Events Calendar > November 2009 > Friday 06 > Yvonne Yeates GC Invitation

• Location: Nelson
• Event Type: National tournament
• Start Date: Fri, 6th Nov 2009
• End Date: Mon, 9th Nov 2009

Golf Croquet

Results
Tournament report

The Yvonne Yeates Invitation Event received many worthwhile nominations, justifying an extension of the number to play from 12 to 16.

The 16 selected players are:

Block One
Chris Clarke
Dennis Bulloch
Jared Keeman
Steve Piercy
Alison Wall
Jarrod Coutts
Doug Nottage
John Lammin

Block Two
Duncan Dixon
Peter Batchelor
Jenny Clarke
Mike McClure
Carl Horn
Jake Inwood
Sue Bowater
Ann Sharp

Withdrawn: Bill Heapy, Nelson Morrow, John Christie, Mavis Brogden, Graham Edwards (ill health)

Results

Day One

Block One
Chris Clarke bt Alison Wall 7-1, 7-5, Jarrod Coutts 7-5, 6-7, 7-3, Doug Nottage 7-2, 7-2
Jared Keeman bt Doug Nottage 7-3, 6-7, 7-3, Dennis Bulloch 3-7, 7-3, 7-4
Steve Piercy 7-2, 4-7, 7-3
Jarrod Coutts bt Steve Piercy 4-7, 7-2, 7-3, John Lammin 7-3, 7-1
Dennis Bulloch bt John Lammin 7-2, 7-4, Alison Wall 7-2, 7-6

Block two
Peter Batchelor bt Jake Inwood 6-7, 7-3, 7-3, Ann Sharp 7-4, 7-4, Mike McClure 7-3, 7-2
Sue Bowater bt Mike McClure 3-7, 7-3, 7-4, Carl Horn 6-7, 7-4, 7-4, Duncan Dixon 7-2, 7-6
Duncan Dixon bt Carl Horn 7-6, 3-7, 7-4, Jake Inwood 7-6, 7-2
Jenny Clarke bt Ann Sharp 7-5, 4-7, 7-5
Mike McClure bt Jenny Clarke 7-6, 4-7, 7-5
Jake Inwood bt Ann Sharp 7-3, 7-5
Carl Horn bt Jenny Clarke 7-4, 7-3

Day Two

Block One
Chris Clarke bt John Lammin 7-4, 7-2, Dennis Bulloch 7-2, 7-3, Jared Keeman 7-2, 7-5
Jared Keeman bt Jarrod Coutts 7-6, 7-3, John Lammin 7-5, 5-7, 7-3
Dennis Bulloch bt Doug Nottage 7-2, 7-6, Steve Piercy 7-4, 7-5
Steve Piercy bt Alison Wall 7-6, 7-6, Doug Nottage 4-7, 7-3, 7-5
Jarrod Coutts bt Alison Wall 7-5, 7-4, Doug Nottage 7-4, 7-3
John Lammin bt Alison Wall 7-5, 7-5

Block Two
Duncan Dixon bt Ann Sharp 7-6, 6-7, 7-4, Jenny Clarke 7-5, 7-0, Mike McClure 7-3, 7-4
Jake Inwood bt Mike McClure 7-6, 7-3, Carl Horn 7-5, 5-7, 7-2, Sue Bowater 3-7, 7-6, 7-3
Ann Sharp bt Mike McClure 3-7, 7-6, 7-5, Carl Horn 7-4, 7-6
Jenny Clarke bt Sue Bowater 7-5, 7-1, Peter Batchelor 7-5, 4-7, 7-4
Peter Batchelor bt Sue Bowater 7-2, 7-3
Carl Horn bt Peter Batchelor 7-6, 3-7, 7-4

Day Three

Block One
Chris Clarke bt Steve Piercy 7-3, 7-1
Doug Nottage bt John Lammin 7-5, 7-4
Jarrod Coutts bt Dennis Bulloch 7-4, 7-5
Jared Keeman bt Alison Wall 7-3, 7-6

