EVERY spring the croquet community in Great Britain organise a Nationwide Charity event called the ‘One-Ball’. It is a competitive tournament but with many fun elements and a good curtain raiser for the season to come. This year’s chosen charity was the Alzheimer’s Society and in the charities honour all the competitors wore something blue.

In One-Ball Croquet each player has just one ball and is challenged to score hoops against one other player using a variety of different strokes. It is similar to Association Croquet but because it is played with only one ball, instead of the usual two, it has similarities with Golf Croquet; individual handicaps are adjusted for the One-Ball format.

Camerton and Peasedown Croquet Club held their club fund-raising event back in April and the winners from that day went forward to the National Finals which were held at the Surbiton Croquet Club.

Ann and Simon Munton represented CPCC at the final. They have skill and experience in both Association Croquet and Golf Croquet; knowledge of the two disciplines being useful in the One-Ball format.

Ann Munton said “Surbiton’s seven lawns were fast and flat and the sun shone all day. Perfect for croquet! Simon Munton put in the better performance on the day. However he was knocked out in the second round of the main competition finishing the day with 4 wins from 5 matches. The catering team at Surbiton provided a lovely meal at lunch time and plenty of cake for tea.”

The national organiser of this tournament, Debbie James, has now written to all the participating clubs to say: “The total amount raised for the Alzheimer's Society was £8,759.35. This is a record-breaking sum for the Charity One-Ball and it will make a huge difference to people living with dementia. Huge thanks all, and well done!”