Nailsea and District Croquet Club (NDCC) recently held their Speed Croquet tournament.

As the name suggests, this is against the clock, with each team getting only 25 minutes on the lawns.

The times are determined as in a game of chess with two clocks, ticking down for each team as soon as they are within the playing area.

Speed croquet is played using Association Croquet rules, but on small lawns.

This means as balls are hit hard and leave the lawn there is a lot of chasing after them, trying to not waste valuable time.

Brigit Clayton and John Hancock suffered from the ticking clock twice as time was called just as they were about to run a hoop, two to three seconds more could have made all the difference.

This tournament also is played using the handicap system, with players with an excellent handicap of 2 playing alongside those on 24.

This meant all teams had extra turns, and these could be used to great advantage by the good players, such as Erica Malaiperuman and Geoff Hughes.

By lunchtime three rounds of games had been played and the best teams were already coming out on top, but no players gave up the chase and played fast and hard in the afternoon.

Several games went to a draw, with some desperation of shots as final seconds ticked away.

By the end of the day and at the end of five rounds of games, Geoff Hughes and Brian Roynon came out on top with 5 points awarded, only dipping out with a draw, otherwise they would have had a maximum score.

Erica Malaiperuman, partnered with the relatively inexperienced John Malaiperuman, was awarded 4 points to become the runners up on the day.

These teams will be pitched against each other at the “Finals Weekend” in September where one pair will be awarded the 2024 NDCC Speed Croquet Trophy.

Roger Baddeley, event organiser, said, “The speed croquet competition is always one of the most fun weekends for the club with players frantically competing against the clock.

"I am sure there were a few sore limbs the next day, but everyone enjoyed themselves and we look forward to the final.”

Finals Weekend will be held on September 28th and 29th with spectators always welcome. More information can be found on the NDCC website here.