Malmet Trophy 2016
17-19 September 2016, Meadows
Six experienced players competed for the Malmet this year. With Brian Durward’s promotion to the Chairman’s Rosebowl, Alistair Malcolm was next in line and he easily justified his inclusion with a stunning performance. The other players were Alastair Burn-Murdoch, David Houston, Jamieson Walker, Hamish Duguid, and Joe Lennon. The Malmet players shared the same lawns with the more accomplished players in the sister event, the Chairman’s Rosebowl, and also enjoyed the challenge of tightly-set Aldridge hoops, kindly lent to the SCA by Balgreen CC.
John Surgenor won the Chairman’s Rosebowl. David Magee, John Surgenor, Alan Wilson, Chris Martin, Janice Duguid and Brian Durward met at Meadows to contest the Chairman’s Rosebowl. The weather was dry and sunny with a weekend forecast promising more of the same. Danny had cut the lawns on Friday evening and Alan, Chris and Alistair Malcolm had reset the lawns using the Aldridge hoops kindly lent by Balgreen Croquet Club.
Mark Ormerod of England won the 2016 Scottish Open at Meadows, beating Andrew Willis in the final. Local boys John Surgenor and Martin Stephenson put up brave opposition in the semi-finals but couldn’t prevent the trophies being taken down South. With Dave Kibble taking the peeling prize and Richard H Smith, unexpectedly knocked out in the first round by Martin, winning the Edinburgh plate it was a clean sweep for the visitors.
Two days of uninterrupted sun, excellent lawns that got increasingly fast over the event and two teams playing a mix of AC handicap doubles, handicap singles and Golf Croquet. Only two teams I hear you cry! The East were a 'no-show' over both days for reasons unknown. This was a real pity given the efforts of the North team to field a team in Glasgow over both days.