Youth triumphs over experience at British Open Golf Croquet Championships

Euan & Callum win the Doubles; Levi Franks wins the Singles

Strong fields of 32 players contested the premier events in the British Golf Croquet calendar over 6 scorching days at Budleigh Salterton Croquet Club, although the picturesque venue atop the south Devon cliffs did at least provide some sea breeze to cool the competitors slightly. The club’s superbly prepared courts provided a tough challenge for all, leading to the strongest winning through in the end.

The Doubles was played first, with regular partnership Euan Burridge & Callum Johnson winning their semi-final relatively comfortably against Jenny Clarke (NZ) & Stephen Mulliner, before having to wait for a long battle between 2024 champions Reg Bamford (SA) & Tobi Savage versus Jack Good & Sam Cuthbert. The latter lost the first game of the best-of-3 match but just edged the next two to take their place in the final.

This meant that, remarkably, the total age of the four finalists was only a few years older than the oldest competitor in the event, showing how players of all ages can still compete at the highest level of the game. Euan & Callum won the match 7-5, 7-5 to take the title for the second time in their still-developing careers.

The following day saw the start of the Singles, with 4 blocks of 8 players all looking to finish in the top half in order to qualify for the knockout stage (much like a football World Cup). The knockout saw both Egyptian players (traditionally the strongest country, albeit their very best players weren’t present) eliminated in the first round, although Egyptian-American Sherif Abdelwahab won through, before succumbing to Bamford in the quarter-finals. Euan Burridge repeated his Doubles success against Mulliner in their quarter-final, before losing to Bamford in the semi-final.

In the other half of the draw, Jack beat partner Callum in their quarter-final despite losing the first game 2-7, and New Zealander Levi Franks (another player under 25) came through more easily against Spaniard Mateo Palazon before beating Jack in the semi. So this time the final was the hard-hitting youth of Franks versus the vast experience of multiple world champion Bamford. Both players played well, but in the end Levi took the title by the narrowest of margins, 7-6, 7-6. Well done to all the players, and the organisers, for another superb event. Particular thanks to the livestreaming crew who provided great quality video and audio coverage of many games – you can see the recordings on YouTube via https://www.youtube.com/croquetengland.