Arizona Croquet Club Five Pound Note 16 December 2000 Tournament Director: Paul Bennett Court Day Time Player Opponent ----------- ----- --------- --------------------------------- ---------------------------------- Kraft Sat 8:00 AM Rory Kelley Paul Bennett 11 W VS Don Fournier Ray Hamm 8 Kraft Sat 8:00 AM Pat Roach Carter Crane 15 W VS Jacques Fournier Patty Dole 7 Kraft Sat 10:00 AM Rory Kelley Paul Bennett 18 W VS Pat Roach Carter Crane 17 Kraft Sat 10:00 AM Ren Kraft Stan Patmor 16 W VS Jacques Fournier Patty Dole 3 Kraft Sat 12:00 PM Rory Kelley Paul Bennett 5 VS Ren Kraft Stan Patmor 22 W Kraft Sat 12:00 PM Pat Roach Carter Crane 17 VS Don Fournier Ray Hamm 18 W Kraft Sat 2:00 PM Ren Kraft Stan Patmor 21 VS Don Fournier Ray Hamm 22 W Kraft Sat 2:00 PM Rory Kelley Paul Bennett 12 VS Carter Crane Patty Dole 7 Kraft Sat 4:00 PM Jacques Fournier Patty Dole F VS Don Fournier Ray Hamm W Kraft Sat 4:00 PM Ren Kraft Stan Patmor 14 VS Pat Roach Carter Crane 19 W Fournier - Dole forfeit after 2nd game. Draw at Stanley's at 5:30 PM Friday nite. Web-page updated shortly thereafter. Low Handicaps Jacques Fournier -1.5 Rory Kelley -0.5 Donny Fournier 0.0 Pat Roach 0.0 Ren Kraft 0.5 High Handicaps (Draw) Paul Bennett 0.5 Patty Dole 2.0 Stan Patmor 2.0 Ray Hamm 4.0 Carter Crane 4.0 Scores and Summary ------------------------------------ Standing Names Wins Net Pts 1st Donny - Hamm 2 -1 2nd Kelley - Bennett 2 -13 3rd Kraft - Patmor 1 +11 4th Roach - Crane 1 +3 J.Q. - Dole 0 J.Q.-Dole forfeit after two games The Arizona Croquet club's Five Pound Note tournament is an Association Croquet Doubles event that is played according to handicap rules. Players with the higher handicaps draw to play with their doubles partners that have lower handicaps. The following historical note appears on the existing trophy: "Doug T. Whitneybell designed and presented the original 5# trophy in 1977 to be awarded to the winners of a doubles association tournament. Several years passed before a tournament was played to completion. After the award to Ray Bell & Mike Dodt the trophy vanished. Rumors abounded. Some said Bell chose to keep it forever, others that Patmor threw it out; we may never know, but until it reappears the history of this event will be kept here." This years field was stiff. I, a fairly low handicap, had to play up as a high handicap. I drew Rory Kelley as my partner. We did pretty good, up and to the point of meeting Kraft and Patmor, shortly after lunch. We were lulled into their trap and could not manage a win with time called. The most that could have been done (assuming a miraculous 4 partner peel maximum could be pulled off) was to come up one hoop short. So be it -- we lose on net points. And the trophy goes to Don Fournier and Ray Hamm. Ray Hamm is a three time winner of the Five Pound Note. Congratulations to Don and Ray. See you next year, gentlemen. (I just hope I can be low bisque player that can get Ray Hamm as my partner.) The weather was wonderful and a field of 5 teams worked out great. We played from sun up to sun down on Saturday. The rules for handicap play work. The handicaps are treated as extra turns or innings. A half bisque may be used to play defensively, and no hoops may be scored after playing a half bisque. A full bisque is used to extend a turn. The striker is once again alive on all balls, and may run a break to completion. The use of handicaps is encouraged for players that are learning the game. And they can be used effectively to manage the difference of the abilities of the players in the field. The doubles handicaps are calculated as follows. The team adds up the handicaps of each player and divides by two. The difference between the two teams is calculated and rounded up to the nearest half bisque. The team with the highest combined handicap is rewarded the net difference. It is interesting when good players participate in the tournament. The more common advanced rules are not in place during the Five Pound Note, so the advanced player must rethink some of his strategies. The players may try pegging out their opponents, if one advances too far. The killer leave can be tried by the weaker team, since they have the bisques and the other team does not. The advanced team on the otherhand may not do the killer leave, since the weaker team may use their bisques to "effectively" hit in, i.e. if they miss, then use a bisque and run the break. This also challenges the advanced team to set and run a break, instead of simply setting a break and retreating to partner. The weaker team can once again take advantage by using a bisque. I witnessed four very interesting end games. Many of these games were close during the last 30 minutes and remained close until the end of the game. I enjoyed the Saturday of play and hope others join us for this wonderful tournament next year. For now, cheau! Sincerely yours, Paul Bennett