Kelvingrove
Eight players gathered on a cold and bright Glasgow Saturday morning, with handicaps
ranging from scratch to 14, to contest the 2005 Glasgow Open. Manager John
Surgenor played an adapted Swiss / Egyptian format, effectively choosing six of the
seven rounds of an American Block.
Round One saw John beat Joe Lennon (14) +26 in fairly short order, while the rest of us
battled the cold and slow conditions, taking most or all of the agreed time.
Bruce Rannie beat Jamieson Walker +17, Jane Shorten beat Charlotte Townsend +2T in a
game where neither showed any semblance of form, and Rod Williams beat Campbell
Morrison +5.
Round Two saw Bruce beat John +25, gaining from playing a longer first game whilst John
sat around waiting, Jane beat Rod +15, building fluency and confidence all the
time. Joe beat Jamieson +2T and Campbell beat Charlotte +1T.
Round Three saw Jane making fewer mistakes than Bruce in a quickish game to win +17 and
lead the competition overnight 3 from 3. John beat Rod +15 to cause Rod’s
handicap to change ready for Sunday. Jamieson beat Charlotte +16 and Campbell
beat Joe +10.
Sunday was as cold to begin with but a touch brighter and the lawns were not as
damp. John and Bruce needed to win all day, and Jane needed to hang on. It
was theoretically possible for all eight to end with three wins out of six rounds!
Round Four put John into pole position as he beat Jane +17, while Bruce retained an
interest by beating Campbell +26. Rod beat Jamieson +1T, whilst Charlotte found
her form with a +26 victory over Joe.
Round Five put John further ahead as he beat Campbell +17, while Charlotte continued
her Sunday best with a +5 win over Bruce, putting him out of contention. The
endgame was eventful here, with Bruce being given several chances whilst Charlotte
limped from 4B/peg to penult/peg. As the triple failed (again), Bruce had choices
– peg out the peg ball, peg out both leaving two, or leave them all on the court, his
other ball being on 4B. If choosing peg out leaving three (and a lift), then
where to leave his two? The choice was made – peg out, and split. Charlotte
lagged to penult from B-baulk (angled), Bruce joined, Charlotte ran the hoop to near
the peg, hit and finished – wrong choice, Bruce! Better options were peg out and
join, as Charlotte then has to shoot, or even peg out both as long as Bruce’s ball had
a chance at 4B, then Charlotte has to choose – shoot, take position or something else.
In the other games Jamieson should have had a chance against Jane, taking his back ball
round in a good, long turn while time ran out (but he was wearing the watch that had
the timer and did not check). He had the choice too at the peg, both other balls
on the same hoop, Jane also on peg. But he chose to peg Jane out and leave his
dolly-rush, not realising he was now one down and out of time. Elsewhere Rod beat
Joe +17.
The final round saw John produce his mandatory tournament TP, all peels done before 3B,
with Jamieson being the victim on this occasion. Jane beat Campbell +15 and Bruce
beat Joe +20. Charlotte rested her tender back and she and Rod deemed their game.
So John retained the cup, both on Egyptian points and on Flexible Swiss who-beat-whom,
a better split for an advanced tournament where there was no chance of playing more
games than the organised rounds.
Bruce Rannie
Results
John Surgenor 5/6: beat Joe Lennon +26, Rod Williams +15, Jane Shorten +17, Campbell Morrison +17, Jamieson Walker +25TP
Jane Shorten 5/6: beat Charlotte Townsend +2t, Rod Williams +15, Bruce Rannie +17, Jamieson Walker +1t, Campbell Morrison +15
Bruce Rannie 4/6: beat Jamieson Walker +17, John Surgenor +25, Campbell Morrison +26, Joe Lennon +20
Rod Williams 3/5: beat Campbell Morrison +5, Jamieson Walker +1t, Joe Lennon +17
Charlotte Townsend 2/5: beat Joe Lennon +26, Bruce Rannie +5
Campbell Morrison 2/6: beat Charlotte Townsend +1t, Joe Lennon +10
Joe Lennon 1/6: beat Jamieson Walker +2t
Jamieson Walker 1/6: beat Charlotte Townsend +16