Block Two
Duncan Dixon bt Peter Batchelor 7-3, 7-4
Ann Sharp bt Sue Bowater 7-4, 3-7, 7-4
Jenny Clarke bt Jake Inwood 6-7, 7-3, 7-2
Carl Horn bt Mike McClure 7-4, 5-7, 7-6

Super Section (Top)
Chris Clarke bt Peter Batchelor 7-3, 7-6, Jenny Clarke 7-6, 7-2
Jared Keeman bt Jenny Clarke 7-5, 5-7, 7-2, Jake Inwood 7-4, 7-5
Dennis Bulloch bt Duncan Dixon 7-3, 7-6, Peter Batchelor 7-6, 7-4
Jarrod Coutts bt Jake Inwood 7-3, 7-5
Duncan Dixon bt Jarrod Coutts 7-3, 7-4

Super Section (Bottom)
Steve Piercy bt Mike McClure 7-4, 5-7, 7-5, Ann Sharp 7-5, 7-4
Alison Wall bt Sue Bowater 7-5, 7-4
Ann Sharp bt Alison Wall 7-4, 7-6
Sue Bowater bt Doug Nottage 7-5, 7-4
Carl Horn bt John Lammin 7-4, 7-3
Doug Nottage bt Carl Horn 7-1, 2-7, 7-2
Mike McClure bt John Lammin 7-6, 6-7, 7-4

Day Four

Top Eight
Chris Clarke bt Jake Inwood 7-0, 7-3, Duncan Dixon 7-4, 5-7, 7-3
Jarrod Coutts bt Peter Batchelor 7-6, 7-3, Jenny Clarke 6-7, 7-5, 7-5
Jenny Clarke bt Dennis Bulloch 7-5, 7-5
Duncan Dixon bt Jared Keeman 7-4, 7-1
Jared Keeman bt Peter Batchelor 7-5, 4-7, 7-6
Dennis Bulloch bt Jake Inwood 7-2, 7-2

Bottom Eight
Steve Piercy bt Sue Bowater 7-5, 7-6, Carl Horn 7-5, 7-3
Alison Wall bt Carl Horn 7-5, 5-7, 6-5, Mike McClure 7-4, 7-6
Ann Sharp bt John Lammin 7-1, 7-3, Doug Nottage 3-7,. 7-5, 7-5
Mike McClure bt Doug Nottage 3-7, 7-6, 7-2
Sue Bowater bt John Lammin 7-5, 5-7, 7-4

Competition winner:- Chris Clarke
Runner-up:- Duncan Dixon

Tournament report

The Yvonne Yeates Golf Croquet invitation was held in gorgeous sunshine at the 9-lawn Nelson-Hinemoa croquet club in Nelson from 6-9 November.

The 4 Nelson lawns were slow (8 seconds), while the Hinemoa side lawns were reasonably paced by Sunday afternoon, generally running at 9 seconds (9.5 downhill). The lawns are in excellent condition, though the traditional slope on the Nelson side to the west boundary and general hilliness caused difficulties for all players, particularly on Saturday which was very windy.

ROT and club President Manly Bowater did a sterling job setting the 9 lawns each day, and constantly resetting the hoops (to about 1/16inch) which loosened quickly in the soft ground. The ground got firmer, and the hoops correspondingly better as the tournament went on. The catering staff also set new standards with their awareness of the state of games leading to well-timed delivery of hot toasted sandwiches.

Barlow GT balls were used in the event – something of a novelty for most of the players who are now accustomed to playing with Dawsons.

The Barlows were great to use as they provide a greater challenge for clearances, both with powering the other ball away, and also stopping the striker’s ball. It is also arguably harder to run hoops with the softer balls, and players struggled to get jump strokes up into the air.

With the event having been expanded to 16 from the usual 12 players, the format adopted was two preliminary blocks of 8 players playing best-of-three 13-point games, followed by two supersections – for the top and bottom 4 from each block.

The play itself was of a reasonably high standard, with the local reserves causing the big guns some problems.

