at Roehampton today, as the exited the Inter-Club Bowl (tier 3) competition at the quarter-final stage.
Although found-out by the tough and difficult to run Atkins-Quadway hoops, deftly played by the canny home team, Phyllis Court made a good fist of the challenge throughout.
The improving Bob Clapp enjoyed an excellent morning in his debut at this level and won his singles match with the hosts’ Jenny Gaskin 7-6, 7-6, while Phyllis Court captain Patricia Mulcahy and Diane Browne worked a deciding game victory over Kevin O’Connor and Chris Bray.
Roehampton’s Emile Fernandes was too good for Jeff Smith and won in straight games, to leave the team match well poised at lunch with four head-to-head matches to play in the afternoon session.
Phyllis Court’s Browne lost in straight games, albeit closely 6-7, 5-7, to Gaskin, as the other three rubbers all went to deciding third games before all going Roehampton’s way.
There is a digest of results on Croquet Scores here - https://www.croquet.org.uk/?p=tournament/cqeEvents/inter-club/ClubComps&comp=B
​PCC '4+' - Patricia Mulcahy (4), Dianne Browne (5), Bob Clapp (5), Jeff Smith (6)
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8-9 July 2026 - Lilley wins Phyllis Court & High Wycombe AC 7+ Advanced tournament undefeated
Rick Lilley's progress in the Association Croquet games goes on unchecked and he made it 11 games undefeated when he wrapped-up his second tournament victory in a row today.
Revelling without the shackles of handicap play game, Lilley saw of a reduced field of his peers over two days at the C-Level (7+) Advanced tournament, jointly hosted by Phyllis Court and High Wycombe.
Lilley brought the confidence of his tournament recent win at Budleigh Salterton to his opening game with clubmate Kevin Ward and won convincingly 21-5, before encountering tournament favourite Nigel Billingham from Sussex County CC near Brighton, who was a first time visitor to the hosting clubs, and himself enjoying good form that earned a handicap reduction the week before.
This game turned out to be the crunch contest of the tournament and it certainly delivered in excitement, with both players tied on 15 points as the three-hour time limit passed and the so called 'golden hoop' (next to score) rule came into play.
If anything, Lilley did too well in positioning the balls close to the crucial hoop, such that he over-ran his angle with his first approach attempt, but then made no mistake with his second to win 16-15 on time.
The third round games had a scheduled mid-game suspension at around 7pm and resumed at High Wycombe this morning.
Lilley completed another comfortable victory over a Phyllis Court clubmate, this time, Roger Goldring 21-8.
Alongside, Steve Fisher of Blewbury also won for a third time and Billingham who stayed in the chase with his second win.
Lilley was pushed by Phyllis Court's Raghu Iyer in the fourth round but still won 20-16, as Billingham beat Fisher 25-10, which meant that all three leaders could still win, or force a play-off at least, if results fell their way in the last round.
Fisher kept Lilley on his toes for an hour and a half but the Phyllis Court player's long range hitting-in ability and confident hoop running earned him the deserved peg-out victory 2606 with ten minutes to spare, and that sealed the tournament victory.
Croquet Scores - https://croquetscores.com/2026/ac/england-phyllis-court-high-wycombe-c-level-7-advanced/competition/all-play-all
​Finishing order- Rick Lilley (5 wins), Nigel Billingham (Sussex Co., 4), Steve Fisher (Blewbury, 3), Raghu Iyer (2), Roger Goldring (1), Kevin Ward (0).​​​​​
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Lilley's win is the first for a Phyllis Court player in this tournament's eight year history and, on a personal note, earned him a handicap reduction to 8 for the first time. - Congratulations Rick!
23 June 2026 - PCC 'AC' win well away at Blewbury
PCC 'AC 7+' 3 - 0 Blewbury Buzzards
The Phyllis Court AC team got their SCF AC 7+ League campaign off to a cracking start today with a solid 3-0 win away at Blewbury Buzzards.
In the number 1 match, Raghu Iyer was too good for the hosts Deirdre Cochrane and won 23-8
Roger Goldring had the closest result in the number 2 contest, defeating Brian Jamieson by a single point, 15-14.
And in the number 3 match Robin Coates took out Steve Fisher 22-14.
​PCC 'AC 7+' - Raghu Iyer (AC 8), Roger Goldring (AC 11), Robin Coates (AC 12)​​​​​
23 June 2026 - New match dates announced and a resume of our standings in national competitions
Our three remaining GC teams in National Inter-Club competitions are enjoying good runs.
Here are newly announced dates for the next matches and a resume of where we sit in each of the competitions that we entered (with links to the competition knock-out grids).
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National GC Inter-Club Championship (Tier 1) Quarter-Final (lost) eliminated by >>> Roehampton
https://www.croquet.org.uk/?p=tournament/cqeEvents/inter-club/ClubComps&comp=G
National GC Inter-Club Shield (Tier 2) Quarter-Final Wed 22 July (home) East Dorset
https://www.croquet.org.uk/?p=tournament/cqeEvents/inter-club/ClubComps&comp=X
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National GC Inter-Club Bowl (Tier 3) Quarter-Final Sat 11 July (away) Roehampton
https://www.croquet.org.uk/?p=tournament/cqeEvents/inter-club/ClubComps&comp=B
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National GC Inter-Club 'Federations Shield (Advantage) Quarter-Final Wed 15 July (home) Colchester
https://www.croquet.org.uk/?p=tournament/cqeEvents/inter-club/ClubComps&comp=F
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National AC Inter-Club 'Longman Cup' (AC Handicap) 2nd Round (lost) eliminated by >>> High Wycombe
https://www.croquet.org.uk/?p=tournament/cqeEvents/inter-club/ClubComps&comp=L
https://www.croquet.org.uk/?p=tournament/cqeEvents/inter-club/ClubComps&comp=L
25-28 June 2026 - PCC trio in Ireland at the European Women's Championships - Day 4
Today was the last day of the Championships and Patricia Mulcahy needed to win her last block game first thing this morning, to be sure of qualification for the Plate event semi-finals.
She pulled that off with some room to spate 7-4 against young Mathilda Saewert (Germany) and then after a long wait for the main and senior support events to play their semi-finals, Mulcahy took on the experienced Caroline Denny (Belgium), the holder of the Plate title from the last Championship two years ago.
It was unfortunate that the encounter had to be just a single 13-hoop game, due to the twin pressures of time and court availability, and in a frustrating contest that was full of double-banking delays, Mulcahy played well but went down 4-7.
Her disappointment was countered slightly by a second victory in as many days over Sarah Clements (England) 7-6 to finish the tournament in 19th position, two better than her starting 21st placed seeding.
Tournament Referee Frances Colman & Tournament Manager Chris Roberts presided over the awards ceremony along with Tournament Director and WCF European Croquet Committee member Alan Looney.​
Spanish dominated these the top end of this Tournament and they filled all four semi-final berths, with both matches being settled at the 13th hoop of a deciding game.
European Women's Champion Maria Taylor (Spain) led the praise and thanks to Colman & Roberts for the well run tournament and Mulcahy added het appreciation too, which was all gratefully received.
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There is a digest of all the results on Croquet Scores here - https://croquetscores.com/2026/gc/european-women-championship-carrickmines-ireland/competition/d
25-28 June 2026 - PCC trio in Ireland at the European Women's Championships - Day 3
Buoyed by a strong end to the block phase, Patricia Mulcahy campaign in the Plate event went very well indeed today when she won three block games in a row.
She beat Margot Engstrom (Portugal) 7-5, Sabine Martinsone (Latvia) 7-5, and Simone Huber (Switzerland) 7-6, before falling narrowly to Bridget Goodman (England) 6-7.
With two rivals also doing well today, qualification for the semi-finals of the Plate, rests on the last round of Plate block games tomorrow.
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Today was the longest of the tournament, and especially so for the officials, Tournament Referee Frances Colman & Tournament Manager Chris Roberts, who were on duty from 0830 to gone 2100, thanks to one late finishing match that went to the 13th hop of it's deciding match.
The pair missed the tournament party which was a very disappointing end to an exausting day.
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There is a digest of all the results on Croquet Scores here - https://croquetscores.com/2026/gc/european-women-championship-carrickmines-ireland/competition/d
25-28 June 2026 - PCC trio in Ireland at the European Women's Championships - Day 2
Patricia Mulcahy's task today was to win her last two block games and hope other results went her way.
Unfortunately, only the first part of that happened when she beat Thais Lopez (Spain) and Sarah Clements (England ) 7-6 and 7-4 respectively, but other results left her final tally of just those two victories, being one short of the necessary three, to force a play-off for main event qualification.
The Plate event starts tomorrow and offers a clean slate opportunity.
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There is a digest of all the results on Croquet Scores here - https://croquetscores.com/2026/gc/european-women-championship-carrickmines-ireland/competition/d
25-28 June 2026 - PCC trio in Ireland at the European Women's Championships - Day 1
Phyllis Coyurt Crouqte Club Chairman, Patricia Mulcahy (representing Ireland), endured a tough opening day at the Championship with only two 6-7 score-lines to soften the blow of five straight defeats.
She has two more block games to play tomorrow morning and needs to win both, and have other results go her way, to perhaps force a play-off, for any hope of qualification for the main event knock-out.
There is a digest of all the results on Croquet Scores here - https://croquetscores.com/2026/gc/european-women-championship-carrickmines-ireland/competition/d
25-28 June 2026 -
PCC trio in Ireland at the European Women's Championships - preview ​​
PCC President, Frances Colman - Tournament Referee
PCC Chairman, Patricia Mulhahy - Player, representing Ireland
PCC Committee, Chris Roberts - Tournament Manager
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Follow the matches on Croquet Scoures - from Thursday to Sunday
https://croquetscores.com/2026/gc/european-women-championship-carrickmines-ireland/competition/d
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Live Streaming from Saturday - LINK TO COME
24 June 2026 - Rick Lilley Club Coach qualification ratified
Congratulations to Rick Lilley, who has competed his necessary observed coaching sessions for the ratification of his club coach status.
Hiis quality of coaching and associated paperwork reports were submitted to the Croquet England Coaching Committee and their approval was telegraphed to Rick by its Chairman, (our own) Ruth Raunkiaer.
Look out for Rick sporting a new yellow Club Coach badge!
Well done Rick!
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23 & 24 June 2026 - Lilley & Goldring beat their seeding at the British Open Doubles Championship
Roger Goldring reports:
News from Budleigh. Rick and I were seeded bottom (16th), playing amongst a bevy of top class players, and were very pleased to come in at 11th=.
The conditions were challenging, with a real heatwave, and Quadway hoops set in hard ground.
Well done Rick & Roger!
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23 June 2026 - PCC 'C' beat High Wycombe
PCC 'C' 6 - 2 High Wycombe
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​PCC 'C' - Pete Falle (4), Rob Eagle (4), Helen Essa (4),Dianne Browne (5)
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21 June 2026 - PCC 'A' knocked out of Inter-Club Championship (Tier 1) at Roehampton
PCC 'A' 2.5 - 4.5 Roehampton
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​PCC 'A' - Chris Roberts (-2), Charlie von Schmieder (-1), Ian Norris (1), Roger Goldring (1)
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Results digest on Croquet Scores here - https://croquetscores.com/2026/gc/roehampton-v-phyllis-court-inter-club/competition/roehampton-vs-phyllis-court
20-21 June 2026 - PCC 'Euro D' score fab 2nd place at the Watford Qualifier heat
of the European Clubs League competition
PCC 'Euro D' 1 - 9 Watford A
PCC 'Euro D' 6 - 4 Hove Beach B
PCC 'Euro D' 10 - 0 El Tiro (Spain)
Report to come . . .
​PCC 'Euro D' (Matches 1 & 2) - Carol Huntington (4), Pete Falle (4), Jeff Smith (6), Julia Green (8)
​PCC 'Euro D' (Match 3) - Carol Huntington (4), Pete Falle (4), Rob Eagle (4), Helen Essa (4)​
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Results digest on Croquet Scores here -
https://croquetscores.com/2026/gc/european-club-league-watford-qualifier-heat-1
The fabulous PCC 'Euro D' (from the left):
Helen Essa, jeff Smith, Rob Eagle, Julia Green, Pete Falle, Carol Huntington
SCF Coaching Officer, Ruth Raunkiaer presents
winner Tim O'Donnell with his trophy
20 June 2026 - Roberts pipped to SCF Championship title by Hamptworth's O'Donnell​
Chris Roberts and Ian Norris were Phyllis Courts representatives for this season's edition of the Southern Croquet Federation (SCF) Championship, which gathers the 8 best ranked players in the region.
Ireland captain Charlie von Schmieder would have been in the field too for Phyllis Court, but for a family commitment.
To seeds Roberts (Phyllis Court & Wales) and Tim O'Donnell (Hamptworth & Ireland) looked on course for a seventh and last round showdown until the tournament opened up in the fifth round when the pair lost to Ian Shore (High Wycombe) and Jonathan Smith (Ryde) respectively.
Norris then helped Roberts' cause by beating O'Donnell in the penultimate round meaning that the Irishman had to beat the Phyllis Court hoop by 7-5 or better to win the tournament on net hoops.
All went wrong for Roberts who went down 0-3 quickly and then O'Donnell made full use of our easy hoops to run the fourth from 25 yards.
Roberts got the score back to 2-4 and then 3-5 but O'Donnell wasn't going to let that advantage go, and soon wrapped up the game and tournament 7-4, leaving Roberts looking for revenge when the two meet again in the Home Internationals in two weeks’ time.
