Category: News

The four top placed teams in the WMF GC League compete for the Robertshaw cup.

This year teams from Broadwas, Eardisley, Himley and Kenilworth played on Edgbaston’s lawns.

Congratulations to the winning team, Eardisley, l to r John Lee, Tony Johnston and Adam Britton.

Congratulations to Broadwas on winning the 2026 West Midlands AC League.

The team shown had just beaten Kenilworth in their final match of the season.

The photo shows l to r Tom Ringrose, David Kaner, John Guy and Ian Dampney.

Not shown but featured in other matches were Stuart Smith and Ian Lambert.

Thanks to Andrew Gregory for such an excellently managed tournament and to Tony Whately and Esther Jones from the Edgbaston Club for the organisation, lawn preparation and catering.

Andrew writes…

As many other clubs, this season, Edgbaston’s lawns had suffered in the drought, and conditions were tricky. I’m sure top players would have coped, but they are not allowed in this Super B event.

Only 7 out of 30 games saw the winner score 26 points.

After two rounds, the undefeated players were the Nottingham trio of Clive Goode, Dave Gunn and Beatrice McGlen.

In round 3, Beatrice beat Dave. In round 4, Clive beat Beatrice.

In round 5 the game between Clive and Dave went to the golden hoop.

A win for Dave would have seen the three Nottingham players tied; no prizes for guessing what tiebreak the Mangler was intending.

This did not happen: Clive ran 4-back to secure his second Tompkinson Shield with Beatrice McGlen as Runner-up 4/5

Four past winners competed for the Sally Nicholls Trophy in the full field of 12 with handicaps ranging from 2 to 7. It was managed by Tony Whateley (far right in photo) and the Trophy was presented by Ray Jones, a former Edgbaston Chair (far left in photo)

Competitors from left to right: Peter Wilson, David Venables, Ken Jones, Liz Wilson, Adrian Morris, John Henderson, Mark Lansdale, Stephen Skelton, Bob Whiffen, Robert Upton, Chris Williamson and Jonathan Lambton.

In spite of a few showers on the Saturday and no time limits, only one game had to be pegged down at 8 pm on the Saturday and the tournament was completed by 4pm on the Sunday.

There were still four players in contention in the final round but when Robert Upton completed his fifth win, he was declared the winner, for the second time, with Stephen Skelton on four wins, the runner-up.

An another enjoyable, competitive, well managed and well catered tournament at Edgbaston.

Thanks to Tony and Esther

Having beaten Himley, Stourbridge and Edgbaston, Kenilworth have won the Eastern Region league and await the winner of the Western Region later in the season.

The top four teams from last year’s GC Federation League competed for the Robertshaw Cup at Edgbaston on 27^th May – Kenilworth Abbey, Broadwas, Kenilworth Castle and Himley.

Thanks to Edgbaston for their hospitality which was very welcome on such a sweltering day.

Abbey were undefeated on the day to give them the Cup. Broadwas were runners-up with one win and a draw.

The photo shows the proud Abbey team of Phil Blake, Mervyn Harvey, Alan Hulme and Team Captain, Philip Wood.

The first match of the season has been held and the leagues are now up and running.

This first match was the customary match between the two Kenilworth teams, now named Abbey and Castle. Both have separate personnel and are closely matched. Abbey won this match 10 – 8.

Full results of league matches can be found on the Leagues Page

Left to right:  Adam Britton, Wendy Fine, Gill Williams (with cup), David Mullan, Jane Griffiths

The two regional winners of the 2025, 6+ Golf Croquet Leagues faced each other in a delayed final, played at Himley on Friday 24^th April. Kenilworth took on Llanidloes, hoping for revenge for last year’s defeat.

The Kenilworth team of Tony Watmore, Robert Zara, Richard Pinder and Alan Hulme arrived in good spirits but Llanidloes started well and after three rounds of Singles were 8-4 ahead. Kenilworth fought back in the final Singles round to make the score 9-7 to Llanidloes.

Kenilworth now needed to win both the Doubles to take the trophy on hoop count.

Both matches were closely fought with the first one going Kenilworth’s way with a 7-6 win on Golden Hoop.

In the final game, Kenilworth took a 5-4 lead. David Mullan then achieved the Shot of the Match when, from distance, his ball bounced up from Red landed back through the hoop to clear Yellow and came to rest in front of the Hoop. Even David graciously admitted his good fortune, but they all count. This levelled the score and gave Llanidloes the impetus to win the game by the closest of margins 7-6.

It really could not have been any closer and was a fitting end to what had been an extremely competitive match played in excellent spirits.

Members of Kenilworth Croquet Club swapped mallets for walking shoes on Friday 17 April as they took part in the annual Moonlight Walk in support of Myton Hospice.

The group, cheerfully calling themselves Okay Croquet Kenilworth, lit up the evening in bright pink T-shirts as they completed either the 5km or 10km routes.

Spirits were high throughout the event, with participants embracing both the challenge and the festive atmosphere of the night walk.

Together, the team raised an impressive £3,248 for the hospice, which provides vital care and support for patients and families across the region.

Members expressed their gratitude to everyone who sponsored them, helping to make their fundraising efforts such a success.

“It was a fantastic evening and great fun for everyone involved,” one participant said.

“We’re proud to support such an important cause—and I’m sure we’ll be back again next year.”

For those inspired by the group’s enthusiasm, the club welcomes enquiries from anyone interested in learning more about croquet and getting involved.

Find out more here: https://ktscc.co.uk/croquet/

Rugby Croquet Club was officially opened on April 1^st.

More that 20 enthusiastic members will play AC and GC on their new lawns at Clifton-upon-Dunsmore on the edge of Rugby.

The photo shows Chair, Terry Leary introducing the Mayor of Rugby, Councillor Barbara Brown. They are watched by members of the club, representatives of the local council and visitors new to croquet with four visitors likely to join the club.

Following this introduction, Councillor Brown then, successfully and ceremoniously, ran the first hoop of this new club.

Good luck to Rugby and welcome to the Federation.