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2022 USCA SE GC Regional

Damon Bidsencope - TD | Published on 4/21/2022

United States Croquet Association
2022 GC Southeast Regional

April 21 – 24, 2022

The 2022 USCA GC Southeast Regional was contested at Dataw Island, Sun City Hilton Head, and Spring Island on the South Carolina coast during four glorious spring days April 21 – 24, 2022.  The event featured singles and doubles competition play of the five tournament croquet lawns.  The tournament was formatted in Championship and First Flight.  The event was played using the latest Golf Croquet Rules.  This event was fully subscribed and out of state players travelled from Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, Florida, to join the South Carolina based competitors in this regional event.  The USCA has six regions that contest regional championships in the sport of croquet.  Regionals serve as prequalification events for national championships that follow and serve as opportunities for local players to observe higher levels of play.

 

The players assembled on Wednesday afternoon in anticipation of the matches ahead.  There was a short players meeting at Dataw Island Club where the tournament regulations were discussed.  Following that meeting many of the participants rekindled their croquet friendships with the other competitors enjoying a meal at the Tide’s Edge Grill at Dataw.  This is a common characteristic of the croquet community and it provided an opportunity to meet our host members. 

 

Thursday morning the matches began. 

 

Thurs  April 21            8.30am Championship Doubles (Knockout) Sun City CC/ Spring Island CC

In the Championship Flight Doubles best of three matches commenced at both Sun City and Spring Island on Thursday morning.  The matches were played on a 60/50/40 allowable time split.  Macey White and Steve Thurston from Chesapeake Croquet Club, Hartfield, VA overcame the challenge from Hammond Rauers (Highlands, NC) and Jack Howard (Dataw Island) on the Sun City lawns and moved into the semifinals against Dick Boger (Peachtree Hills Place, Atlanta) and Dallas Denny (Highlands Strikers Croquet Club).  Again successful in the semifinal Macey and Steve moved to face the winners from the other side of the draw.

 

On the other side of the draw Roy Gee and Kent Lovvorn, (Carrolton, GA) managed two single point wins against the local Spring Island team of Geoff Hargadon and William Stenack.  Billy Harper (The Country Club of Sapphire Valley) and Jim Jamison (Trillium CC) were successful 6-4 and 4-2 against Jochen Lucke (Chattooga Club) and Mark Kucharski (Sapphire Valley).  Unfortunately for Billy and Jim, the Carrolton duo of Lovvorn and Gee were building a good head of steam and moved into the final with a convincing 7-2, 6-2 straight game result.

 

With the finals set with a VA / GA matchup at Spring Island.  Macey White and Steve Thurston experienced the continuation of the good and steady play of Kent Lovvorn and Roy Gee winning the final convincingly 6-1, and 7-1. 

 

Congratulations to Kent and Roy as 2022 USCA Southeast Regional GC Doubles Champions.

 

Championship Doubles

Championship Quarter Finals

Gee / Lovvorn

6

4

Stenack / Hargadon

5

3

Harper / J Jamison

6

4

Lucke / Kucharski

4

2

Bye / Bye

0

0

Boger / Denny

7

7

White / Thurston

7

7

Rauers / Howard

4

2

Championship Semi Finals

Gee / Lovvorn

7

6


Harper / J Jamison

2

2


Boger / Denny

6

3

2

White / Thurston

5

6

4

Championship Final

Gee / Lovvorn

6

7

White / Thurston

1

1

 

 

The First Flight Doubles were played at Dataw Island.  In the opening game of the first round Scott and Kathy Brown (Green Boundary Club, Aiken) upset the top seeded team with a 7-1 win against the experienced team of Debbie Davidoff and Earle Mauldin (Plantation of Pointe Vedra CC / Highlands Strikers).  Unfortunately for Scott and Kathy this was a wakeup call with Davidoff/Mauldin succeeding in the next two games to win the best of three match.  Barbara Jamison (Trillium CC) and Ray Barrett (Dataw Island) prevailed narrowly in three games against Cindy and Thomas Howell (Spring Island) 4-2, 5-6, 4-3.  Davidoff and Mauldin narrowly won against Barbara Jamison and Ray Barrett 6-5, 5-6, 6-2 in a hard fought three game match.  John Boatwright and Lou Hethington (Charleston, SC) managed a good win over locals George Enochs (Spring Island) and James Podraza (Sun City) 5-4, 6-4 before dropping the semifinal match to Cami and Tate Russack (NCC –Florida) 6-1, 7-4.

 

The first flight finals game was closely contested with Debbie Davidoff and Earle Mauldin, in their eighth game of the day, won a well-played match 6-4, 4-3 against Tate and Cami Russack to become the Southeast Regional First Flight Doubles Champions.

