Carter Cup Challenge

9 Oct - 13 Jul 2001

The following reports are extracted from Croquet World Online Magazine and the Nottingham Board.

Preview -- Bob Alman
The 2001 Carter Challenge, between 6-person teams from 
Ireland and the United States, will be played at the
new National Croquet Center in West Palm Beach,
Florida, by special permit.

The Center - largest dedicated croquet facility in the
world - is on schedule to be completed before the end
of 2001. The 19,000 square foot clubhouse is the
principal remaining feature of the 10-acre complex to
be completed.

The lawns, however, are in magnificent shape. They
were planted almost a year ago and have been cared for
well. They are flat, fast, and evenly textured -
certainly among the best lawns in America. Four
sizeable courtside gazebos have been built to provide
shelter and space for socializing.

The Carter Cup has been played at two-year intervals
since 1995. The Americans won the 1995 contest and
lost the next two by a slight margin. The Irish come
to the 2001 Carter Cup with an "on-paper" advantage in
world rankings, with a #7 (Mark McInerney)
and a # 11 (Simon Williams).

In most previous years, American Rules doubles have
been played. This year, all the games will be played
under [International] Association Laws.

The Irish and the Americans have decided upon a shorter
playing schedule than usual this year. The competition
proper will occupy only four days - Wednesday through
Saturday. Tuesday will be devoted to
practice play and (presumably, for the Irish)
recovering from trans-Atlantic jet lag.

The format is a best-of-21 match test - 12 best-of-
three singles matches and 9 best-of-three doubles
matches. In singles, #s 1 & 2 play the opposing 1 & 2,
the 3's and 4's play each other, as well as the 5's and
6's. In doubles, each doubles team plays all three of
the opposing doubles teams.

The teams are:

IRELAND
Patsy Fitzgerald
Andrew Johnston
Mark McInerney
Ronan McInerney
Evan Newell
Simon Williams
Jane Anne Conolly-Carew, manager

USA
Bob Cherry
Doug Grimsley
Dan Mahoney
Kenster Rosenberry
Jeff Soo
Jerry Stark, captain

###

results, day 1 (final) -- Jeff Soo
Day 1 complete scores: (USA names first)

Doubles round 1:

Grimsley/Mahoney lost to Williams/Newell -9, -24
Soo/Cherry lost to R. McInerney/Johnston -26tp (J), 4, -
19
Stark/Rosenberry beat M. McInerney/Fitzgerald -17, 17,
23

Doubles round 2:
Grimsley/Mahoney lost to M. McInerney/Fitzgerald -17tp
(M)
Stark/Rosenberry lost to R. McInerney/Johnston -16
Soo/Cherry beat Williams/Newell 14

Report, Day 2 lunchtime -- Jeff Soo
Mark McInerney beat Jeff Soo (USA) 11tpo, 14otp
Jerry Stark (USA) is game-all against Simon Williams
Patsy Fitzgerald leads Ken Rosenberry (USA) 1-0.
Rosenberry had the first break in the second game.
Bob Cherry (USA) is game-all against Ronan McInerney
Doug Grimsley (USA) leads Evan Newell 1-0. Grimsely has
achieved peg and 4-back in the second game, Newell had
a break to 4-back, and Grimsely is in again.
Andy Johnston leads Dan Mahoney (USA) 1-0 Mahoney has
reached peg and 4-back in the second, Johnston hit the
lift and has made a 4-back leave.


Day Two Final Results -- Bob Alman
After two complete days of play, the Irish lead the 21-
match series 6-3. They have won two out of three
doubles matches and four out of six singles matches.
Round Three Doubles are now tied at one game all in
each of the three matches.

The winds have slackened. Day Three weather is perfect.