Finishing order:
1. Tim O'Donnell (Hamptworth & Ireland) - 5 wins
2. Chris Roberts (Phyllis Court & Wales) - 5 wins
3. Raouf Allim (High Wycombe) - 4 wins
4. Jonathan Smith (Ryde) - 3 wins
5. Steve Leonard (East Dorset & England) - 3 wins
6. Greg Vaughn (East Dorse) - 3 wins
6. Ian Shore (High Wycombe) - 3 wins
7. Ian Norris (Phyllis Court) - 2 wins​
Results digest on Croquet Scores here
18 June 2026 - Brian Bucknall R.I.P.
I am sorry to bring you the very sad news that our former President, Chairman and Honour Member Brian Bucknall died last week
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B G (Brian) Bucknall
Chris Roberts remembers a Phyllis Court 'Great'
With passing of BG (Brian) Bucknall, Phyllis Court Croquet Club has lost its longest serving member, and one of the ‘greats’ in its history.
When award a Croquet Association (now Croquet England) Diploma for Services to Croquet in 2014, Brian Bucknall has been at the heart of Phyllis Court Croquet Club for 38 years and his subsequent 12 years membership makes a half century of devotion.
Brian was co-opted on to the Croquet Club committee in 1977, elected to serve the following year and became its chairman two years after that.
He looked after AC competitions and social events for more than five years and, after a brief respite, returned to the committee in 1992 as Secretary and again looking after all things AC.
He then took on the Chairman's role for another three years in 1998 and saw membership numbers reach then-record levels.
At that same year's AGM, Phyllis Court doyen 'Smokey' Eades recognised Brian's contribution over the previous 21 years, probably not reckoning on him surpassing more than double that length of that service in the seasons to come.
Two further five-year stints as AC organiser followed in 2002 and 2009 and, although AC numbers dwindled in later years, Brian was unwavering in his championing of the code.
He devoted countless hours to coaching AC beginners and improvers over many years, often at the expense of his own on-court playing time.
Brian was a pivotal figure at our Club and held a number of committee posts before becoming our President after Smokey Eades.
He relinquished the Presidency three years ago, when his health declined to the extent that he could no longer attend the Club.
He kept a keen interest in Club and always had a good grasp of Croquet Club news and other matters whenever I visited him or we spoke on the phone.
Brian’s Croquet Association Diploma award (one of only five in our Club’s history) is recorded in our honours book, and by tradition, names are read aloud at every Annual General Meeting.
From long-standing member Terje Johansen:
Brian had been ill for a considerable time and was lovingly cared for by his wife, Celia.
Brian was the mainstay of association croquet at Phyllis Court for several decades and built longstanding relationships with Hurlingham, Roehampton and Wimbledon at a time when AC was predominantly plaid at Phyllis Court.
His enthusiastic coaching of AC gave many of us the start we needed to enjoy a wonderful game.
He was such a positive person whose influence on Phyllis Court croquet cannot be overstated.
Brian will be sorely missed but leaves behind many wonderful memories.
Funeral
Brian’s funeral will be held next week, at 1130 on Tuesday 23rd June at South Stoke Church where he played the organ for many years.
Several of our longer-standing members and current committee members will be attending.
All who knew Brian are invited to attend too, as are any current Croquet Club members who wish to pay their respects.
Roll of Honour
President 2022 - 2023
Chairman 1979 - 1980 and 1998 - 2001
Secretary 1994 - 1996
Committee member (many long periods)
Honorary member since c. 2000
Croquet Association Diploma for ‘Services to Croquet’ - 2014
Association Croquet
Club Championship (Boucher Trophy) - 1985, 2000, 2005, runner-up 1996, 2004
Restricted Singles (Section Tankard) - 2013
Handicap Singles, block (Poulton Cup) - 1985, 2004
Handicap Singles, k-o (Adlam Cup) - 1994
Handicap Doubles, (Greenbury Bowls) - 1998, 2001, 2003, 2007 (with N Morgan), 2013, 2015 (with R Iyer)
Handicap Singles T’ment (Caversham Plate) - 2002, 2006, 2007
Handicap Doubles T’ment (Barnses Cup) - 2003, 2014, 2015 (with T Johansen)
Golf Croquet
Club Doubles Championship - 2000 (with Mrs H Dobson), runner-up 2015 (with Miss N Cox)
Restricted Doubles - 1985 (with Mrs E O’Dair)
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Chris Roberts
17 June 2026 - PCC '1+' win narrowly to reach quarter-finals of National Inter-Club Shield (Tier2)
​PCC '1+' 4 - 3 Ealing
Captain Alastair Broom reports:
PCC ‘1+’ scored a hard-earned 4-3 win over Ealing today in the national Inter-Club Shield (Tier 2) competition.
Fielding their strongest possible selection with their handicap total at the minimum eight, Ian Norris came into the team as the single permitted 1 handicap member and played the opening doubles with Andy Jones (handicap 2) against Ron Carter (1) and Stephen Harbron (3).
By their own admissions, Norris and Jones were not at their best and went down 3-7, 5-7.
On the adjoining court, Phyllis Court captain Alastair Broom (2) got the better of John Hutchinson (4) 7-3, 7-5, whilst Michael Marcel became involved in a long tussle against Margaret Page (3).
Marcel won the first game 7-6 but gradually Page found the fast pace of court to her liking and her position play and clearing were of a high standard and won her the match 5-7, 5-7, to leave Phyllis Court trailing 1-2 going into lunch.
In the afternoon’s four head-to-head matches, Jones got into his stride in the number two match and won straight games by 7-5 and 7-5 to level the team match, but Broom was beaten 5-7, 6-7 in the number 3 match by the continuation of Page’s excellent positioning, clearing and hoop running.
The other two matches went to deciding third games, when Norris gradually found his form after losing his first game to Carter 5-7 and scraping the second 7-6.
He led 4-3 and 5-4 the decider but it was not until he placed his ball in the jaws of hoop 11 and Carter failed with his attempted jump shot, that Norris scored and took good position at 12 with the same stroke, to win 7-5.
This left the team match tied at 3-3, and to be decided by Marcel and Hutchinson who were well into their own deciding third game, having ended 7-5 and 4-7 previously.
Marcel was always ahead but Hutchinson levelled at 5-5, before Marcel ran hoop 11 well, took good position at 12, and after several attempts by each player, eventually scored to win 7-5 and clinch the team match by 4-3.
This was a character-building team performance in which all four members scored a point and earned Phyllis Court a home quarter-final match versus East Dorset on a July date to be agreed.
Results digest on Croquet Scores here - https://croquetscores.com/2026/gc/england-inter-club-shield-tier-2-phyllis-court-1-v-ealing/competition/phyllis-court-1-vs-ealing
​PCC '1+' - Ian Norris (1), Andy Jones (2), Alastair Broom (2), Michael Marcel (3)
Winners Paul Franklin & Patricia Mulcahy, with the 'Sussex Trugs' and celebration beverages, flank Crqouet England President Jonathan Isaacs
16 June 2026 - Franklin & Mulcahy retain NATIONAL VETERANS TITLE in all- Phyllis Court Final
Paul Franklin and Patricia Mulcahy retained their Handicap Doubles title at the Association Croquet National Veterans (over 65) Championship at Cheltenham today.
In an all-Phyllis Court final, they beat Frances Colman & Chris Roberts by two hoops on time, in an exciting end to good contest and tournament for the four Henley Club members.
The blocks were an exhausting affair, comprising a trio of full three-hour games that didn’t conclude until 8pm on Monday and both pairs picked up two wins and one loss in their respective block games.
Colman & Roberts qualified for the final on the first ‘who beat whom’ tie-breaker, while Franklin and Mulcahy’s progress relied on their superior net hoops tally, to split a three-way tie.
This being a handicap event, Franklin and Mulcahy enjoyed four and a half bisques (extra turns) in the final and they used them well, along with good hitting-in and hoop running from both partners.
They build a sizeable lead, but never one that was fully out of reach for Colman & Roberts who were also hitting in well and controlling their breaks nicely.
It was pleasing that changes of innings were eared by good hit-ins from both sides rather than errors by opponents.
However, with a little over half an hour to go, with all bisques used but seemingly cruising to victory, Franklin did finally stick in a crucial hoop.
Colman and Roberts pounced to close the scoreline, only for Roberts to miss an easy hit-in mid-break, allowing their rivals to stretch their lead again.
Roberts made amends with a life-saving 25-yard hit-in with five minutes remaining, to give his side a chance to close a six-hoops deficit in a grandstand finish.
They made a good fist of it too and scored four of the target, before Roberts left Colman a longer than ideal hoop shot that just failed.
Franklin and Mulcahy were re-presented with the Sussex Trugs pair of trophies by President of Croquet England Jonathan Isaacs.
Congratulations Paul and Patricia!
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Results digest on Croquet Scores here -
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13 June 2026 - Green runner-up at Bude (Devon) in women dominated 7+ tournament
Julia Green finished runner-up, having lost only one game in seven to the eventual winner, at a 7+ tournament in Bude (Devon) today.
This is an excellent reward for the long distance travel and taking the Phyllis Court name to the relitivly new Bude club for the first time.
It is pleasing to see from the photo (Julia is third from the left) that the tournament had attracted a field that was 75% female which is encouraging for the competitive gane.
13 June 2026 - PCC 'D' stay top of their Division win over High Wycombe 'Kestrels'
​PCC 'D' 10 - 6 High Wycombe 'Kestrals'
Report to come . . .
​PCC 'B' - Ruth Raunkiaer (5), Philip Rowley (6), Cliff Hampton (8), Martin Sloots (10)
13 June 2026 - PCC 'B' maintain unbeaten record at Blewbury
​PCC 'B' 6 - 2 Blewbury 'B'
Report to come . . .
​Results digest on Croquet Scores here - https://croquetscores.com/2026/gc/england-scf-3-league-blewbury-b-v-phyllis-court-b/competition/blewbury-b-vs-phyllis-court-b
​PCC 'B' - Alastair Boom (2), Michael Marcel (3), Raghu Iyer (3), Patricia Mulcahy (4)
13 June 2026 - Martin Cranstoun R.I.P.
I am sorry to bring you the sad news that our fellow member Martin Cranstoun died on Thursday.
He had been suffering with cancer for some time and was pre-deceased by his wife Sheila a few weeks beforehand.
Martin was know in a number of other Phyllis Court interest groups, including bridge and snooker. He was a member at Henley Golf and Bowles Clubs and also spectated at our neighbours Henley Hawkes Rugby Club.
Martin was a quiet man but with a steely eye for a competitive edge and interest knowing and and adhering to Croquet's rules.
He attended the GC Mix-in fairly regularly and our 'Roll of Honour' shows that he (and partner John Howie) were runners-up in the 2023 10+ Doubles season-long competition.
- Chris Roberts
11 June 2026 - PCC 'AC Handicap' knocked-out of Longman cup at High Wycombe
​PCC 'AC Handicap' 2 - 5 High Wycombe
Truly atrocious weather did its best to dampen the enthusiasm of the players in this National Inter-Club AC handicap competition at a wet and windy High Wycombe today.
The rain eventually caused the morning doubles rubber, that featured Paul Franklin and Patricia Mulcahy for Phyllis Court, to be halted and moved to the drier of the hosts' two courts.
The visitors' Raghu Iyer was beaten in fairly quick time by Wycombe's Mark Wilke 6-26, which allowed space for the doubles move and resumption.
Phyllis Court's Roger Goldring went to the three hour time limit with Wycombe's Robin Morrison and lost 23-24, however Phyllis Court stayed in the team match with victory the timed-out doubles rubber by another single hoop margin 14-13.
In the afternoon, Wycombe built on their lead when Matthew Miles Griffiths used a combination of his three bisques (extra turns) and the tactic of keeping Mulcahy's balls well separated, to win 1-26, but the other three matches hand much closer score lines.
Morrison beat Phyllis Court's Franklin 17-23, but Goldring got one back for Phyllis Court with a 23-19 win over Wince.
And then in the third single point victory of the match was suffered by Iyer, having one of his balls pegged-out by Wycombe's Richard Coward, who then had to come from seven hoops behind to win 25-26.
This was a close and good match it was just what was needed on such a poor and cold day.
This is the end of the road in this competition for Phyllis Court.
​PCC 'AC Handicap' - Raghu Iyer (AC 8), Paul Franklin (AC 10), Patricia Mulcahy (AC 11), Roger Goldring (AC 11)
9-10 June 2026 - Rick Lilley wins 5 out of 5 and his class at Budleigh AC Tournament
Rick Lilley's rise in AC continued yesterday and today at Budleigh Salterton in Devon, where he beat all five of his class opponents to win his first AC tournament away from Phyllis Court.
His upturn in AC form had delivered three wins at his last tournament (see news 26-27 May) and now his run of seven consecutive victories, shows a considerable ability step level up for the Frieth man.
Lilley's list of vanquished opponents were all seasoned in the AC game and he opened with a +5 win over Martin Alabaster (Bath), followed that with another close one,+2 over Stephen Tetlow (Budleigh) and ended Day 1 with a big margin win +19 against Kevin Wright (Budleigh).
In the box seat at the start of Day 2, Lilley cemented his position at the head of the field with a +10 win over over Philip Jones (Budleigh) and rounded-off his excellent tournament with a satisfying +5 win over familiar foe Mike Rice (East Dorset).
Lilley's exploits earned him his first external AC silverware and a handicap reduction to 9.
Congratulations Rick!
