6-9 EVENING SERIES: COMPETITION REGULATIONS, 2024

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Eligibility

Any member of Phyllis Court Croquet Club with a handicap of between 6 and 9 inclusive is eligible to enter.  A member who has become eligible and has been allocated a place on at least one evening but whose handicap subsequently moves outside the 6 to 9 range (in either direction) will remain eligible for the rest of the season.  A member whose handicap moves into the 6 to 9 range after the start of the competition will still be entitled to enter the competition (but, depending on when this happens, may not be able to play enough games to qualify as the winner).

 

Entry fee

There is an entry fee of £10 for the Series.  Payment online is preferred.

 

Number of evenings

The number of evenings to be run will be sufficient to allow all members registering at the start of the competition to play on at least four evenings.  Some members may play more frequently than this depending on their availability and at the discretion of the manager (to ensure that “all play all” to the extent reasonably practicable).

 

Selection for an evening and “who plays who”

Each evening will normally comprise six or eight members, but may exceptionally be run with four.  Each player will play three games of an evening against different opponents.  The manager will determine “who plays who” on each evening.  The manager will make reasonable efforts in the allocation of places and the order of play to ensure that “all play all” over the course of the competition as a whole, to the extent that is reasonably practicable, but it is recognised that it will probably be logistically impossible to ensure this is achieved 100%.  It will almost certainly occur that some players play each other more than once.

 

Conduct of an evening

The manager may choose to attend an evening or appoint another assistant manager or referee to do so, but in general the evenings will be unsupervised, in which case, one of the players on each evening will be nominated to be “in charge” and will be responsible, inter alia, for ensuring that the prescribed order of play is adhered to, the guidelines herein contained are adhered to, the results are reported to the manager and the courts and pavilion are left in a tidy state at the end of the evening.

The plan is to play three games in three hours.  This could be a challenge with delays getting started, delays between games, including having to wait for one’s next opponent to finish his or her previous game, the effect of double-banking, etc., and it only takes one over-running game to have a knock-on effect on subsequent games.  Players should therefore arrive in advance of the scheduled start time to allow any knock-up to be completed in time for the first games to start promptly at the scheduled time, and any delays between games must be minimised.  Time limits will be imposed as set out below.

 

Time limits

Unless otherwise specified below, a time limit of 60 minutes will apply to each game.  At the expiry of the time limit, play continues for an extension period of a further eight turns (two with each ball).  The first turn of the extension period is the first ball struck after time has expired.  If the game is then tied, play again continues until the next hoop is scored, thereby determining the winner.

The time limit for second and third games may be reduced to 50 or 55 minutes if the games are not starting by 6 p.m. and 7 p.m. respectively and both players agree before the start of the game.  The minimum time limit permitted is 50 minutes.  The time limit for the third game may be scrapped if both players agree to do so before the start of the game.

The detailed rules for time limits are in Rule 19 of the WCF Rules of Golf Croquet (6th edition) (https://www.croquet.org.uk/?p=games/golf/rules/gcRules6th#rule:19) and Regulation T3 of the Croquet England Tournament Regulations (https://www.croquet.org.uk/?p=tournament/regulations#T3).

Timers are provided and stored in the pavilion.

 

Determining the winner

The winner of the competition will be determined firstly as the player with the highest win percentage (wins divided by number of games played), provided that player has played a minimum of ten games and excepting as noted below. 

If two players are tied on that basis, the winner will be whoever (based on wins first, net hoops second) has the better record in games between the tied players.  If a tie remains (or the two players have not played each other), the two players will play a single 13-point game to determine the winner.

If more than two players are tied on the basis of percentage wins, the winner will be determined according to a mini-table comprising the games played between such players, ranking first on percentage wins, then on net hoops per game played.  If a tie remains, the tied players will play one-off 13-point game or games to determine the winner.

However if the would-be winner on the above basis has not played one or more players who could overtake the would-be winner if such game or games were to be played, or if any two players in a tie of three or more players have not played each other, then such outstanding games must be played and the winner then determined in accordance with the above criteria including such additional game or games.

 

Competition manager

The competition manager is Russell Robinson, whose decisions are final.

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Russell Robinson

22nd May 2024