The Top and Second AC Invitation events were played in Wellington from 15-19 March, while the Third AC Invitation took place over the weekend of 14-16 March at the Queens Park Croquet Club in Invercargill. This year’s Invitation events saw the strongest fields in many years, continuing the trend we have seen for AC tournaments throughout the season.
Top AC Invitation – CA Silver Tray
The Top AC Invitation, played at the Wellington Municipal Croquet Club, saw eight players competing in a double round robin. The strength of the field was evident with all players ranked in the top 50 players globally.
Unfortunately, the weather spoilt the event slightly with play impacted on day 3 and play having to be abandoned completely on day five with two rounds outstanding.
The winner of the last three editions, Paddy Chapman (Thames Valley), was off to a strong start winning his first five games. His first loss came in his game against Logan McCorkindale (Canterbury), who after losing in the first round to Toby Garrison (Wellington) clearly found form winning all his other games on the first two days. McCorkindale’s winning streak continued for the rest of the tournament.
When the decision was made on day five to abandon play, McCorkindale was on 11 wins from 12 games, ahead of Chapman on 8 wins from 11 games. Logan McCorkindale was declared the winner, securing his first win in the Top AC Invitation and taking home the CA Silver Tray. Behind Chapman, Aaron Westerby (Auckland) finished third on 7 wins.
Full results can be found here.
Second AC Invitation – Miss Edwina Thompson Silver Tray
The Second AC Invitation saw eight players from seven associations selected to compete in a double round robin at Kelburn Municipal Croquet Club.
Harps Tahurangi (Wellingon) and Chris Shilling (Otago) were off to a strong start on the first two days and pulled ahead at the top of the table with five wins and dropping only one game each. They were closely followed by Jarrod Coutts (South Canterbury) on four wins.
Shilling continued his strong form not dropping a further game on days three and four, while Tahurangi lost a couple of games.
Day five unfortunately fell victim to strong rainfall with the lawns flooded. All play had to be abandoned with Chris Shilling declared the winner of the Edwina Thompson Silver Tray with ten wins. This was Shilling’s second win in the AC Invitation events, after his success in the Top AC Invitation ten years ago. Harps Tahurangi finished second on eight wins.
Full results can be found here.
Third AC Invitation – Roger Murfitt Trophy
For the Third AC Invitation, ten competitors were invited to compete in a single round robin. The event was held at the Queens Park Croquet Club in Invercargill, Southland.
Days one and two were dominated by four players who went into the last day with five wins from six games each. South Island players Carolyn Fordyce (South Canterbury) and Brian Gilbert (Otago) were joined on five wins by husband and wife pair Bonnie & Carey Johnstone (South Taranaki & Taranaki).
This made for an exciting final day, with pressure clearly getting to Gilbert and Bonnie Johnstone, who both dropped two games on the day. Carolyn Fordyce did better by only coming up short in one game. The strongest finisher however was Carey Johnstone, who won all three games on the final day, securing his first win in an invitation event and taking home the Roger Murfitt Trophy.
Full results can be found here.
CNZ would like to thank both hosting Associations, the host clubs, the managers, volunteers and players from all three Invitation events.