Rick Lilley with Tournament Manager Chris Williams
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Teams line-up:
- The victorious Win and Tonic (standing, white shirts)
- Phyllis Court Euro B (blue shirts)
- Real Club de la Puerta de Hierro B (front row)
- Newbridge House had departed
(by Chris Roberts)
6-7 June 2026 - PCC 'Euro B' fall to Swedes in an otherwise great Club weekend
World Croquet Federation - European Clubs League qualifier heat (at Phyllis Court)
​PCC 'Euro B' 10 - 0 Newbridge House B (Ireland)
​PCC 'Euro B' 8 - 2 Real Club de la Puerta de Hierro B (Spain)
​PCC 'Euro B' 2 - 8 Win & Tonic CC (Sweden)
National flags flew, overseas visitors arrived, champagne corks popped and Saturday’s rain did its best to spoil proceedings, but Phyllis Court's second hosting of a European Clubs League heat, was thoroughly enjoyed by all this weekend.
Enjoying the most was undoubtedly Swedish visitors Win and Tonic CC, who beat co-favourites Phyllis Court Euro B in the last of six test matches that made up this two-day tournament, in a fitting finale to a fabulous event.
Phyllis Court Euro B field a strong line-up under Alastair Broom, Oxfordshire County players Roger Goldring and Andy Jones along with the improving Michael Marcel and they opened their account with a 10-0 routing of Newbridge House B from Ireland.
Alongside that match, the Win And Tonic team was given a tough opening test by Spanish team Real Club de la Puerta de Hierro B, and that contest remained in the balance until the last round of singles, before the Swedes pulled away to win 6-4.
The second pair of test matches was played on Saturday late afternoon and concluded on Sunday morning, and saw Win and Tonic deliver a second 10-0 defeat to Newbridge House, whilst Phyllis Court Euro B were checked a couple of times on the way to a comfortable 8-2 win over Puerta de Hierro B.
Marcel disastrously peeled his opponent’s ball through hoop 12 in his doubles game partnering Broom, to concede the first stroke to the last hoop 13, and Spanish captain Paloma Cassanova capitalised to win that doubles game.
Phyllis Court won all four singles in the next round and three in the second round, with the only slip coming from Andy Jones, who was unfortunate to encounter Rocio Allende who played a far superior game to that which her ranking would have suggested.
With that team result, confidence was high in the Phyllis Court camp and thoughts turned the Club’s Euro C team that won in Spain three weeks ago, to earn promotion the Championship tier 1, where Phyllis Court’s Euro A team maintained their status, on the same weekend.
In the final round of test matches Puerta de Hierro B dispatched Newbridge House with a third 10-0 victory, as local eyes concentrated on the Phyllis Court Euro B v Win and Tonic CC showdown.
The Swedes had improved noticeably from their first games the previous day and they won both doubles matches easily.
Worse was to come for Phyllis Court, when only Marcel managed a win in the first round of singles, and when Goldring lost to the Swedes number one payer Stefan Amour in the last round, Win and Tonic achieved and unassailable lead, and only Broom could save the hosts blushes with a consolation win at the end, as his team fell 2-8.
Broom's exploits earned him a well-deserved handicap drop to 2 in a career first, but it was the Win and Tonic teams that headed into Henley Town in celebration on Sunday evening.
Phyllis Court will have two teams in the Championship tier 1 next season and at least one playing at the Qualifying tier 2 heats again next season.
PCC 'Euro B' - Roger Goldring (1), Andy Jones (2), Michael Marcel (3), Alastair Broom (3)
6 June 2026 - Undefeated Ward wins High Wycombe 4+ tournament
Kevin Ward was undefeated in winning the nationally advertised GC 4+ tournament at High Wycombe today,
– and congratulations to you Kevin!
He opened his day with a close 7-6 win over the Chris Mably (Guildford) and the beat the improving Ian Prince (High Wycombe) 7-5.
Ward reports that all his games were tough and included his third game versus 92 year old Robert Bateson, who was very accurate and Ward had to be careful on his way to a 7-4 win.
Good fried of Phyllis Court, Peter Adams (Guildford) was next up for Ward, and he too was beaten 7-5.
That took our man to the tournament final and matchup with Phyllis Court stable-mate Pete Falle, who had dropped one block game only during the morning session.
Ward established a commanding 6-2 lead in that final but accidentally peeled Fall’s ball through hoop 9 when attempting to clear him, and that heralded a comeback from Falle, who got the score back to 6-6 abd 13th hoop finale.
Ward got both his balls two to three feet in front of the hoop and Falle missed with both of his long-range clearing shots.
Ward’s first hoop scoring attempt blobbed in the hoop and Falle gamely tried to jump from the boundary without success and Ward peeled the hooped ball through to secure the outright victory.
National flags are flying atop our new gazebo to welcome our international visitors:
Newbridge House B IRELAND
Puerta de Hierro B SPAIN
Win and Tonic CC SWEDEN
Phyllis Court ‘Euro B’ hosts
World Croquet Federation
European Clubs League qualifier heat
4 June 2026 -INTERNATIONAL CROQUET this weekend Phyllis Court - Preview
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​ Excellent spectating & 'Club event'
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​The European Clubs League comes to Henley this weekend with Phyllis Court’s hosting of a qualifying (tier 2) heat, with teams from three overseas nations visiting for the first time.
Phyllis Court ‘Euro B’ field a strong line-up led by Roger Goldring and fellow Oxfordshire County player Andy Jones along with the improving Michael Marcel and Alastair Broom (who captain's the team), for what will be the biggest croquet club involvement day of the season.
With that line-up, confidence should be high for the team that hope to emulate the Club’s ‘Euro C’ team that won in Spain a fortnight and earned promotion the Championship tier 1, where ‘Euro A’ maintained their status.
Phyllis Court’s main challenge looks like coming from the interestingly named Win and Tonic CC from Sweden who include in their number Stefan Amour who took games off some well-established players in last month’s European Championships, along with Phyllis Court’s Wales international Chris Roberts.
Spanish team Puerta de Hierro B are something of an unknown quantity and with playing standards improving in their country faster than anywhere else, Phyllis Court should not take their weaker personal gradings too lightly, and likewise with Ireland representatives Newbridge House B.
A fabulous weekend of action awaits, and a good size Phyllis Court spectator gallery is expected on both days.
PCC 'Euro B' - Roger Goldring (1), Andy Jones (2), Michael Marcel (3), Alastair Broom (3)
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3 June2026 - PCC 'A' v Winchester
​PCC 'A' 6 - 2 Winchester
On an appalling day weather wise, PCC'A' shone through the rain to record a comfortable 6-2 victory over Winchester today.
Ian Norris and Roger Goldring sprinted to straight gams for PCC 'A' wins over Roger Barnacle and Nick Schulkins respectively, while Chris Roberts drooped the middle game of his match with Ian B Harrison but came through with the win.
Rick Lilley had a ding-dong battle with Winchester's Ron Monger which went the visitor's was 6-7 in the last of three games, so the match stood a 3-1 to PCC 'A' at lunch.
In the afternoon session, Roberts saw-off Barnacle quickly in straight games and Goldring's similar win shortly afterwards secured the team win for PCC 'A'.
Norris played a topsy-turvy game with Harrison and lost in the deciding game of three and Lilley's two poor approaches to hoop 13 in his second game with Schulkins proved costly, and he won the decider for a sixth win for PCC 'A'.
PCC 'A' - Chris Roberts (-2), Ian Norris (1), Roger Goldring (1), Rick Lilley (1)
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2 June 2026 - PCC 'E' beat Winchester away
​PCC 'E' 10 - 6 Winchester
PCC 'E scored a good LSCF Advantage league win today, doing well to keep their noses in front throughout.
Three first round wins set the tome and after two evenly shared rounds 2 and 3, PCC 'E' pressed home their advantage with another 3-1 score in the last round.
Hilary Cowley and Maureen Ward both won three times, whilst captain Julia Green and Phil Johnson won twice each.
PCC 'E' - Julia Green (8), Philip Johnson (9), Hilary Cowley (9), Maureen Ward (10)
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31 May 2026 - Norrises win the Plate at the SCF Solstice Doubles​​​​
Our own Andy Jones and Ruth Raunkiaer were the Manager and Tournament Referee' respectively for this one - here is Andy's report:
​The May heatwave had thankfully ended before 32 players from 9 clubs gathered for the 2026 edition of the SCF Solstice Challenge Golf Croquet Doubles tournament.
The event took place at Hamptworth Croquet Club and its central location meant that the competition included players from as far afield as Wingrave in the North of our region, to Ryde in the South and East Dorset in the West.
Defending champions Keith Southern and Tim Hughes (East Dorset) lost their first game of the day, but fought back to join seven other pairs in the afternoon’s main Knockout rounds to decide the destination of the trophy. The remaining pairs contested the Plate competition, which was eventually won by Delia and Ian Norris (Phyllis Court).
In the main event, hard-fought quarter finals and semi-finals games meant that play continued into the evening (that’s why the event is played at this time of year and called the Solstice!) but in the end, 3rd place was won by Hamptworth players Norman Ellis and Jenny Bartlett who defeated Jackie and Simon Bryant (Thames Valley) at the 13th hoop. The final itself was contested by Keith Southern and Tim Hughes taking on James White and Bob Davey (Basingstoke) which again was fought out with tremendous tenacity and great execution of critical shots. Play reached the 13th, but it was Keith and Tim who ran the final hoop to claim victory and retain the trophy.
Thanks to all players who attended to make an enjoyable day’s play and to Hamptworth Croquet Club for hosting the event again this year.
Andy Jones, Tournament Manager
30 May 2026 - Eagle and Smith each win twice to carry PCC '4+' to victory over Hurlingham
​​​​​​PCC '4+' 4 - 3 Hurlingham
​PCC '4+' scored a hard fought victory at home to Hurlingham today, and progressed into the quarter-finals of Croquet England's Inter-Club Bowl (tier 3) competition today.
This was a close match throughout and the two teams were tied at lunch with all to play for, following Patricia Mulcahy and Dianne Brown’s 5-7, 5-7 doubles loss to Hurlingham’s Peter Arbuthnot and David Horlock; Rob Eagle’s fine 7-4, 7-5 home win over Jane Theophilus and Jeff Smith’s remarkable turnaround of a 6-7 loss to then win 7-0 against Bertie Maxwell before his decider was put on hold for lunch.
For the afternoon session, Smith’s earlier match was suspended pending resumption only if needed for the team result after four head-to-head matches had been contested.
Mulcahy toiled in the match-up of the number ones with the longest possible contest before losing by the odd hoop in 39 to Arbuthnot 6-7, 7-6, 6-7, and Browne slipped away too 6-7, 3-7.
However, Eagle recorded his second straight games win when he dispatched Hurlingham captain Maxwell 7-3, 7-2 and Smith wrestled with Theophilus before winning 7-1, 5-7, 7-4.
With the outcome of Mulcahy’s marathon match still in the balance, Smith returned to his suspended morning match as it was likely to be pivotal to the team result, and he wasted no time in inflicting a second 7-0 defeat on Maxwell to secure Phyllis Court’s victory.
Hurlingham were mighty impressed with Phyllis Court, even with the end phase of the clubhouse renovations still on-going and later wrote a letter of praise and thanks for their lovely day.
PCC ‘4+’ will play the winners of Maldon (Essex) versus Roehampton at a venue and date to be arranged (before 28 July),
PCC ‘4+' - Patricia Mulcahy (4), Dianne Browne (5), Rob Eagle (5), Geoff Smith (6)
26-27 May 2026 - Lilley joint runner-up in Phyllis Court / Blewbury AC 7+ Advanced Tournament
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Rick Lilley's AC got better with each game he played in our nationally advertised AC 7+ Advanced tournament that we co-host with Blewbury.
He started out with a narrow defeat to Peter Adams (Guildford), then got the better of Phyllis Court clubmate Roger Goldring on day one, and finished that day with a pegged-down game versus Martin Berger (Aldermaston).
On Day 2, he was undone by Berger but played very well in winning both his reaming games with peg-outs against eventual victor Andrew Petitt (Blewbury) and Colin Spencer (Downham) to finish tied in the runner-up spot with Spencer and Berger.
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23 May 2026 - European Clubs League (Day 2)
PCC 'Euro C' WIN in Spain & earn promotion for 2026
PCC 'Euro A' recover to finish runners-up in Latvia and retain place in top Championship tier
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​Day 2 report:
Phyllis Court ‘Euro C’ get the top headline today for a fantastic win in their qualifier heat in Vigo, and with that comes promotion to the top Championship Tier for 2027.
Today they had to win against the hitherto undefeated Hove Beach A (England), which they did by a convincing 7-3.
They got of the best of starts winning both doubles rubbers and really put the screws on Hove when Raghu Iyer, Dee McKibbin and Patricia Mulcahy all won their first round of singles and the victory was secured when the latter two both won again in the second round.
Doubtless there will be more stories to tell from this excellent second day, but for now, it is many congratulations to the Euro C for this result which will give Phyllis Court a double presence (at least) in the Championship Tier next year.
Phylis Court ‘Euro A’ recovered from a very sticky overnight position in their heat at Ikskile, Latvia today, firstly thanks to three singles wins from Frances Colman, Ian Norris and Chris Roberts which earned a 5-5 draw with Campo de Vigo C in the overnight suspended match.
This meant they had to at least draw also with Villaneuva A today to avoid possible relegation (assuming that hosts Ikskile would beat Vigo, which they did handsomely).
Colman & Roberts won their doubles 7-6 and then Roberts had to jump hoop 13 to win his first singles too alongside a single win for Lilley but that left the team match in the balance at 3-3 with four singles to play.
Norris finished first with a won, Colman lost at the penultimate hoop and the Robets secured the status saving draw with a good margin win, leaving Lilley to try to bring home the match win and heat runners-up spot.
