Thunder & lightning.
We arrived and were welcomed into the plush surroundings of the Moor Park Golf & Tennis Club in rather sultry weather that appeared to be threatening thunderstorms any moment. 17 couples (one last minute drop-out unfortunately) were organised into 3 leagues for the morning’s play. Dinah was cheerfully chivying everyone along to get started in case of rain but she needn’t have worried. Not only were 6 courts available but also the rain kept off so the competition proceeded at a pace and it was unusual for anyone to sit out between rounds longer than 20 minutes. By mid day all the clouds had disappeared and the participants were basking (well sweating really) in hot sunshine.
So what of the tennis? Judging by the scoreboard there were plenty of evenly matched games although the pairing of Anne Williams and Brian Roberts appeared particularly strong as was borne out later in the day. From a personal perspective the reporter and his partner, Audrey Pollard, had an excellent morning winning 4 of their 5 matches and even defeating the top seeds in the group, Merete and Ray. It appeared that our tactics of alternate “softball” and “hardball” allied to some stratospheric lobbing rewarded us well! A sandwich lunch was provided in the mansion’s bar with its magnificently ornate ceiling. As one entrant observed: “there are not many places where you can get a view like this if you have had one too many!” Judging by his consumption of Pimms at lunch Alan Warman was obviously interested in checking this out!
So onto the afternoon which turned out to be a day of two halves for Audrey and myself. The sun was hot and many were eyeing the grass courts in front of us as a more comfortable alternative to the Astroturf or hard courts that were used earlier. We duly succumbed to this temptation and regretted this almost immediately. Although the lush grass proved a superb shock absorber for the limbs it also extended this property to tennis balls such that in the instance of a ball being allowed to bounce, it duly carried on along its course at a height of only 1 cm or so above the surface! Well that was our excuse anyway although our opponents Lesley and Brian didn’t seem to have such a problem. Our conviction that we would do better on Astroturf was immediately disproved as we received a thorough beating at the hands of Alan Warman & Linda Rennie who in the process won Group 2. Thus we were duly put in our place having risen above it earlier in the day – but at least we had the morning to remember!
Overall winners were Anne Williams and Brian Roberts, who were looking like favorites for the title all day, with Merete and Ray as runners up. To mention all the group winners would take too much space but Dinah does deserve a special mention and thanks for her excellent organization and refereeing. Unfortunately this was her last year running this tournament – so, any volunteers for next year?
Prizes duly awarded the contestants retired to the Coy Carp in Harefield for a well-deserved meal and further reflection on the day’s events.