It was the combination of youth and experience that reigned supreme over the weekend during the doubles portion of the 2019-20 Golf Croquet Nationals.
The Canterbury pair of Josh Winter and Chris Clarke defeated Duncan Dixon (Canterbury) and Felix Webby (Taranaki) to claim the 2019-20 crown at Epsom-Remuera Croquet Club in Auckland.
Winter, who won the 2019 Golf Croquet Most Promising Player, paired with Clarke, who has won multiple World Championships, to form a pairing that went through the tournament undefeated. After winning all five block matches, Winter and Clarke advanced to the semi-finals where they played Hamish McIntosh (Auckland) and Robbie Spooner (Wellington), advancing in straight games 7-5, 7-3.
The other semi-final saw the New Zealand Golf Croquet World Teams Championship team square off against each other. With Dixon and Webby beating teammates Edmund Fordyce and Josh Freeth, both of Canterbury, in three games 7-6, 5-7, 7-2.
Having beaten Dixon and Webby in block play, 7-5, 4-7, 7-5, Winter and Clarke again took three games to claim the 2019-20 title with a 7-4, 4-7, 7-6 win.
The Plate was won by John Christie (Thames Valley) and Nelson Morrow (Auckland) who won 6 of their 7 games in the Plate block.
The singles commenced on Tuesday morning and will run through until this Saturday.
To see the full results from the doubles and to follow the singles, click here.