His game went to the i3th hoop, like so many others and with all four approaches good, Lilley was coolness personified as he scored past the other all from five yards.
‘Euro A’ were disappointed not to have qualified for October’s Grand Final but ended well satisfied to have recovered from that poor first day to preserve their Championship Tier 1 status for next season.
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See all the results here on Croquet Scores, via these links:​
​PCC 'Euro A' - in Latvia - https://croquetscores.com/2026/gc/ecl-ikskile-latvia
​​PCC 'Euro C' - in Spain - https://croquetscores.com/2026/gc/european-club-league-heat-ccvigo
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23 May 2026 - European Clubs League (Day 1)
PCC 'Euro A' bomb in Latvia - while PCC 'Euro C' have a good day in Spain
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​Follow our two team matches in 'real time' on Croquet Scores, via these links:​
​PCC 'Euro A' - in Latvia - https://croquetscores.com/2026/gc/ecl-ikskile-latvia
​​PCC 'Euro C' - in Spain - https://croquetscores.com/2026/gc/european-club-league-heat-ccvigo
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Day 1 report:
Phyllis Court ‘Euro A’ had a truly dreadful day, croquet wise, at the delightfully positioned Iskskile Croquet Club about 40 minutes’ drive from the Latvian capital Riga.
They got thumped 2-8 in their opening match against the hosts, who fielded 75% of the Latvia national Team, with only Chris Roberts and Frances Colman doubles rubber and Rick Lilley’s first singles victories to be pleased about in a sea of defeated otherwise.
The doubles pair did at least get their singles versus Sylvija Friemane and Roberts Stefeckis respectively to 6-7 but had those two results been reversed only a draw would have been salvaged.
Worse was to come though, and overnight, Phyllis Court ‘A’ sit 2-4 games wins down, with four rubbers to play, against Club Campo de Vigo ‘C’, with only Roberts’ singles, and Lilley and Norris’ doubles victory to show for an afternoon of toil.
Phyllis Court ‘A’ need to win all four of the remaining singles to win the team match, or three wins will secure the draw.
Phyllis Court ‘Euro C’ had, by contrast, had a very good day at in Spain and sit on one team match win and one draw.
The tied contest, 5 -5, was against the host Club Campo de Vigo ‘B’ with a double win Kevin Ward and Patricia Mulcahy, two singles victories for the latter and one apiece for Dee McKibbin and Kevin Ward.
The afternoon just got better and better for the ‘C’ when they beat Horice form Czechia 6-4, compete with some last hoop drama in the last match to finish.
Raghu Iyer was the hero who scored the winning stroke against well know English tournament circuit player Jan Kral, but captain Mulcahy won both her singes again and deserves the plaudits for a splendid mallet day.
The doubles matches were shared 1-1 and Phyllis Court ‘C kept pace, win for win, with the Eastern Europeans thanks to singles other games wins from Ward, McKibbin and then eventually Iyer.
Phylis Court ‘C’ sit in second place overnight and will line-up tomorrow, in a ‘winner takes all’ match with Hove Beach ‘A’ from near Brighton, who are undefeated on two team match wins.
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22 May 2026 - PCC 'E' best first time visitors Hartley Wintney
​PCC 'E' 10 - 6 Hartley Wintney
It was a pleasure to welcome first time visitors Hartley Wintney to Phyllis Court, and all the more so, as they are a relatively new club.
PCC 'E' won this match in the middle two rounds in which they recorded three victories each time, and bookended those scores with evenly shared rounds.
Aly Warren and Hilary Cowley did the damage for PCC 'E' with three wins each, whilst captain Julia Green and debutant Phil Johnson scored a soil two each.
PCC 'E' - Aly Warren (7), Julia Green (8), Philip Johnson (9), Hilary Cowley (10)
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22 May 2026 - European Clubs League - We have TWO teams competing on foreign soil this weekend (PREVIEW)​
​Follow our two team matches in 'real time' on Croquet Scores, via these links:​
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PCC 'Euro A' - in Latvia - https://croquetscores.com/2026/gc/ecl-ikskile-latvia
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​PCC 'Euro C' - in Spain - https://croquetscores.com/2026/gc/european-club-league-heat-ccvigo
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PREVIEW of this historic weekend for Phyllis court Croquet Club:
Phyllis Court has two teams heading to Europe this weekend to compete in separate heats of the 57 team Croquet European Clubs competition and will play in Latvia and Spain simultaneously.
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Phyllis Court ‘Euro A’ will play at Ikskile in Latvia, in the Tier 1 Championship level, comprising 28 teams in seven heats, striving to qualify for the European Grand Final in October, along with hosts Carrickmines near Dublin.
The Henley Club finished a creditable third in the final of last season’s single tiered competition, but with a doubling of entries, their qualifying task will be harder this year, as all the stronger teams are more closely grouped together.
Ikskile will field most of the impressive Latvian national team that Phyllis Court’s Frances Colman and Chris Roberts worked with at a training camp in the Algarve last month, and also making the trip to eastern Europe are the unknown quality of Villanueva ‘A’ from Spain and the likely weakest team in the heat, Club de Campo de Vigo 'C', also from Spain.
Phyllis Court are without Ireland captain Charlie von Schmieder for this trip and Club President Colman comes into the team, which is otherwise unchanged from the 2025 finals and is captained by Wales International Chris Roberts, alongside the experienced Ian Norris and Rick Lilley.
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Phyllis Court 'Euro C' will play at Vigo in northern Spain, in the Tier 2 Qualifier level, comprising another 28 teams in seven heats across Europe, and for them the prize for winning a heat is promotion to the Tier 1 Championship level for next year.
This will be Phyllis Court’s second visit to Spain this year, after their invitation to the prestigious Copa Giralda tournament in Seville back in March.
Club de Campo de Vigo ‘B’ host this Spanish heat, which is hard to call, with the unknown quality of Horice from eastern Czechia in the field and Hove Beach ‘B’ from the England’s south coast also competing.
A strong travelling team has been selected for this one and the 'C' is led by Club captain Patricia Mulcahy who is no stranger to big events, having played for the Ireland Women’s team three times and was her country’s representative at last season’s World Championships in Virginia.
She is supported by experienced members Raghu Iyer, Kevin Ward and Dee McKibbin.
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Phyllis Court 'Euro B' will complete our Club's entry into the Croquet European Clubs competition this year and will host their own Tier 2 Qualifier heat on 6th and 7th June, welcoming visiting teams from Ireland, Spain and Sweden.
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17 May 2026 - GC European Championships 14 -17 May (Day 4)
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Chris Roberts completed his overnight suspended match with Okatar Stankus (Czechia) this morning and, thanks to some good fortune along the way, won easily 7-1.
In the semi-finals of the Bowl event, he enjoyed two fabulous hard hitting and entertaining games in a re-match with Inigo Castenon (Spain) but lost 6-7, 3-7.
And the Phyllis Court player's competition closed with a single 19-point game with Normunsa Zelcans (Latvina Champion) to decide 11th/12th places, and for the ninth time at these Championships, it was decided at the last hoop and Roberts won 10-9.
Roberts ended as the best placed of the four Wales representatives, won 9 of his 12 matches (16 of 27 games), and now sits at no 21 in the UK.
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Deputy Tournament Referee, Frances Colman, was placed to oversee the Championship Final and was called on to referee a number of strokes in a close contest between English teenagers Jack Good and Sam Cuthbert, and I will not spoil your possible views of the final by revealing the winner for a few days.
Frances was gratefully thanked at the awards ceremony, for her diligent and very long hours of refereeing over all four days.
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Chris Roberts is the commentator for the final and you can watch that on YouTube here: - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQ32eII6uyU&t=1973s
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All the Championship resulst are on Croquet Scores here - https://croquetscores.com/2026/gc/erc-european-singles​
16 May 2026 - Sloots wins the Guildford D-Level & qualified for the National Final
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Congratulations to Martin Sloots on a terrific maiden tournament win, which qualified him for the D-level National final at the end of the season.
And, on a great day for Phyllis Court, Jane Drury also made it through to the Final, in a good coup for our Club!
Sloots dropped only one game all day, and that was to Phyllis Court clubmate Joanna Clapp in the block stage, which was a great win for her.
He was the only one to take a black game off Drury 7-6 as the pair qualified for the main event knock-out along with clubmate Daphne Spiers
In the knock-out stage quarter finals Drury beat Spiers 7-3,and Sloots beat John French (Reigate Priory) 7-5.
In the semis Drury beat Liz Rhodes (Basingstoke) 7-3 and Sloots got passed Alan Hall (Rother Valley) 6-5 in a time limited game, to set up that all Phyllis Court final which Sloots won at the last hoop, 7-6.
Congratulations Martin, and well done too Jane!​​
16 May 2026 - Eagle & Miles represent Phyllis Court at Charity One Ball National Final
​Rob Eagle reports:
Phyllis Court fielded two players, Rob Eagle and Chris Miles, at the Charity One Ball final held at Surbiton Croquet Club today.
Miles, who had never played AC before, won 3 of his 6 games and Eagle won 5 of 7 alongside 38 other players, who had all come through their club heats.
The final was contested by Gareth Hobby (Caversham) and Cliff Hunter (Surbiton), and was won by the former 13-7, which won him the Crystal Trophy.
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Save the Children was the benefitting charity and the total money raised by the competition will be posted here . . . . . . . .when known.
​The Phyllis Court heat took place on 20 April (see the dated report below) and that contributed a marvellous £ 850 to the Croquet England collective donation.
16 May 2026 - GC European Championships 14 -17 May (Day 3)
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Deputy Tournament Referee, Frances Colman, was kept especially busy today as the tournament matches inevitably became more evenly contested in the Championship and Plate events, on this the longest day of action starting at 0915 and running through to 2030.
Chris Roberts beat Peter Payne (Switzerland) 7-6, 7-3 in his last block game this morning, to end the first phase on 6 wins from 7 to tie on that measure with Stephen Mulliner, who topped the block with a better net hoops tally.
Unfortunately, Roberts was 'rewarded' with a first round knock-out match versus Rachel Gee the former Women's World Champion, against whom he has an abysmal record.
He played well, despite the millstone of history and should have won the first game, but a failed hoop shot a the last hoop gifted that contest to Gee 6-7 and she went on to win the crucial second very competitive game 3-7 to exit the Phyllis Court player.
Roberts had a long wait for an opponent for his next match, this time in the Bowl event for positions 9-16, and eventually Czechian champion Otakar Stankus emerged and the pair played a really good quality match with multiple long rage clearances from both sides.​
Roberts got into the jaws of hoop 13 in the first game and then cleared Stankus' easy jumping ball from the far side of the court with a great cut to send it close to the eastern penalty area, only for Stankus to match that skill with a brillient clearance of the jawsed ball from that unlikely position and that shot won him the game 6-7.
Roberts won the return 7-5 and, with the time past 20.00, the decider was shelved until tomorrow morning.
You can also follow the results in real time on Croquet Scores. Click here - https://croquetscores.com/2026/gc/erc-european-singles​
15 May 2026 - PCC 'B' stay undefeated with a win over Eynsham
​PCC 'B' 5.5 - 2.5 Eynsham
Captain Alastair Broom reports:
PCC 'B' team continued their unbeaten run with a well earned 5.5 - 2.5 win over Eynsham today.
In the morning matches, Michael Marcel scored a tough 2-1 win over visitor Hugh Manson with of the two games going to the 13th hoop, while Alastair Broom found his form of last year at last, and beat the Eynsham captain Neil Stewart
7-6, 7-4.
On the adjoining court, Patricia Mulcahy came through a hard match with a 2-1 win over Paul Cotterell, while Dee McKibbin had an equally tough game with Roger Booth, that was stopped after 2.5 hours at one game each, so PCC 'B' took a 3.5 - 0.5 lead into lunch.
In the afternoon, Marcel came up against an improved Stewart and went down after two tight games by 7-6, 7-5, whilst Phyllis Court captain Broom kept his form to beat Manson by 7-2, 7-5; a match win that secured the team result for Phyllis Court.
Meanwhile, McKibbin positioned and hooped well to beat Cotterell 7-4, 7-2, while Mulcahy had long tussle with Booth, that the latter won after a prolonged duel at the last hoop of the deciding game.
PCC ''B' - Michael Marcel (3), Alastair Broom (3), Dee McKibbin (4), Patricia Mulcahy (4)
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15 May 2026 - GC European Championships 14 -17 May (Day 2)
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Chris Roberts had a terrific day today, winning all three of his block matches, to qualify for the Championship knock-out with a match to spare.
Today he beat:
Kathy Browne (Scotland) 5-7, 7-6, 7-2
Anton Carme (Sweden) 7-5, 7-4
Inigo Castanon (Spain) 7-6, 3-7, 7-3
The last block matches continue tomorrow morning (Roberts v Peter Payne [Switzerland]) before the knockout starts in the second session.
You can also follow the results in real time on Croquet Scores. Click here - https://croquetscores.com/2026/gc/erc-european-singles​
14 May 2026 - GC European Championships 14 -17 May (Day 1)
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Chris Roberts got off to a shaky start to his Championships today when he peeled his opponent, Alan Looney (Ireland) through two hoops in a row and then fell sort with his first approach stoke to hoop 13, gifting Looney the first game in their best of three block match.
Roberts recovered well to win the next two games and the match 6-7, 7-6, 6-2.
Next up was England International Richard Bilton and Roberts upset the seeding in the block by winning that one 7-3, 6-7, 7.5.
On a roll, Roberts played at the top of is game to take the first game off former AC World Champion Stephen Mulliner 7-1 (a rare score line for the legendry player) but then went down 3-7, 3-7 to the top seed.