DOUBLES MATCH RESULTS TO DATE

Williams/Newell (IRE) beat Grimsley/Mahoney
+9 +24

R. McInerney/Johnston (IRE) beat Soo/Cherry
+26tp +19

Stark/Rosenberry (USA) beat M. McInerney/Fitzgeraland
-17 +17 +23

SINGLES MATCH RESULTS TO DATE

Williams (IRE) beat Stark +15 -11 +26
M. McInerney (IRE) beat Soo +11tpo +14otp
Fitzgerland (IRE) beat Rosenberry +4 -7 +9
Cherry (USA) beat R. McInerney -26tp +5 +17tp
Grimsley (USA) beat Newell +26 +14
Johnston (IRE) beat Mahoney +16 -10 +25tp

- SCORES REPORTED BY USA TEAM CAPTAIN JERRY STARK

Report, Day 3 3:00pm -- Jeff Soo
Ireland lead 7-4

Today Jeff Soo and Bob Cherry (USA) beat Mark McInerney
and Patsy Fitzgerald 2-1, and Doug Grimsley and Dan
Mahoney (USA) lost 0-2 to Ronan McInerney and Andy
Johnston. Jerry Stark and Ken Rosenberry (USA) are
level with Simon Williams and Evan Newell. The third
game is scrappy, with Williams and Stark both for 4-
back, while Newell and Rosenberry struggle to make
progress. Rosenberry is currently in play.

Day Three Final Results -- Jeff Soo
Day Three Final Resulkts

Friday's doubles round resulted in two wins for the US
to Ireland's one. After these games finished, the
teams continued the spread doubles
round, left from Day 1. This time, Ireland won two, US
one. This last set of games finished at 7:25pm in near
total darkness, with some fine play by Jerry Stark and
Kenster Rosenberry (who are currently undefeated in
doubles).

Current tally: Ireland 9
US 6

Tomorrow (Saturday) is a singles round; if Ireland wins
two of the six games, they will win the challenge.

Day Four Partial -- Bob Alman
It is 3:00 PM Florida time on the final day of the
Carter Challenge. A couple of hours ago, the Irish
reached the 11-match total that gives them victory over
the American team for the third time running.

The match score now stands at 11-7. Two singles
matches are still undecided.

Complete scores will be posted tomorrow (Sunday) - the
practice day for the USCA National Championships that
will begin on Monday. Croquet Online Magazine will
continue daily postings throughout the week to the end
of the Nationals.

Report, final -- Jeff Soo
Ireland won their third consecutive victory in the
biennial Carter Challenge. The final score was
Ireland 11, USA 10. The twelve singles matches
were split 6-6, while Ireland had a 5-4 edge in
doubles.

Ireland were leading 9-6 going into the final day,
needing only two wins in the final six singles
matches. USA #1 Jerry Stark was the first to
complete a match, beating Ireland #1 Mark
McInerney with a pair of triples. Ireland #3 Ronan
McInerney then finished his match against USA #3
Kenster Rosenberry, also with two triples. Ireland
#2 Simon Williams clinched the team victory by
beating USA #2 Jeff Soo in a three triples match.

The Americans won the remaining matches. USA
#5 Doug Grimsley won 2-0 against Ireland #5 Andy
Johnston. USA #6 Dan Mahoney came back from
game down to beat Ireland #6 Evan Newell,
Mahoney finishing in style with a triple in the third
game. USA #4 Bob Cherry also came back from
game down against Ireland #4 Patsy Fitzgerald.

Complete Final Results -- Bob Alman

Complete Final Results
IRELAND 11 - USA 10

Ireland retains the Carter Challenge Cup for the third
straight win in these semi-annual test matches.

The standout team in doubles were USA's Jerry Stark and
Kenster Rosenberry - the only team to win all three of
their matches. Only one other doubles victory was
scored by the Americans - by the Soo/Cherry team. The
Irish won the 9-match doubles tally by a score of 5-4,
which actually gave them the winning edge in the entire
event, as the doubles were split 6-6.

Outstanding performers in singles, winning both their
matches, were Simon Williams for Ireland; and Doug
Grimsley and Bob Cherry for the USA.

Nineteen games out of 56 total games were won by
peeling feats - 34 percent.

Here are the complete final results, supplied by USA
team captain Jerry Stark.