 

First Flight Doubles

First Flight Quarter Finals

Davidoff / Mauldin

1

7

6

S Brown / K Brown

7

4

5

B Jamison / Barrett

4

5

4

T Howell / C Howell

2

6

3

Podraza / Enochs

4

4


Boatwright / Hethington

5

6


T Russack / C Russack

7

7


Bye / Bye

0

0


First Flight Semi Finals

Davidoff / Mauldin

6

5

6

B Jamison / Barrett

5

6

2

Boatwright / Hethington

1

4


T Russack / C Russack

6

7


First Flight Final

Davidoff / Mauldin

6

4

T Russack / C Russack

4

3

 

 

The singles competition was split with two blocks of eight in the two flights. 

 

Results of the Championship Flight block play qualified Kent Lovvorn, Roy Gee, Hammond Rauers, and Geoff Hargadon from the Blue Block into the playoffs.  From the second championship flight block - Damon Bidencope (Tega Cay), Jochen Lucke, James Podraza, and William Stenack progressed into the best of three playoffs for Sunday.

Championship Quarter Finals

Kent Lovvorn

4

6

6

William Stenack

5

4

3

Hammond Rauers

7

7


Jochen Lucke

1

5


Damon Bidencope

5

6

6

Geoff Hargadon

7

5

5

James Podraza

4

6

3

Roy Gee

6

4

5

Championship Semi Finals

Kent Lovvorn

2

5

6

Hammond Rauers

7

3

4

Damon Bidencope

6

5

4

Roy Gee

7

2

5

Championship Final

Kent Lovvorn

5

4

5

Roy Gee

4

7

3

Congratulations to Kent Lovvorn the 2022 USCA GC Southeast Regional Singles Champion.

 

In the First Flight Dallas Denny, Jonathan Watkins, Thomas McGilly, Lou Hethington joined Jack Howard, Ray Barrett, Scott Brown, and George Enochs in completing the playoff roster for the first flight singles.

 

The Sunday playoff results were:

 

First Flight Quarter Finals

Dallas Denny

7

7


George Enochs

2

6


Thomas McGilly

7

5


Ray Barrett

4

3


Jack Howard

7

2

7

Lou Hethington

3

7

3

Scott Brown

3

1


Jonathan Watkins

7

7


First Flight Semi Finals

Dallas Denny

6

6

5

Thomas McGilly

7

5

4

Jack Howard

4

4


Jonathan Watkins

6

5


First Flight Final

Dallas Denny

7

7

Jonathan Watkins

6

4


Congratulations to Dallas Denny in winning the First Flight of the USCA 2022 Southeast Regional GC Singles.

 

In total 173 individual games were contested at the three host venues over the four day tournament.  The event would not have been possible without the support and contributions from each of these host venues and the organizing committees.  The great competitive games and comradeship was made possible by the setting and the host members.  Thank you to Doug MacMullin and Jim Podraza at Sun City, Geoff Hargadon, Ryan Good, and Jay Gratton at Spring Island, and the Dataw Island team of Janice Sands, Pat Stolte, Miriam Kelley, Ellen Kemp, Jack Howard, Ted Bartlett, Alvin Thurman and many others that made all the participants welcome and the event a great success.

Final Order


Championship Singles
1 Kent Lovvorn
2 Roy Gee
3 Hammond Rauers
3 Damon Bidencope
5 William Stenack
5 Jochen Lucke
5 Geoff Hargadon
5 James Podraza
9 Debbie Davidoff
10 Billy Harper
11 Jim Jamison
11 Mark Kucharski
13 Steve Thurston
13 Tate Russack
13 Richard Boger
13 Cami Russack



Championship Doubles
1 Roy Gee & Kent Lovvorn
2 Macey White & Steve Thurston
3 Billy Harper & Jim Jamison
4 Richard Boger & Dallas Denny
5 William Stenack & Geoff Hardadon
5 Jochen Lucke & Mark Kucharski
5 Hammond Rauers & Jack Howard



First Flight Singles
1 Dallas Denny
2 Jonathan Watkins
3 Thomas McGilly
4 Jack Howard
5 George Enochs
5 Ray Barrett
5 Lou Hethington
5 Scott Brown
9 Earle Mauldin
10 Barbara Jamison
10 Thomas Howell
12 John Boatwright
12 Thomas Webster
14 Cindy Howell
15 Kathleen Brown



First Flight Doubles
1 Debbie Davidoff & Earle Mauldin
2 Tate Russack & Cami Russack
3 Barbara Jamison & Ray Barrett
4 John Boatwright & Lou Hethington
5 Scott Brown & Kathleen Brown
5 Thomas Howell & Cindy Howell
5 James Podraza & George Enochs