2 wins from 3 games, with the top two seeds in his block, was a very encouraging return for Day 1 by Roberts.
The block matches continue tomorrow and Friday.
You can also follow the results in real time on Croquet Scores. Click here - https://croquetscores.com/2026/gc/erc-european-singles​
WATCH LIVE STREAMING NOW (Saturday & Sunday only)
GC European Championships
featuring Phyllis Court's own:
Frances Colman - Deputy Tournament Referee
Chris Roberts - player, representing Wales
Click here: https://www.youtube.com/croquetengland
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- You can also follow the results in real time on Croquet Scores. Click here - https://croquetscores.com/2026/gc/erc-european-singles
- And see our website News page for links and daily reports -
14 May 2026 - GC European Championships - 14 -17 May (preview)
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Chris Roberts - is representing Wales, is 10th seed and starts in Block B.
Frances Colman - is the Deputy Tournament Referee.
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There are 32 players from 12 nations - England (8 players), Ireland (4), Spain (4), Wales (4), Czechia (2), Germany (2), Scotland (2), Sweden (2), Belgium (1), Finland (1), Latvia 91), Switzerland (1).
Players are in 4 blocks of 8 playing from today until Saturday morning.
The top 4 from each block will qualify for the Championship knockout round of 16.
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13 May 2026 - PCC 'C' score convincing win over Blewbury B
​PCC 'C' 7 - 1 Blewbury B
This was an emphatic win for PCC C today and they struck early.
Unphased by the injury withdrawal of Raghu Iyer the day before, Patricia Mulcahy was a amore than capable stand-in,
Winning all four morning matches made a big statement on this team contest and the team only lost one rubber in the afternoon.
There were double match wins all round, save for captain Helen Essa who got one only.
See a digest of all the results on Croquet Scores here -
PCC 'C' - Pete Falle (4), Helen Essa (4), Carol Huntington (4), Rob Eagle (5)
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Photo by Kevin Ward
11 May 2026 - Drury wins our 10+ Tournament and her first croquet trophy
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Jane Drury won our 10+ Singles today with an exciting final game win over Eva Kompanik that was only settled at the 13th hoop.
This was a lovely tournament with pleasing expedition of play from everyone, including several participants playing in a competitive environment for the first time.
Neither of the eventual finalist came through the morning block stage unscathed with Drury being overcome by Martin Sloots and Kompanik falling to Daphne Spiers, and both qualified for the afternoon main event knock-out as block runners-up.
The blocks were won my undefeated quartet Spiers, Sloots, Maureen Ward and Hilary Cowley and the other qualifiers were Pippa Wynne-Ellis and Sheila Evans.
In the afternoon quarter-finals, Kompanik beat number one seed Ward, and dark horse Evans beat Sloots in the top half of the draw as Drury and Spiers got past Cowley and Wynne-Ellis in the lower half.
Evans game run ended with 7-3 defeat to Kompanik who had taken over the favourite’s tag and in a long second semi, Drury eventually beat Spiers 7-5, to set up an intriguing final.
I do not recall there being more than one hoop separating Kompanik and Drury in the whole game and it all boiled down to the crucial 13th.
Kompanik had the first shot advantage but was disappointingly short, which gave the upper hand to Drury who made the error pay after a couple of rotations of play.
Commiserations to Kompanik (who earlier in the day had been presented with her trophy for the only recently settled 2025 10+ Doubles competition final).
And congratulations to Drury who was presented with the Green Ball Trophy by our President Frances Colman.
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11 May 2026 - PCC members have a strong presence at the Sidmouth Teams Challenge
- Lady Penelope, Parker & TinTin looked F.A.B. representing 'International Rescue'
- Rick Lilley lead the '24 Carrot' team
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​​​​Details to come . . .​
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10 May 2026 - Goldring is back to old form at the East Anglian (Premier Series) Open
Roger Goldring took part in the East Anglia GC Premier at Colchester, 9–10 May, one of four Premier events this year.
He didn't qualify for the main knock-out but managed an important scalping of top Irish international Rob O'Donoghue.
Goldring then went on to win the Shield event and collecting a bottle of wine! prize.
This was a good showing from the Phyllis Court man in a top field, exampled the world class finalists, England International Euan Burridge and three time World Champion Reg Bamford.
Young Burridge scraped home in the first game of three, Bamford romped the second, before Burridge triumphed at the golden hoop in the third.
Goldring's game wins earned him a handicap improvement to a 1. - congratulations Roger​
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10 May 2026 -
Ian & Delia Norris win CORFU Doubles & Ian wins Singles too
​​​​Details to come . . .​
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8 May 2026 - PCC 'D' beat Eynsham
​PCC 'D' 10 - 6 Eynsham
Phyllis Court 'D' beat Eynsham impressively 10-6 in the Southern Federation Leagues (SCF) Advantage League this afternoon.
The won the first round of games 3-1 but suffered a reverse of that score in the second as Eynsham came back to 3-3.
However, it was in the third round that the 'D' wo the fixture with victories in all four games which allowed a relaxed sharing of the points there after, with the match win in the bag.
Bob Clapp and captain Philip Rowley contributed three wins each and both Caro; Huntington and Bill Pitkeathley scored two.
PCC ''D' - Carol Huntington (5), Philip Rowley (6), Bill Pitkeathley (6), Bob Clapp (6)
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7 May 2026 - PCC 'AC' score come-back win at East Dorset in National Longman Cup
​PCC 'AC' 4 - 3 East Dorset (away)
Phyllis Court's association croquet (AC) team showed good character to come from behind to win 4-3 away at East Dorset today.
This was afirst round victory in Croquet England's National AC Longman Cup (played to Handicap rules).
Captain Rick Lilley and Kevin Ward lost the morning doubles rubber by a single point 14-15 and Rob Eagle fell in his singles 11-19, but Helen Essa won 15-10 despite thinking she had not played well.
The afternoon session was full of close results with Essa taking top plaudits and her second win 19-15, alongside Eagle’s 17-13 success, but Lilley lost 17-19 to Steve Leonard in the captains encounter, which is a more usually is contested at golf croquet by the familiar rivals.
Ward got Phyllis Court over the winning like with his single point 20-19 victory in an exciting finish to the day, and the victory sees the Henley club set to face High Wycombe in the next round.
PCC 'AC' - Rick Lilley (AC 10), Kevin Ward (AC 12), Helen Essa (AC 16), Rob Eagle (AC 16)
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3 May 2026 - Iyer wins the Watford B-Level Series - and quaifiies for the National Final
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Raghu Iyer beat Fellow Phyllis Court clubmate Carol Huntington in th final of the Watford B-Level Series tournament today - and congratulations to him!
Details to come . . .​
The results are on CroquetScores here - https://croquetscores.com/2026/gc/watford-b-level-series
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Photo by Carol Huntington
2 May 2026 - PCC 'Federations Shield' beat first time visitors Hove Beach
​PCC 'Federations Shield' 5.5 - 1.5 Hove Beach
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Phyllis Court scored a convincing win today in their first-round match in this season’s Croquet England’s National Inter-Club Advantage competition, the Federations Shield.
Their visitors were Hove Beach, who’s home ground is right on the promenade of the Sussex seaside town, and even though they had won a coin toss for venue, they opted to visit the lovely courts of the Phyllis Court Club.
This national competition is for the Handicap/Advantage League Champions of all nine regional Federations, and the Phyllis Court team line-up is based on the PDD 'D' team that won the Southern Croquet Federation's (SCF) Advantage League last season. Hove Beach are the reigning South-East Federation Advantage League Champions.
Home captain Philip Rowley partnered Julia Green to victory in the doubles rubber against Hove skipper Sam Holder and Gavin Fancy and the hosts Bob Clapp doubled Phyllis Court’s lead with a three- game victory over Tim Bick.
The Carol Huntington versus Rob Harper match was suspended at 1-1, to be returned to if crucial to the team match result.
In the afternoon session, Harper pulled one match win back for Hove, with defeat of Rowley, but all the other matches went Phyllis Court’s way.
Huntington beat Holder, Clapp defeated Fancy and Green got the better of Bick, all in straight games, and with no need to return to the suspended match, the team results was called as Phyllis Court 5.5, Hove Beach 1.5 and the teams repaired to the bar.​
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The results are on CroquetScores here - (to come . . . )
PCC 'Federations Shield' - Carol Huntington (5), Philip Rowley (6), Bob Clapp (6), Julia Green (8)
Phyllis Court will next face Colchester (the East Anglian Federation Handicap Champions) with the venue to be decided by a coin toss.
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30 April 2026 - PCC 'A' beat Woking in the Inter-Club Championship (tier 1)
​PCC 'A' 5 - 2 Woking (away)
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Undeterred by the late withdrawal of injured Rick Lilley, due to his excellent replacement Andy Jones, Phyllis court 'A; too the match to Woking from the off.
Chris Roberts and Ian Norris scored a quick-fire first game win 7-5 in the doubles and, although they dropped the second game 6-7, cruised to a match win 7-2 in the decider.
Roger Goldring soon added a second match win for Phyllis Court with defeat of Andrew Dutton 7-4, 7-5, while Andy Jones toiled against the slow but accurate Ross Goodman and went down eventually 7-4, 4-7, 7-5.
With the team match poised at 2-1 to Phyllis Court there was much to take heat from for both sides at lunch.
However, Phyllis Court sealed the match by the mid-afternoon when Roberts hit everything to despatched Town 7-3, 7-1 and Norris scored the team match winning stoke when he beat Harvey 7-5 7-4.
It was a lovely afternoon weather (and croquet) wise, so even though the team match result was know, the junior half singles matches played out to full conclusion.
Goldring played two very long games with Goodman before losing both 7-4, 7-5 and Jones got full value from his match with Dutton in winning 7-4, 4-7, 7-5.​
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The results are on CroquetScores here - https://croquetscores.com/2026/gc/england-inter-club-championship-tier-1-woking-v-phyllis-court/competition/woking-vs-phyllis-court
PCC 'A' - Chris Roberts (-2), Ian Norris (1), Roger Goldring (2), Andy Jones (2)
Phyllis Court 'A' will next face the 'big guns' of Roehampton, away, on Sunday 21 June (and any travelling spectators will be made most welcome).
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Rightly happy Jonathan Pendennis with both his D-Level and C-Level Series trophies.
(photo by Chris Roberts)
29 April 2026 - Pendennis wins again!
- He adds our C-Level (7+) Series tournament to his D-Level (10+) victory last week
- He is now qualified for TWO National Finals!
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Phyllis Court’s Jonathan Pendennis won heats of the National D and C-Level Series competitions hosted at the Henley Club in the space of a remarkable eight days.
Pendennis has dropped his handicap from 10 to 8 with these fine victories which also see him qualified for the end of season Series National Finals at Eastbourne and Wrest Park in Bedfordshire respectively.
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- See last week's 22 April news report on the D-Level Series tournament
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A week later and it was almost the same pattern of results at the next level up in the Phyllis Court hosted heat of the National C-Level (7+) Series last week.
Pendennis did start better this time with comfortable 7-2 and 7-4 wins over Lois Hall (Watford) and Philip Johnson (Phyllis Court) but was undone 6-7 by the experienced clubmate Carol Wadsworth, with whom he qualified from the morning block stage.
Phyllis Court member Tony Peperell, representing High Wycombe on this occasion, started as the top seed and, when undefeated in the block stage, looked ever inch the favourite for the afternoon’s main knock-out.
Phyllis Court’s Julia Green had a titanic struggle with clubmate Bob Clapp that she won at the last hoop 7-6 and untimely qualified her at Clapp’s expense, which was a bitter pill for the latter to take, sweetened only by his subsequent winning of the Plate event, ahead of clubmates Johnson, Liz Smith and Martin Sloots.
Ack in the main event, Peperell lost unexpectedly 4-7 to Susan Bellew (Bristol), Wadsworth beat Green 7-6 and Pendennis beat Andrew Jackson (Guildford) 7-4 and the prospect of an all-Phyllis Court final stayed alive.
Both semis were extremely close affairs and followed each other to the last and deciding hoop where Pendennis beat Bellew but Wadsworth lost to Jackie Bryant (Thames Valley) both 7-6.
The big match experience gained the previous week came to the fore for Pendennis in the final and his calmness remained unruffled when Bryant closed in on his early lead, and he saw out the game 7-5.
President Frances Colman commended Clapp for winning the Plate event and presented Pendennis with his second main event trophy in a week!
PCC Placings - (1) Jonathan Pendennis, (4) Carol Wadsworth, (5) Tony Peperell, (8) Julia Green, (9) Bob Clapp, (11) Martin Sloots, (14) Philip Johnson, (15=) Cliff Hamptom & Liz Smith
The full results are on Croquet Scores here - https://croquetscores.com/2026/gc/england-c-level-7-series-at-phyllis-court
Winner Dianne Browne and runner-up Lainey Summers flank President Frances Colman (with the Pink Ball trophy standing in for the absent white one!) (photo by Chris Roberts)
27 April 2026 - Browne returns to form to win our Advantage tournament
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Dianne Browne bounced back with aplomb from a disappointing early season, to win today’s Advantage Singles tournament that provided an exciting final with Lainey Summers.
Browne (handicap 5) got off to a good start in this handicap tournament, played to Advantage rules with the new ‘Target Scores’ scoring method, despite being the lowest handicapper in the field and having to concede hoops to the entire field.
She opened with a win over Chris Miles (14), who had showed good promise at the Charity One Ball a week before, but then came a cropper to Dilys Gordon (12) in a game drawn on level terms but with Browne three adrift from her target.
