Ben Rhydding Croquet Club hosts new competition for beginners

The Rabbits contest, which gets its name from a golfing term for newcomers, attracted players mainly from the training courses the club runs in spring for members of Ilkley and District U3A.

Seven beginners took part and the winner was former runner Simon Fielding from Eldwick who beat Iain Thake by seven hoops to three. Simon, who used to be one of the top thirty milers in England, had never lifted a croquet mallet until this year.

Happy bunny: Simon Fielding, winner of the new Rabbits contest for golf croquet beginners

“I have always had a competitive spirit and wanted to do something different,” he said. “ We had a good game and I was better than I have been for a while and managed to play with some focus.”

He was presented with a bone china Rabbits Contest mug by club chair Alan Ebbutt.

Handicap singles winner Blake Hemingway with the Trevor Grange Shield

Also in winning mode at the club’s annual internal matches was Ilkley’s Blake Hemingway who took the Trevor Grange Shield for the handicap singles beating Marion Cofield from Addingham by seven hoops to five.

Marion reached three semi-finals and went on to take the doubles title and the Cynthia Barraclough Trophy with club captain Penny Clark, who has won the cup three times previously. They beat Chris Forkins of Rawdon and her partner David Carpenter from Addingham seven hoops to five.

In the singles competition Penny had a tough opponent in club treasurer John Green, who reprised his 2022 success and took the Richard Lorimer Shield by seven hoops to four.

The four-week U3A training courses were led by club coach Penny Clark who was impressed with the graduates’ performance.

“The beginners in the Rabbits were of a very high standard," she said. “There was some excellent play and we had a great day of finals.”