2013 GHCC

Grand Haven Croquet Club Championship - 2013

6th Annual Club Championship - March 13 - 16, 2013

David Yurk, George Betz, and John Fitterman took home the 1st Place Trophies in the Grand Haven Club Championship. After beating Lester Avera, who was undefeated going into the finals, George Betz was declared Club Champion with a 21 to 16 win to take home the grand prize.

The Club President, Rich Burns, kicked off the tournament thanking everyone for their participation and the hard work of the Tournament Director, Gabriella Tuscano for pulling everything together.

Gabriella then announced the lineups and handed out the schedule for the week. The tournament was split into three flights of six players each. Gabriella also announced that Ray Umphreys, Software Engineer, would be using the USCA software to tabulate the results. This was the second year that Ray was on hand to quickly calculate the results at the end of the day and providing the standings at the beginning of each day. He was also able to distribute to each player’s score card at the end of the tournament.

Meet The Players

Championship Flight

Championship Flight: Richard Burns (4 1/2), Cassandra Gaisor (4 1/2), Joe Zilligen (5), Patricia Williams (5), Lester Avera (6), George Betz (6) for a total of 6 players. George was a last minute replacement, arrived a little late and wore bandages in attempt to foil his opponents.

First Flight

First Flight: David Yurk (8), Tony Dos Santos (8), Bob Crouch (9), Don White (9), Nancy Crouch (10), Linda Dos Santos (10), for a total of 6 players.

Bob Crouch was also a last minute replacement and found out he was playing in the Tournament just two hours before his first game.

Second Flight

Second Flight: Ton Wetjens (10), Cutler Fall (10), Paul Beaulieu (11), Naomi Mass (11), John Fitterman (12), Barry Naus (14), for a total of 6 players.

The weather for the tournament got off to a chilly and windy start on Wednesday and continued through Friday.

Everyone was grateful that the Social Director, Yvonne Croizer, was there before the start of play serving bagels, fresh fruit, and hot coffee.

DAY 1
It was time to get down to business and get the players out on the courts and the scores on the scoreboards. Using an oversize court, divided into two, three flights competed for three full days. Everyone was scheduled to play five games with the top three in each block competing in a single elimination ladder on Saturday.

At the end of the first day, there were some upsets to be reported in the Championship Flight with George beating Rich and Lester beating both Rich and Patricia. Only time would tell if the leaders could hold on until the end.

DAY 2
On Thursday, it seemed like it was the battle of the sexes with two games matching spouses against each other.

In First Flight, Tony was matched up against his wife Linda as they battled it out mallet to mallet that ended up with a congratulatory kiss in the end, as Tony beat Linda 20 - 19.

On an adjoining court, another battle was going on between Nancy & Bob. After piercing his heart beating him 17 - 14, Nancy tried to ease the pain and told Bob if he would just practice a little more, maybe next time he would win

The board keepers did their best to stay warm and were grateful for sunny skies.

In First Flight, the day ended with David and Tony running a tight race.

DAY 3

By Friday, the weather was still chilly, but more spectators came out to watch the games.

At the end of block play, Lester, David, and Ton were heading to the Saturday ladder all going undefeated after three days of chilly weather.

Championship Flight
1-Lester Avera
2-George Betz
3-Cassandra Gaisor
4-Patricia Williams
5-Joe Zilligen
WD Rich Burns

First Flight
1-David Yurk
2-Tony Dos Santos
3-Nancy Crouch
4-Don White
5-Bob Crouch
6-Linda Dos Santos

Second Flight
1-Ton Wetjens
2-Paul Beaulieu
3-John Fitterman
4-Barry Naus
5-Cutler Fall
6-Naomi Mass

Saturday morning crowds gathered to watch a single elimination ladder for the finals.

After a chilly week, the weather was perfect for the finals with the top three players from each flight playing in a single elimination ladder.

Second Flight Recap

The first game of the second flight ladder was a matchup between John Fitterman and Paul Beaulieu. John managed to move on to the finals with a 12 - 9 win over Paul.

In the finals, John played undefeated Ton Wetjens as he did a come from behind win beating Ton 18 - 10

John Fitterman was all smiles as he gets a hug from his “lucky charm” and takes home the First Place Trophy for Second Flight.

First Flight Recap

The first game of the first flight ladder was a matchup between Nancy Crouch and Tony Dos Santos. Nancy kept Tony close in her sights, but Tony managed to move on to the finals with a close finish and a 18 - 17 win over Nancy.

In the finals, Tony played undefeated David Yurk as David held onto the lead, beating Tony 18 - 13 and walking away with enough points to lower his handicap.

Championship Flight Recap

David Yurk was all smiles as he gets a handshake from his opponent and takes home the First Place Trophy for First Flight.

In the semi-finals, George had to take on the previous club champion, Cassandra Gaisor. It was no easy feat, but George managed to beat Cass 19 to 17 and moved on to the finals.

In the final game, Lester started by stuffing the first wicket, but George wasn’t going to let that stop him as he does a jump shot that gets him past the first wicket and on his way.

Someone asked George the secret to his success...

“The secret was the sweatshirt sent to me by my two sets of twin grandchildren. Prior to the tournament, while wearing this shirt, I won 8 straight at our low handicap games. I then wore it while I played in the tournament and was 5 wins 2 loses. Possibly it was the shirt or the fact that it was not washed for 3 weeks.”