She recovered well to best Pippa Wynne-Ellis (18) in her last morning game to finish second in her block behind Gordon on the hoops percentage count, as both qualified for the afternoon’s main knock-out.
Elsewhere, only Daphne Spiers (12) returned a 3 out of 3 winning record with wins over Ken Henry (14), Penny Morgan (18) and most impressively Philip Rowley (6), who qualified in second place.
In the next blocks, Eva Kompanik beat Lloyd Scrivener and Cathie McEntee but lost to Lainey Summer and the latter joined the former in qualification.
And the last block was the closet of all, with hoops percentage having to separate a three-way tie on two wins, and this it did in favour of Paul Wooldridge and Fay Ahara over the unlucky Marie Pearce and game Christine Dootson playing in her first ever competitive games.
In the afternoon’s main knock-out, Browne beat Spiers and Ahara comfortably on the way to the final and Summers did likewise to get past Wooldridge and Rowley.
The Final however, was truly befitting and a gutsy performance by Summers, needing 6 hoops before Browne could amass 10, provided a great contest that went to a final ‘next hoop score wins’ scenario.
Browne had the crucial first approach to hoop 16 and nailed it right in front, and two closely missed long clearances later, she won the game, tournament and White Ball trophy.
President Frances Colman found the Pink Ball Trophy as a replacement for the missing White Ball one and made the presentation to Browne, and McEntee took the applause as the Plate winner, at the end of a long but very enjoyable day.
Finishing order: (1) Diane Browne, (2) Laine Summers, (3) Philip Rowley, (4) Fay Ahara, (5) Eva Knopanik, (6) Dilys Gordon, (7=) Paul Wooldridge & Daphne Spiers, (9 & Plate winner) Cathie McEntee, (10) Ken Henry, (11) Chris Miles, (12) Lloyd Scrivener, (13) Penny Morgan, (14) Christine Dootson, (15=) Pippa Wynne-Ellis & Marie Pearce.
24 April 2026 - PCC 'C' hold PCC 'B' in re-match
​PCC 'C' 4 - 4 PCC 'B'
Alastair Broom reports:
The morning matches all featured close encounters and in the top match, Pete Falle carried on his good form and made life difficult for Michael Marcel.
All three games of their match went to the 13th hoop with Pete coming out on top after 39 hoops.
At the same time, Alastair Broom managed to gain revenge over Helen Essa by winning a good three game match 6-7, 7-2, 2-7.
Meanwhile, on the other court, Rob Eagle got a valuable point for the C team when he beat substitute Bill Pitkeathley 7-5, 7-3, while the B team's Patricia Mulcahy beat Philip Rowley by the same straight games margin 6-7, 4-7, to take the team match to 2-2 at lunch.
In the afternoon, Eagle carried on his good form for the C and won a tight three game match against Mulcahy 7-5, 6-7, 7-4, while Pitkeathley kept the team match level when he beat Rowley in straight games, 7-2, 7-6.
At the same time, the B's Marcel and Broom were having tough scraps with the C's Essa and Falle respectively.
Essa took the first game 7-5 and then Marcel found his touch with excellent positioning to take win the next two games 7/1, 7/4.
Behind them, Broom beat Falle with another 6-7 win, Falle levelled 7-2 and when the deciding game reached 6-6, Broom had the first approach to hoop 13.
His good looking shot just caught the hoop and stopped short, leading to a full four ball contest before Falle scored the winner 7-6, thereby levelling the team match 4-4.
This result reflected the depth of talent in this section of the Club where on their day any player can beat the others.
The results are on CroquetScores here - https://croquetscores.com/2026/gc/england-scf-3-league-phyllis-court-c-v-phyllis-court-b/competition/phyllis-court-c-vs-phyllis-court-b
PCC 'B' - Michael Marcel (3), Alastair Broom (3), Patricia Mulcahy (4), Pitkeathley (6)
PCC 'C' - Helen Essa (4), Pete Falle (5), Rob Eagle (5), Philip Rowley (6)
With doubles partner Alison Maugham providing guidance, partially sighted Andy Dalby-Welsh showed good croquet skills this morning with Frances Colman and Chris Roberts (photo by Alastair Broom)
23 April 2026 - Croquet England CEO Andy Dalby-Welsh visits Phyllis Court
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We were delighted to welcome the CEO of the Coquet England (the sport’s governing body) Andy Dalby-Welsh and its head of communications Alison Maugham to Phyllis Court today.
Dalby-Welsh is six months in post at the helm of Croquet England and has been visiting all the largest clubs in the land and we top of that list in terms of membership at close to 300!
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The visitors enjoyed and overnight stay (last night) in the Phyllis Court hotel and dinner with Helena Fensome, Mary Hunnings and Rick Lilley, before joining with our committee (who had just finished a meeting) in the members bar.
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Today, Dalby-Welsh and Maugham and played croquet with our President Frances Colman and committee member Chris Roberts, before being joined for lunch by Chairman Patricia Mulcahy.
Dalby-Welsh is only partially sighted has been learning croquet in tandem with experienced player Maugham and he showed no shortage of skill with the mallet, which came as no real surprise as he is a regular pick for the England blind cricket team!
Jonathan Pendennis was a popular and deserved winner today, congratulated here by fellow players and President Frances Colman
(photo by Chris Roberts)
22 April 2026 -
Pendennis wins our national D-Level (10+) Series tournament & qualifies for the National Final
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Phyllis Court’s Jonathan Pendennis won today's heat of the National D-Level (10+) Series competition, ahead of home ad visiting players from six different clubs.
Pendennis has dropped his handicap from 10 to 8 with these fine victories which also see him qualified for the end of season D-Level Series National Final at Eastbourne.
Pendennis, who started playing croquet four years ago, cut his teeth in the D-Level (10+) Series last year when he finished sixth in the Phyllis Court heat, which is one of 20 such tournaments around the country.
This year, he had only one slip up, and that was in his first game, when improving clubmate Jane Drury took advantage of his slow start to win 4-7, after which convincing 7-3 victories over Chris Robinson (Northampton) and Peter M Bailey (Leighton-Linslade) advanced him to the main knock-out.
Three other Phyllis Court members also had good mornings and Hilary Cowley, Daphne Spiers and the undefeated Sally Tooher also took their places in the quarter-finals, whilst the Club’s Jane Drury, Dain Jensen, Joanna Rowley and Maureen Ward headed for the plate event that the latter went on to win.
Pendennis ended Tooher’s hopes7-4 the main event quarter-finals before getting through his toughest match in the semis when he was taken to the last hoop 7-6 by John Ingham (Northampton). to set-up what looked like a challenging final against Carol Bailey (Leighton-Linslade).
That challenge failed to materialise though and Pendennis raced into a commanding 5-0 lead and eventually won 7-2, to win the D-Level trophy, which was presented by Phyllis Court President Frances Colman.
PCC Placings - (1) Jonathan Pendennis, (6) Daphne Spiers, (7) Hlary Cowley, (8) Sally Tooher,
(9 & Plate winner) Maureen Ward, (13) Joanna Rowley, (16) Jane Drury.
The full results are on Croquet Scores here -
https://croquetscores.com/2026/gc/england-d-level-10-series-at-phyllis-court
19 April 2026 - Roberts beats top class field to win the
Roehampton 125 Years Anniversary tournament
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Chris Roberts lost only once at Roehampton today where he otherwise beat a top class invitational field, who had been assembled to celebrate the Club's 125th Anniversary,
Roberts beat England International James Death in his final game of seven, after having disposed of England's Aston Wade and Tim Russell, Wales captain Ian Burridge and all but Guy Scurfield (to a hoop 13 jump) of the other Premier circuit players.
Frances Colman was on refereeing duty today and also judged stokes in the sister AC tournament yesterday, which was won by former dual-code World Champion Reg Bamford.
The Phyllis Court duo and all participating players were presented with commemorative Roehampton 125 jackets and Roberts' win earned him an engraved glass bowl.
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Photos by Charlotte Oades:
Line-up - Guy Scurfield (Dulwich) Dom Aarvold (Bristol), Tim Russell (host, Roehampton & England), Simon Carter (Dulwich), Frances Colman (referee, Phyllis Court), James Death (Cheltenham & England), Aston Wade (Hurlingham & England), Ian Burridge (Nottingham & Wales), Chris Roberts (Phyllis Court & Wales)
​Action - Roberts approaching his tournament winning hoop
Presentation - Host Tim Russell presented Roberts with an engraved glass bowl.
20 April 2026 - Mulcahy wins our Charity One Ball heat - We raise £850 for 'Save the Children'
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Collectively, we raised £850 for the Save the Children charity today, at our heat of of Croquet England’s Charity One Ball competition.
Generous donations from participating and non-playing members matched previous fund raising at this annual event,
The 'Swiss' style tournament allowed players to come and go as they pleased, and this year the tournament was won comfortably by Croquet Club Chairman Patricia Mulcahy who was Impressively unbeaten in her six games.
Mulcahy and one other player will have first refusal on our two places at the National Final South at Surbiton on 16 May.
Results: [1] Patricia Mulcahy 6/6 (100%), [2] Philip Rowley 3/4 (75%), [3] Carl Billson 3/5 (60%), [4] Chris Miles 2/4 (50%), [5] Rob Eagle 2/5 (40%), [6=] Rick Lilley 2/6, Cathie McEntee 2/6 (both 33%) [8] Chris Roberts 1/5 (20%)
[Others, played less than 4 games) Cary Brett-holt 2/2, Frances Colman 1/1, Gary Butler 2/3, Sheila Evans 1/2, Joana Rowley 1/3, Maureen Ward 0/2, Bundy Walker 0/3.
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17 April 2026 - PCC 'E' lose close one to Blewbury C
​PCC 'E' 7 - 9 Blewbury 'C'
Phyllis Court 'E' narrowly lost the first match of their Advantage League season, 7-9 to a strong Blewbury 'C' line-up this afternoon.
Captain Julia Green was the star turn for Phyllis Court 'E' when she turned-in a solid performance that yielded three wins and one loss for her side.
She and Maureen Ward both won their first round games against Andrew Petit and Avril Rangoni-Machiavelli respectively, whilst Phyllis Court's Hilary Cowley and Daphne Spiers fell to Blewbury's low handicappers David Vincent and Andy Eavason.
Green won again the second round but was the only Phyllis Court player able to do so as Blewbury established 3-5 lead.
Phyllis Court recovered well with Green, Ward and Cowley all recording victories and Spiers was only one hoop away from a clean sweep for the Henley Club in round three.
Spiers was undone again in the last round along with Ward, but a three hoop winning margin win for Cowley set all eyes on the conclusion of Green's game with Blewbury number on Vincent as she attempted to salvage a team draw.
Green got to withing half a ball of victory when she nestled in the jaws of hoop 13 from a tight angle, but Vincent was cool and accurate with his jump shot and then, after some interaction, he ran the winning hoop 14.
This was a good performance from Phyllis Court 'E' who were only just out gunned by Blewbury's more experienced players.
PCC 'E' - Julia Green (8), Maureen Ward (10), Hilary Cowley (11), Daphne Spiers (11)
Latvina players (from left): Silvija Freimane, Roberts Stafeckis, Agris Kreislers and Tomass Freimane, with Phyllis Court Coaches Frances Colman & Chris Roberts.
(photo by Jolanta Stafecka)
16 April 2026 - Colman & Roberts coach Latvia National Team in the Algarve
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Bizarre as it sounds, Phyllis Court duo Frances Colman and Chris Roberts were in the Algarve this week, coaching the national team of Latvia!
The Eastern Europe nation had invited the Henley club’s President and former Chairman to take charge of their warm-weather training camp at the fabulous Benamor Golf and Croquet Club at Tavira in Southern Portugal, when the pair met the top Latvian players at last year’s World Teams Championship.
The Latvian party were in three very district ability groups, from national team of Janis Steins, Roberts Stafeckis, Silvija and Tomass Freimane, through a mid-range quartet, down to two players who only started playing croquet last year, so coaching the group was a challenge for Colman and Roberts.
The filled the four-day intensive camp, with an initial performance analysis exercise to identify individual strengths and weaknesses, mixed in stroke improvement, the importance of positional play and later, more advanced tactical approaches.
Conditioned game scenarios also featured along with two late afternoon/evening fully competitive matches against the hosting Algarve Club.
There was a marked improvement in all dozen players’ players play by the end of the fourth day which was most satisfying for Colman and Roberts, who have been invited back to the Algarve to coach the host club players, probably I the late autumn.
It is ironic, that having improved the Latvians play, Colman and Roberts will be seeing most of them again in four weeks’ time when, along with Ian Norris and Rick Lilley, the Phyllis Court ‘A’ team fly to Ikskile in Latvia to play the hosts and teams two teams from Spain in European Clubs League Championship heat.
​
14 April 2026 - PCC '4+' enjoy comfortable away win in National Bowl Competition (Tier 3)
​PCC '4+' 5 - 2 Camerton & Peasedown
Captain Kevin Ward reports
Phyllis Court '4+' won 5-2 at Camerton & Peasedown, south-west of Bath today.
On a cold drizzle-laden day , the Kevin Ward & Carol Huntington doubles rubber against Jill Shaw and Patrick Knight suspended at one game each at lunchtime, whilst the singles matches of Jeff Smith and Peter Falle were completed at one win for each team.
In the afternoon the four singles matches were played; ward & Huntingdon both won in straight games, so with Falle and Smith's games at one each, the match outcome was still poised for a possible draw, thereby requiring the 3rd doubles game for a decision.
This was played and won whilst Fall and Smith completed their third games giving a final 5-2 win for Phyllis Court.
