Home win for Bamburgh team in Golf Croquet event

Seven club teams from Alnmouth, Auckland, Bamburgh, Belsay, Durham, Edinburgh and Tyneside entered to compete for the Alice Fleck Trophy, currently held by the Alnmouth club.

The heavy rain and cold weather at the beginning of the month meant a lot of hard work to get the playing areas ready in time, but the ground staff had the three lawns looking pristine for the day. And what a thriller it turned out to be!

From the start the lead changed hands on several occasions and, by the mid-way point, the field was wide open. As the afternoon progressed, the expectation that one or two clubs would edge ahead did not occur.

With six rounds completed and the seventh and final round about to start, Bamburgh was one point in the lead, but any one of four clubs could still win the competition.

As the results came in, no one had won all their final games resulting in the closest finish in the history of the competition. And it was the 2017 winners Bamburgh that managed to hang on to edge out the others to take the trophy for a second time. Bamburgh finished on 16 points, second was Tyneside on 15 and in third equal place with 14 points were Belsay and Edinburgh.

Bamburgh now joins Alnmouth and Edinburgh with two wins each since the tournament began in 2013, with Belsay taking the trophy in the first year.

Bamburgh captain Rosi Ashwell commented afterwards: “It was a very friendly and sporting tournament. We enjoyed hosting the event and we thank the participating clubs for travelling some considerable distances to take part.

“The result was decided by the last game of the last round so there was nothing in it, but I think our consistency was the one thing that carried us through”.

Not only did Bamburgh take home the winners’ trophy, but each member of the winning team was presented with a pound of the famous ‘Bamburgh Bangers’ for their efforts!