DOUBLES MATCH RESULTS
Williams/Newell (IRE) beat Grimsley/Mahoney
+9 +24R.
McInerney/Johnston (IRE) beat Soo/Cherry
+26tp +19
Stark/Rosenberry (USA) beat M. McInerney/Fitzgeraland
-17 +17 +23
R. McInerney/Johnston (IRE) beat Grimsley/Mahoney
+24tp(AJ) +5
Soo/Cherry (USA) beat M. McInerney/Fitzgerald
+21 -26tp(MM) +24
Stark/Rosenberry (USA) beat Williams/Newell (IRE)
+18 - 19tp(SW) +8
M. McInerney/Fitzgerland (IRE) beat Grimsley/Mahoney
(USA)
+17tp (MM) -11 +26
Williams/Newell (IRE) beat Soo/Cherry (USA)
-12 +14 +26
Stark/Rosenberry (USA) beat R. McInerney/Johnston (IRE)
-16 +23tp(KR) +7

SINGLES MATCH RESULTS
Williams (IRE) beat Stark +15 -11 +26M.
McInerney (IRE) beat Soo +11tpo +14otp
Fitzgerald (IRE) beat Rosenberry +4 -7 +9
Cherry (USA) beat R. McInerney -26tp +5 +17tp
Grimsley (USA) beat Newell +26 +14
Johnston (IRE) beat Mahoney +16 -10 +25tp
Stark (USA) beat M. McInerney +26tp +19tp
Williams (IRE) beat Soo (USA) +26tp -26tp +26tp
R. McInerney (IRE) beat Rosenberry (USA) +26tp +26tp
Cherry (USA) beat Fitzgerald (IRE) -17 +5 +17
Grimsley (USA) beat Johnston (IRE) +4 +6
Mahoney (USA) beat Newell (IRE) -4 +25 +16 tp

Local color and the Irish team -- Bob Alman
HURRICANE SEASON - BUT NO HURRICANE
The second day of the competition started very much
like the first day and all the remaining days, if the
weather forecast is to be trusted. Winds gusting to 35
mph, rip tides, all the royal palm fronds pointing east
with the winds off the Atlantic. It looks and feels a
perfect picture of paradise. It's the hurricane
season, but happily, no hurricane. The tropical wind
is refreshing in 80 degree sunshine with a slight
chance of showers. The wind will send the ball off
line on a long shot - so the players are probably
hitting cross-wind shots harder than they usually
would.

The Irish lead 2-1 at this early point, midway the
second day. Only doubles have been played so far. The
Americans are well known for doing relatively less well
in doubles. I asked team leader Jerry Stark why that
is. "They talk too much," he said. Instead of just
playing your best shots as if it were singles, they
talk, they strategize." Stark seems to think it breaks
their rhythm. Not like the Irish, all silent and
concentrated and intense.

THE IRISH LADIES TELL ALL
To find out more about these Irish, I talked to two
delightful young ladies accompanying the team. Most of
the data here comes from their comments.

According to these women, the Irish team have not taken
their third straight win of the Carter Cup for
granted. Despite the high world rankings of the Irish,
they think the Americans are going to win. According
to Hazel, "The Irish are very uncocky!" I'll go
along with that. They're very pleasant chaps. There
seems to be no nasty edge to the intense competition
between these teams.


The Irish team look like poster boys for an
unappreciated sport. They could easily pass for a rugby
team. In fact, 23-year-old Ronan McInerney - the third-
ranked Irish player - is quite a formidable rugby
player. He works for the Irish Gas Company in Dublin.
The team ranges in age from 18 to 45ish.

The "old man" of the team - Evan Newell - is too slight
for a rugby poster, but his equine good looks make up
for that in the image business. Newell is a successful
businessman who lives in Dublin and also owns a stud
farm in County Meath with his two brothers. He's keen
on racing, according to the team's manager, "and keen
on the girls too, thought he doesn't like to admit it.
But," she adds, "he's in a long-term relationship
now."

Newell told me he's glad to be away from the horses for
awhile and all the worrying one does about injuries.
There are many daunting conumdrums and contradictions
in the horse business, it turns out. "The better the
horse is, the more likely he is to get into trouble,"
Newell wryly. High spirits lead to injuries for racing
horses. But not for well-behaved croquet players, as a
rule.

