Southport & Birkdale CC are hosting the 2026 Millennium Short Lawn tournament on Sunday May 24th. The entry fee is £10, with a maximum of two entries from each club, maximum 16 entries.

All entries to Peter Williams by email (peterwil73@gmail.com) before 17th May, please.

The day’s format and start time will be decided once the number of entrants is known. Lunches are not provided, although tea/coffee and biscuits will be available at a modest cost.

Everything that happens in our club is done by volunteers, and the club wouldn’t exist without people stepping up to help when they are needed. So a very, very, big thank you to you all.

But if, like me, you can’t be trusted to drive a tractor, or use a paint brush, or even operate a vacuum cleaner, then this is your opportunity to help.

So could I ask every member of the club to do two things:

• Help me put up posters in and distribute leaflets to all the places that you frequent (shops, clubs, libraries, halls, sports centres, etc. 
• Tell everyone you know (friends, family, colleagues, etc.) about croquet, about our club, and about our Open Days and Free Taster Sessions
•  

Putting up posters and distributing leaflets

We want to make as many people as we can aware of the game and of our club, and we have found that the best way to do that is to put up posters in the places that our members already frequent.

We have 250 A4-size posters in the clubhouse designed to be put on notice boards around the area and 500 A5-sized leaflets (designed to fit into leaflet racks, to be pinned to a board, or handed out to people. We would like each member to each take five to ten posters/leaflets and put them on notice boards in the places that you visit regularly: places such as local shops & supermarkets, church halls, libraries, cafes & restaurants, sports centres, local clubs, etc. (don’t forget to ask for permission first).

Tell everyone you know about Croquet and about the Club

Banners, posters and leaflets can be very effective, but by far the best publicity that we can get is “Word of Mouth”. Telling someone you know that you play croquet, how much you enjoy it, and that there is a great Croquet club in Southport, is the best possible way to attract new members.

Please tell your friends, your family, your colleagues at work, and in other groups and sports clubs that you have joined, about croquet? And also tell them that we have free Taster Sessions from 27th April and an Open Day on Sunday 3rd May, and encourage them to have a go. Ideally hand out one of our business cards (pick some up from the clubhouse), so that people have something to remind them what you said.

Or bring them down to the club yourself and show them what they are missing; we will not charge visitors fees for friends and family and colleagues that you bring along during April and May.

Due to the weather preventing our final preparatory work, we have decided to postpone the opening of the South Lawns by a week until next Saturday 4th April.

We plan to hold a Jacob’s Join at 4pm on Saturday to mark the occasion. All members (and guests) welcome.

For many years “Bob’s Bell” has graced our verandah and called people in for tea after long afternoons of playing. Margaret Flemmington donated the bell to the club following the passing of her husband, and in memory of her contribution to the club, the bell has been refurbished and reinstalled. It’s looking fantastic, and every time it is rung, we can remember her contribution

After a tense wait for the final match to be played between Chester and Crake Valley, where a decisive victory for either team could have moved them to the top slot, the game ended in a draw leaving Southport at the top of the table and NW champions for 2025.

Congratulations to Dave Venables, the winner of the President’s Cup for 2025

Dave Venables also won the American AC Tournament for 2025

Paul Rigge beat Roger Brooks in the final of the 2025 GC level Play Tournament

For the final of the 2025 AC Chairman’s Bowl Roger Brooks turned the tables and beat Paul Rigge

Terry Dunbar was the winner of the 2025 “White Tops” tournament

Simon Hancock won the 2025 GC Handicap Tournament

The winner of the Short AC trophy was Jeremy Hooper

Len Mann beat Dilys in the final of the 1st & 2nd Year Golf Croquet Tournament

Commiserations to our AC team, who were runners-up in the Final of the Inter Club AC Championship: the Longman Cup, narrowly losing 4–3.

A fantastic effort by the team – Peter, Eddie, David, and Bill – you did the club proud (as always!).

So Close! Well done to our GC team in getting so far in this national competition, but they lost 5 to 2 away to Watford (the eventual winners) in the semi-final of the Murphy Shield