The results are on CroquetScores here -
The knock-out draw is here - https://www.croquet.org.uk/?p=tournament/caEvents/inter-club/ClubComps&comp=X
PCC '4+' - Kevin Ward (4), Carol Huntington (5), Pete Falle (5), Jeff Smith (6)
PCC '4+' will play the Hurligham Club at home in the next round (date TBA)
10 April 2026 - PCC '1+' enjoy comfortable win in National Shield Competition (Tier 2)
​PCC '1+' 5.5 - 1.5 Hamptworth
Phyllis Court '1+' won their National Inter-Club Shield (Tier 2) match against Hamptworth easily today.
Although the morning session was well contested, Hamptworth fell away in the afternoon as Phyllis Court romped to victory.
Robin Coates and Andy Jones won the doubles rubber for Phyllis Court 7-4, 7-6 against Richard Smith & Chris Weedon and the hosts further enjoyed Roger Goldring's 7-6, 7-4 win over Bill Hammond.
Hamptworth were kept in the team match when captain Hugh Risebrow beat Phyllis Court's Alastair Broom 6-7, 5-7.
In the afternoon, nearly everything went Phyllis Court's way, as Jones beat Weedon 7-1, 7-2, Goldring beat Risebrow 7-3, 7-4 and Broom beat Hammond 7-3, 7-1.
Hamptworth's only joy came from Smith who held Coates to tied rubber 7-3, 4-7 when the decider was shelved when the team match result became settled.
Phyllis Court '1+' will play Ealing at home in the next round.
The results are on CroquetScores here - https://croquetscores.com/2026/gc/england-inter-club-shield-tier-2-phyllis-court-1-v-hamptworth/competition/phyllis-court-1-vs-hamptworth
The knock-out draw is here - https://www.croquet.org.uk/?p=tournament/caEvents/inter-club/ClubComps&comp=X
PCC '1+' - Robin Coates (1), Andy Jones (2), Roger Goldring (2), Alastair Broom (3)
PCC '1+' will play Ealing at home in the next round (date TBA)
8 April 2026 - Essa springs surprise amid solid 3+ League win for PCC 'B' over PCC' C'
​PCC 'B' 7 - 1 PCC 'C'
PCC 'B' scored a convincing 7 - 1 victory over PCC 'C' in today's opening fixture in the SCF 3+ League.
The stronger squad on paper, the 'B' made it pay on grass too, but there were some good performances from the 'C' during the day and most notably from Helen Essa, who won her match against the higher ranked Alastair Broom.
Essa gave Michael Marcel a good test in defeat in the morning, in taking the day's top seed to 5-7, 5-7 reverses, before springing the 'result of the day to beat Broom in a topsy-turvy match 7-2, 2-7, 7-3.
Although there were no other match wins for the 'C', Jeff Smith got a game-off the B team's Dee McKibbin in the morning and Rob Eagle did likewise in the afternoon, and Smith also gave Kevin Ward a mighty scare, taking both their games to 6-7.
Elsewhere, results followed the rankings with the B team players holding court.
The results are on CroquetScores here - https://croquetscores.com/2026/gc/england-scf-3-league-phyllis-court-b-v-phyllis-court-c-match-1
PCC 'B' - Michael Marcel (3), Alastair Broom (3), Dee McKibbin (4), Kevin Ward (4)
PCC 'C' - Dianne Browne (5), Helen Essa (5), Rob Eagle (5), Jeff Smith (6)
7 April 2026 - PCC 'A' scrape win in first league match of the season
​PCC 'A' 5 - 3 Hamptworth (away)
​Phyllis Court ‘A’ made hard work of winning opening Southern Croquet Federation Open League match of the season 5-3, against newcomers Hamptworth today, when they struggled to cope with the New Forest club’s bumpy courts.
On the one hand, the conditions did not suit deft precision play, and on the other, several strong on-course clearance stroked were seen to jump over their targets, so the courts were a challenge to say the least.
Rick Lilley and Roger Goldring, playing at numbers 3 and 4 for Phyllis Court were at the heart of the team victory, with both winning their morning and afternoon matches.
Lilley beat Michael Eke easily 7-5, 7-1 but unexpectedly dropped a game in the afternoon to Hugh Risebrow, before punishing him to ‘love’ in their decider 5-7, 7-4, 7-0.
Goldring played the same opponents in the opposite order, and he too dropped an afternoon game having looked very assured until that point and he won, 7-1, 7-3 & 7-5, 6-7, 7-4.
Fresh for last week’s success in the National A-Level Series, Phyllis Court’s number 2, Ian Norris had a poor day by his own standards, and although very competitive in defeat against Hamptworth’s soon to be Irish international Tim O’Donnell in the morning 5-7, 5-7, he fell away badly later in the day against lower ranked Richard Dickson 5-7, 2-7.
Phyllis Court’s Chris Roberts had two really good battles, firstly beating Dickson, 7-4, 3-7, 7-5, and then going down to O’Donnell in the mother of all contests decided by the odd hoop in 39.
Roberts won the first game 7-6, lost the second 6-7 and then, at the final hoop of the match watched his attempted small snuggle stroke to hamper his opponent’s second ball approach, fade off-line allowing O’Donnell to escape to outnumber the visitor.
Roberts was forced to take on the hoop shot, hit an upright and the match was lost.
Nevertheless, the team win is all important and a win is a win, to take forward in the league programme, which Phyllis court hope will conclude will a title decider against hot favourites East Dorset in September.
The full results are on CroquetScores here - https://croquetscores.com/2026/gc/england-scf-open-league-phyllis-court-a-v-hamptworth
PCC 'A' - Chris Roberts (-2), Ian Norris (0), Rick Lilley (0), Roger Goldring (2)
7 April 2026 - Franklin passes AC Grade 1 Coach course
​
Paul Franklin qualified as an AC Grade 1 Coach last week, and this is a big feather in his cap.
Graded Coaching qualifications are a step up from the Club Coach mark and authorise holders to take their coaching skills beyond the gatse of their own clubs
Congratulations and very well done Paul!
Class act Ian Norris receives his trophy from
PCCC President Frances Colman
(photo by Sarah Clements)
3 & 4 April 2026 - Norris hits form on day 2 to win our National A-Level Series title
​ - and Goldring retains the 'Plate' -
​​​Phyllis Court's Ian Norris recovered from a near disastrous first day, to win our National A-Level Series title today.
And with this victory, he qualified for the A-Level Series National Final at Ramsgate on 26-27 September.
​DAY 1
Top seed Norris beat second seed Louise Smith (Budleigh Salterton) in a straight games final, which on the face of it, was pretty much as expected, but that hides the true tale of this 'topsy-turvy' 16-player tournament, split between co-hosts Phyllis Court and High Wycombe.
On day 1 at the latter venue, Norris lost his first two games to Ross Bagni (Leighton-Linslade) and Sarah Clements (Chester) and the fourth versus Roger Barnacle (Winchester) to boot, leaving the favourite struggling to qualify in the top four.
He did manage three wins against late replacement layer Andy Jones & Helena Jansson (both Phyllis Court) and holder Mike Bilton (Gainsborough), but a last round shock loss to bottom seed Philip Rowley (Phyllis Court), looked to have scuppered Norris' qualification hopes.
Remarkably though, just those three wins and a crucial -2 net hoop count was enough for fourth place over the otherwise tied Jones, who's record was especially worthy, given his 'on the day' call-up for a starting place.
Bagni won the block with six wins and qualified along with Barnacle and Clements, whilst Phyllis Court's other representatives, Jansson and Rowley, scored two wins apiece, upon their competitive return and tournament debut respectively.
In the Phyllis Court Block, qualification a was much tighter affair all day, as Louise Smith and Stephen Custance-Baker (Taunton Deane) set the early pace, before being joined by Bridget Goodman (Ealing) and Duncan Catterall (Dulwich) in the mid-afternoon.
Then, as the leaders stumbled and Rick Lilley (Phyllis Court) stormed though late on, to win the block with a five wins tally, one ahead of three co-qualifiers Smith, Goodman and Catterall, when the latter beat Custance-Baker in the last game of the day to tie on net hoops and be placed ahead on that head-to-head result.
​DAY 2
In the main knock-out at Phyllis Court, Bagni, Smith, Barnacle and Norris all had very close quarter-final wins over Catterall, Clements, Goodman and Lilley respectively and the semis both went to deciding games too.
Smith beat Bagni 5-7, 7-3, 7-3 and Barnacle gave Norris a good run before the Phyllis Court man prevailed 7-5, 6-7, 7-4 as the two top seeds set-up a show piece final.
Smith was livid to score the deciding hoop for Norris in game 1, and with that praying on her mind, she fell two hoops behind in the middle of game 2 and chased from then on, as Norris won the 'Zero Plus' Cup 7-6, 7-5, which was a first to a Phyllis Court player.
Meanwhile, Roger Goldring (Phyllis Court) came back from a disappointing first day to dominate the Plate event and was undefeated, as he retained the trophy that he won last year.
The full results are on CroquetScores here - https://croquetscores.com/2026/gc/england-a-level-dg-2000-series-at-phyllis-court-high-wycombe
​
Top seed at Phyllis Court on Friday is visitor Louise Smith from Budleigh Salterton.
Smith is pictured here in the final of the GC Women's European Championships in 2024, watched by the Tournament Referee and our President, Frances Colman (Photo by Chris Roberts)
2 April 2026 - A excellent Spectator opportunity at Phyllis Court on Easter Friday & Saturday
Quality players line up for our National A-Level Series tournament
- PREVIEW -
​​​Phyllis Court Croquet Club host their National A-Level Series tournament this Friday and Saturday, which is second only in attracting high ranking players, to the SCF Championship that the Club host on 20 June.
The action starts at 9.30am and the top attraction for spectators will be England’s number five female player Louise Smith from Budleigh Salterton, who has represented England in the Women’s World Championships and was runner-up at the most recent European Championships.
Smith starts as the top seed in the Phyllis Court based block on the first day, behind only Phyllis Court’s own Ian Norris, who will play in the High Wycombe based block along with holder Mike Bilton from Gainsborough, in Lincolnshire.
Both Norris and Bilton should qualify comfortably for the ‘best of three’ games main event knock-out on Saturday, which this year is hosted at Phyllis Court.
The Henley Club’s Helena Jannson, who it is good to see returning to competition following injury related lay-off, faces a challenge to qualify from the High Wycombe block, along with improving clubmate Philip Rowley, who is bravely stepping up two tournament grades.
Alongside Smith in the Phyllis Court block, the host’s Rick Lilley looks well placed to qualify along with first time visitor Peter Tofield from Northampton.
Evergreen Roger Goldring also represents the host club and, although seeded low, he has a good record in this event over the years.
1 April 2026 - Clapp, Cowley & Rowley are no mugs on April fools day!
​PCC 'D' 14 - 6 PCC 'E'
Bob Clapp grabbed the headline today, with four wins in as many games, helping PCC 'D' come from behind against PCC 'E' ina 'warm-up match this afternoon.
And only one win adrift were D team captain Philip Rowley and their late replacement player Hillary Cowley.
PCC 'D' were not phased at all at losing three of the first round's five rubbers to three good wins by the 'C's Maureen Ward, Daphne Spiers and debutant Eva Kompanik giving their side a 2-3 lead.
Rowley and Cowley both won in the next round and then in rounds 3 and 4 as well, and the 'D' got parity on the scoreboard at 5-5,
4 wins from 5 third round games built a commanding lead, before a clean sweep of all five last round games gave the the scoreline a flattering feel at 14 -6
Photo to come
(Photo by Chris Roberts)
28 & 29 March2026 -
Essa performs well as our representative at the SCF Champion of Champions (GC & AC) tournaments
​
Helen Essa was in good for this weekend in her double representation of Phyllis Court at the Southern Croquet Federation’s (SCF) Champion of Champions GC & AC handicap tournaments.
She finished fifth in Saturday’s golf croquet (GC) Advantage tournament and equal fourth at the sister association croquet (AC) event on Sunday, at Hamptworth, near Salisbury.
A disappointing first GC game defeat to Chris Harrison (Wingrave) was quicky cast aside by Essa who then cruised to comfortable victories over Martin Gale (Test Valley) and Steve Airton (Hartley Wintney), which ensured her qualification for the main knock-out phase.
Essa went out in the quarter-finals to the eventual tournament winner Martin Garrod (Thames Valley) when she couldn’t overhaul her opponent’s handicap advantage, but bouncing back again, convincing scoreline victories over David Hughes (Harwell) and Roger Booth (Eynsham) wrapped up the fifth placed finish.
The 14-point AC tournament on Sunday, was almost a mirror, with a first game loss to Richard Parker (Winchester) followed by two satisfying pegged-out wins and a loss to Glynis Hassell (Hartley Wintney), John Ambrose (Littleton) and Peter Allan (Harwell) respectively, as Andy Meikle took the title for East Dorset.
Helen Essa in action at Hamptworth this weekend
(Photo by Chris Roberts)
27 March 2026 – New Croquet Patio completed - and it's a lovely job!
​​Report & photos to come . . .
​
16 March 2026 – New Croquet Patio - works start TODAY - Court 3 & pavilion are OUT OF BOUNDS
​
From Chairman Patricia Mulcahy (also sent by e-mail on 13 March):
Dear Members
You may recall I mentioned in a recent bulletin that we planned to install a patio where the gazebo now stands. The work will start on Monday and is scheduled to last two weeks.
Court 3 will be out of use to allow access for materials to be moved on and off the site.
Some of the green netting used for big tournaments will be installed on Sunday afternoon, to restrict access to the works area.
The Pavilion will be off-limits in order to keep members safely away from the works in progress.