BELIEVING MAKES IT SO
Newell broke through suddenly to top-level croquet in
the third Golf Croquet World Championships at
Leamington. He came out of nowhere and finished an
astonishing third. I asked him to explain that. "I
believe I can score the hoop," he explained, "no matter
how far away it is. I just believe I can do it."

All the Irish team play at Carrickmines, a suburb of
Dublin. It's the secret of their strength as a team -
frequent peer-level play. No one is there more often
than Simon Williams, a veteran of the world rankings.
Simon keeps the four lawns of Carrickmines.

SIMON AND HIS SUPER-DOG
Simon Williams, in his late 30's, is the best-known
veteran of the Irish team, ranked #11 in the world, and
#2 in Ireland, just behind Mark McInerney. He is best
known for his ancient round-headed mallet and
continuous-motion style of playing - which, however, he
has modified. "I'm getting better results now by
slowing down," he told me. Williams is the greens-
keeper at Carrickmines, by far the most prestigious
club in Ireland. Williams plays chess and backgammon
and has a superdog - Rocket - that goes everywhere with
him. Together, Rocket and Williams keep the four
greens at Carrickmines.

A WELL-MANAGED TEAM, FROM BREAKFAST TO BEER
Manager of the team is Jane Anne Conolly-Carew, brother
of Ed Cunningham, who was originally scheduled to be a
part of the team. She gets them up gets them fed, sees
that they get their rest - "breakfast to beer," as she
puts it. "Irish have a reputation as heavy drinkers,
but that's not true of us. We like a good time, we do
drink.....but during the week, when they're playing,
they might have two beers, but that's it."

Another delightful young lady is traveling with the
team - 26-year-old Hazel Marcus, a horticulture student
who is in a long-term relationship with team member and
artist Patsy Fitzgerald, who favors abstract murals.
Patsy is building a lawn at his place in Kells to
expand the two-court capacity of his local croquet
club.

Last Saturday was a practice day at Carrickmines. The
Irish didn't do much practice on the lawns at the NCC
when they arrived in Palm Beach - partlyt because of
Monday's afternoon downpour. They had suffered a
twenty-four trip, counting transfer time at airports.
Everyone was exhausted, according to the ladies. They
showed up late Monday just in time for the downpour.
They came to the lawns late on Tuesday as well, in time
for a cook-out with some National Croquet Center
sponsors and a semi-official welcome in the Festival
Tent - which very nearly blew away in winds approaching
gale force.

Andrew Johnston, 21, is an accounting student from
Newcastle - the best player in Newcastle.

THE FAMILY THAT PLAYS TOGETHER, STAYS TOGETHER
Mark McInerny, at 18, is the baby of the team, a
science student, and brother of Ronan McInerny. He's
ranked number one in Ireland and is number 7 in the
world - he's the Irish version of Jacques Fournier.
Both were prodigies. Both grew up playing croquet with
their families. Both got lots of training playing
against strong competitors. Both hit the top rankings
early in life.

THE SOUTH FLORIDA "MUST" EXPERIENCE: DISNEYLAND!
They ladies "don't really" play croquet they're "happy
must to be" - just to hang around the lawns and watch
the play and quitely support their men. But they all
want to see Disneyland. On Sunday, they will be
rushing up early in the morning for the 3-hour drive to
Orlando, then back for the flight home on Monday. A
few will stick around until next Thursday to explore
more of South Florida in the hurricane season.

If I didn't have to go now and buy a memory stick for
the digital camera, I'd give this rather disjointed
piece and ending. Getting the camera going is a high
priority, you see, because only in these two weeks will
we see the lawns thronged with players and spectators -
until the facility is opened permanent in December or
early January. These pictures will have to tell the
story of the Center in the meantime, in countless
articles, reports, and print pieces. Some of these
pictures will be put on the Web at the end of next
week, after the USCA Nationals.

- Bob Alman

last updated 5 July 2004 PTB
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