In block 1 Chris Clarke started with three wins but with concerns if he would go the distance due to a sore back from the drive up. Jared Keeman also started strongly with wins over Doug Nottage, Dennis Bulloch and Steve Piercy.

In block 2, Sue Bowater, a late inclusion in the event, caused the biggest stir in the block also being undefeated on day 1 including a straight games win over 2008 NZ GC Open champion Duncan Dixon. Peter Batchelor also had a strong start with three wins.

Day 2 was back to business with Chris benefiting from Jared’s discomfort in the wind and winning all his matches in straight games.

Ditto for Duncan Dixon and Jake Inwood, another late inclusion in the event whose aggressive play saw him end Sue Bowater’s run of wins. A late win for Ann Sharp over Carl Horn saw a glimmer of hope for Jenny to progress to the top supersection despite some poor losses.

The initial block play was completed on day three with the final round of play. The clear qualifiers for the top supersection were Chris and Jared in block 1 and Duncan in block 2. The rest of the places were definitely up for grabs with most players looking at ending on 4/7 matches and various count-back scenarios coming into play.

In block 1 Jarrod Coutts and Dennis Bulloch snapped up the two final spots in block 1, with Steve Piercy, Alison Wall, Doug Nottage and John Lammin heading into effectively the “plate” supersection. As the highest handicap player in the event, John gave a good account for himself taking a game off Jared Keeman and a straight-games match win over Alison Wall.

Block 2 saw Duncan Dixon qualify for the top supersection carrying forward only 2-0 wins, Peter Batchelor qualify despite having 3 losses in the last 4 rounds. Jake Inwood made it to the top supersection on net games, with 4 match wins, and in a surprise come-from-behind manoeuvre, Jenny Clarke grabbed the last spot, edging out Sue Bowater, Carl Horn, Mike McClure and Anna Sharp who competed for the plate.

With players carrying forward only results against other qualifiers, the supersections started with:

Duncan on 3 wins (6/6 games), Chris on 3 wins (6/7 games), Jared and Jenny 2 wins, Peter and Jarrod 1 win and Dennis and Jake 0 wins.

Dennis quickly dented Duncan’s hopes with a 2-0 win, while Chris saw off Peter and Jenny 2-0, setting up a likely final. Monday saw a big youth squad match-up of Jared v Duncan which Duncan comfortably won in straight games effectively ending Jared’s challenge for the title.

The final round saw Chris take on Duncan with Duncan needing to win the match 2-0 to take the event (2-1 would see Chris win on a net points countback).

Game 1: Duncan went 2-0 up, Chris then won the next 4 hoops and maintained control of the game to win 7-4 and secure the title.

Game 2: Duncan took a 3-1 lead, Chris recovered to 3-3, but Duncan powered to 6-4 up. Chris managed to generate a 7-foot rover with a ball on the boundary in front of hoop13, but failed rover badly giving Duncan a chance which he took for the second game. This end-game play is one of Chris’s real strengths, along with very powerful clearances.

Game 3: Chris was comfortably in control throughout this game, winning 7-3.

Manager Bev Worrall presented Chris with the trophy, a beautiful clock created from a piece of polished Kauri, and presented an attractive plate to the winner of the second supersection, Steve Piercy.

Several handicap changes in the tournament, including: Mike from 0 to 1, Jarrod Coutts cut from 3 to 1 before play started, Jared Keeman 1 to 0, Jake Inwood 3 to 2.

General highlights of the tournament included the performances of the youth squad, with squad members qualifying for the top supersection, with coach Chris winning, Duncan runner-up, Jared third and Jarrod fourth. The youngsters showed strong tactical awareness, complemented by powerful clearances and some excellent quality shooting. Jake Inwood, another youth-squad member also made the top supersection and was effective with his very aggressive style of play.

The second-tier invitation event was dominated by new youth squad members with Hamish McIntosh winning with 11/11, Sean Foster second on 9/11 and New Zealand international debutant Laura Whittaker third.

Regards to all,
Jenny

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