Committee members will move the croquet balls to the raised paved area where the ballet dancers sculpture stands along with two benches. You can use the pathway along the flower border to reach that area. - Swishers and lawn brushes will still be accessible from Court 4.
Water will not be available, but you can always get some in the bar if you forget to bring your own bottle.
Finally, don't forget the Season Launch drinks in the Regatta Bar on 1st April from 6 to 8 pm. - Please let me know if you plan to attend, so we can organise staffing.
Best wishes, Patricia
​
14 March 2026 – New 'Court Status' sign unveiled on our first really sunny day of the year
Your Committee's Court & Equipment Officer, Kevin Ward, has designed and assembled a new Court Status sign with adjustable OPEN / CLOSED sliders for all four courts - and waht a lovely job he has done! - Thank you Kevin!
The new sign has been sited on the left side at the top of the entrance steps to our pavilion.
​-
What a lovely day some members have been fortunate enough to be able to enjoy today.
Some even discarded coats and hats for a while as play filled all four courst for most of the day.​
11 March 2026 – Draws made for National Inter-club competitions
As last season, Phyllis Court has entered 4 GC and 1 AC for Croquet England's 2026 National Competitions, for which the first round draws were made recently.
Venues are to opposite to the last time the teams met in a particular competition, or a coin toss if there is no history.
Opponents and venues, with dates to be arranged:
GC Inter-Club Championship (tier 1) - PCC 'A' v Woking (away)
GC Inter-Club Shield (tier 2) - PCC '1+' v Hamptworth (home)
GC Inter-Club Bowl (tier 3) - PCC '4+' v Camerton & Peasedown (coin-toss)
GC Inter-Club Fed. Shield (Advantage) - PCC '4+' v Hove Beach (coin-toss)
AC Inter-Club Longman Cup (H'cap) - PCC 'AC' v East Dorset (away)
​
7 March 2026 - Roberts win GC Rainbow International Tournament in South Africa
Chris Roberts was delighted to kick of his personal GC competitive season with victory in the four-day GC Rainbow International Singles at the Somerset West Club, about 45 minutes drive east from Cape Town this week.
Having missed out narrowly (on net hoops) from qualifying for the Doubles semi-finals last weekend with partner Frances Colman, Roberts made hard work of some of his seven block matches this week, including coming back from 2-5 down against Richard Bennett.
A satisfying but might close 2-1 win in his penultimate block match against old adversary David Wise (South Australia) was a curtain raiser for a 4-hour marathon versus South African number 3 Neil McHardy to decide the block winner.
The deciding third game ended under floodlights after 8pm on Wednesday and Roberts won at the last hoop with a great score from 5 yards.
Winning the block did Roberts few favours however and a tough route lay ahead in the knock-out that followed.
Roberts did well to beat Spain international Mateao Plazon in straight games 7-5, 7-6 in the quarter-finals only to face top seed Dom Aavold from Bristol in the semis, where a comfortable first game win was followed by a shaky second that was nevertheless only lost at the last hoop.
With the momentum, Aarvold might have been expected to capitalise in the decider, but Roberts raced to a 3-0 lead from which the Englishman was never to recover, and Roberts reached the final 7-5, 6-7, 7-3.
McHardy had reached the final without dropping a game in the knock-out, and stole a march on an out of sorts Roberts in the first game which the Henley man lost 2-7, only to bounce back ready well to win the second game 7-3.
By now Roberts' clearing game was fully on song and confident hoop running also returned and b he bullied McHardy 7-4 to take the Rainbow International title for the first time.
Block scores:
Marina Clark (Switzerland) 7-1, 7-1; Caroline Denny (Belgium) 7-5, 7-5; Richard Bennett (South Africa) 7-1, 7-6, Peter Doble (South Africa) 7-4, 7-2; John Diamond (Tunbridge Wells) 7-4,-7-3; David Wise (South Australia) 6-7, 7-6, 7-6, Neil McHardy (South Africa) 7-3, 4-7, 7-6
Knock-out scores:
Mateao Palazon (Spain) 7-5, 7-6; Dom Aarvold (Bristol) 7-5, 6-7, 7-3; Neil McHardy (South Africa) 2-7, 7-3, 7-4.
Photos above by Frances Colman and video of the winning stroke by David Boyd.
Michael Marcel -
"Against Spanish International Pepe Riva,
I got one hoop and this photo!"
7 March 2026 – PCC team win a match on day 2 in Spain
There was success for the Phyllis Court team in the last match of the block stage today in Seville, Spain.
In the early match, Michael Marcel enjoyed his game with Spain no.1 Pepe Riva, and the one hoop he scored especially, and Ian Norris scored another impressive singles win as our team went down 1-2 again.
However, it all came good in the last match against Real Club Pineda 4 with all four team members successful in a 3-0 victory.
Sadly, this was not enough to qualify for the Plate event and the Championship was even further off, however, with no croquet to play on Sunday, our team could enjoy the lavish tournament dinner to the full (click on the video, above right).
The lavish tournament dinner laid on by hosts Real Club Pineda
​
Lost 1-2 to RGCVM 1 -- Ian Norris won his singles against well graded Ingacio Grss Alesanco
WON 3-0 v RCP 4 -- Rick Lilley beat Jose Luis Santamaria 7-6
-- Roger Goldring beat Maria Jesus Burguette 7-2
-- Ian Norris & Michael Marcel won their doubles 7-5
You can follow all the results 'live' on Croquet Scorers here -
https://croquetscores.com/2026/gc/5th-rcp-giralda-croquet-cup
6 March 2026 – Tough start for PCC team in Spain
Our team had a tough opening day at the Copa Giralda tournament at the Real Club Pineda today and lost all four of their matches (which consist of two singles and one doubles game), but were competitive in each.
Captain Rick Lilley mixed and matched team members to give an even number of singles and doubles games for everyone, but with our own ground conditions at Phyllis Court preventing any pre-match toning, our team fell short time and again to Spaniards who have had sunshine all winter.
Lost 1-2 to RGGVH -- Ian Norris & Michael Marcel won the doubles
Lost 1-2 to RGP 1 -- Ian Norris won his singles against well graded Luis de Alcaron
Lost 0-3 to RCCVM 3 --
Lost 1-2 to RCPH 3 -- Ina Norris & Roger Goldring won their doubles
​
You can follow all the results 'live' on Croquet Scorers here -
https://croquetscores.com/2026/gc/5th-rcp-giralda-croquet-cup
5 March 2026 – PCC team start the Copa Giralda tournament (Seville, Spain) TOMORROW
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Follow all the results 'live' on Croquet Scorers here - https://croquetscores.com/2026/gc/5th-rcp-giralda-croquet-cup ​​
​
Photo left: Ian Norris got a feel for the beautiful courts at the Real Club Pineda in Thursday's practice session.
Photo centre: Team bonding on Thursday evening are Roger Goldring, Rick Lilley, Michael Marcel, Delia & Ian Norris.
Photo right: Joyce and Roger Goldring let a horse take the strain.
3 March 2026 – PCC team fly to sain for the prestigious Copa Giralda tournament, starting on Friday - this is a considerable honour for our Club!
Phyllis Court Croquet Club’s 2026 season starts earlier than usual on Friday when the Club’s A team become the first overseas invitees at the prestigious Copa Giralda tournament at the Real Club Pineda, Seville, Spain.
For the three-day 16-team tournament, Phyllis Court is captained by Rick Lilley for the first time and bolstered by the additional experience of Ian Norris and Roger Goldring, whilst the improving Michael Marcel has been called-up for a first team debut.
Captain Lilley said this week, “It is hard to over-emphasise the honour that has been bestowed on Phyllis Court with this invitation, for Real Club Pineda is clearly a very prestigious club; the present king's grandfather used to belong, and somewhere over 60 years ago, a golf competition was started in his name, Copa Giralda de Golf.
“The premise for the competition was to invite the best golfers from other prestigious clubs around Spain, many of which have royal or aristocratic history and connections; and this has since become an annual event and is one of the top golf tournaments in the Spanish calendar.
“Some years later, the Cope Giralda de Bridge was started, with a similar theme, and now in its 4th year, the Copa Giralda de Croquet, with invitations extended only to those clubs with a royal or very close connection and relationship to the host club.
“The decision to invite Phyllis Court came as a direct consequence of Real Club Pineda’s experience at the Henley Club last May when they visited for a heat of the European Clubs League.
“No team from outside Spain has ever been invited to the Copa Giralda before, so we recognise that this is a considerable honour for Phyllis Court.”
You can follow all the results 'live' on Croquet Scorers here - https://croquetscores.com/2026/gc/5th-rcp-giralda-croquet-cup
​PCC 'A' - Ian Norris, Rick Lilley (captain), Roger Goldring, Michael Marcel.​
​​
​
PCC have three teams in the European Clubs League this season
Looking further ahead, Phyllis Court is hoping to better their third place in the Grand Final of the 2025 European Clubs League, and this season, their Euro A team start their campaign in the top tier Championship heat at Ikskile, Latvia on 23-24 May, against the host club and two teams from Spain.
On the same weekend, Phyllis Court Euro C, will compete in a second tier Qualifier at in Vigo, in Southern Spain, again playing the hosts and other visitors from Czechia and England,
And on 6-7 June, Phyllis Court Euro B, host the Club’s own Qualifier heat with visitors from Ireland, Spain and Sweden.
26 Fubuary 2026 – Play resumed today with first GC mix-in for 8 weeks
​
The GC Mix-in resumed this afternoon after an eight week break due to the waterlogged courts. 18 players braved a cold wind to enjoy some social croquet for a two hours.
A hot cup of tea in the clubhouse completed the afternoon.
report & photo by Hilary Cowley
14-21 February 2026 – Colman & Roberts start tournament title defence in South Africa
​Croquet Club president Frances Colman and Committee member Chris Roberts are back in South Africa again for their annual visit to the country for croquet tournaments at the Somerset West Club, (about 45 minutes east of Cape Town). Their first tournament is the Western Province AC Championship, which includes an number of different events.
Roberts & Colman are defending their Handicap Doubles title won in 2025.
Colman scored and excellent last minute game win over Sue Longcroft in the Western Cape Association Croquet tournament last week but was pushed into second place in her class event after a three-way tie was decided on net hoops.
Roberts won fifty percent of his Class games, and he and Colman had to relinquish their handicap doubles title when they narrowly missed the cut for the semi-finals this time.
The pair move on to the Golf Croquet Rainbow International tournament next week at the Somerset West Club, about 45 minutes’ drive east of Cape Town.
You can follow all the results 'live' on Croquet Scorers here - https://croquetscores.com/2026/ac/western-cape-croquet-association-association-croquet-champs
03 February 2026 – CALL FOR ENTRIES for our season-long competitions
​The annual call for entries to our season-long competitions was issued today with entry forms sent to all members.
​
A NEW 12+ Singles competition is offered for 2026, especially for I higher handicapped players, so I do hope the target audience will embrace this with your entries in good numbers
​​​
We also hope to improve still further on the remarkable 77 entries that we had last year for the Advantage Singles which is believed to be the biggest entry ever for an internal club competition.
This one is open to all members, so please enter and be a part of our attempt to beat our own WORLD RECORD!
22 January 2026 – Rick Lilley delivers a tournament preparation presentation
​
Thirty members attended a presentation from Rick Lilley in the Findlay Suite this morning.
Rick covered all aspects of tournament play for those interested in playing away from Phyllis Court, and in events in the Croquet England fixture calendar especially
Rick detailed everything from where to find information about playing opportunities, how to enter and the allocation system, and right through to whet to expect on tournament day.
The presentation was received very well and, from the questions asked, several members appear enthused to take the plunge in to tournament play when the fixture calendar goes live for entries on 1 February.
19 January 2026 – Play resumes after nearly three weeks off
​
​Courts 3 & 4 were back playable this morning and members with bookings took full advantage.
This is the first play since 1 January, due to a combination of frozen ground, heavy frosts, snow
and then waterlogging.
​
First in action this morning were John Maguire, Dianne Browne, Gillian Symons and Colin Morgan
(photo by Chris Roberts)
16 January 2026 – 7 attend Colman & Roberts' Tournament Management Course
​
Seven chosen members attended a classroom based Tournament Management Course at Phyllis Court today.
Alastair Broom, Rob Eagle, Helen Essa, Michael Marcel, Patricia Mulcahy, Philip Rowley and Kevin Ward, learnt the tricks of the trade from experienced Managers Frances Colman and Chris Roberts, with the aim being to broadening the knowledge and ability base at the Club.
16 January 2026 – 16 players rewarded with handicap reductions by our Club Handicappers
​
We are delighted to bring you news of your clubmates who's improved play has been rewarded by reductions of their handicaps.
- Congratulations to all of 16 them!
​
Chris Roberts & Frances Colman, Club and National Handicappers
Old > New
Carol Wadsworth 9 > 8
Jane Probitts 10 > 9
Eva Kompanik 12 > 10
Daphne Speirs 12 > 10
Maureen Ward 12 > 10
Mike Steinle 12 > 11
Des Walsh 12 > 11
Dain Jensen 14 > 11
Myri Prosperi 14 > 11
Jane Drury 14 > 11
David Strachan 14 > 12
Jonathan Tate 14 > 12
Sally Tooher 14 > 12
Cathie McEntee 14 > 12
Dilys Gordon 14 > 12
Paul McCarthy 14 > 12
6 January 2026 – Happy New Year - freezing temperatures and now snow curtail our play
On first day of the year, some croquet 'first-footers' enjoyed play on a crisp morning.
Since then, minus temperatures have frozen solid our courts there has been no prospect of further play, and now today we have had a steady snow fall - photos by Paul Franklin​​
