91st Post... Time For Change
 |
| Why so happy? Coch life is good, of course! |
Group A League Competition
On a pleasant morning, eleven players arrived for the start of our new format Group A League competition. There was plenty of good natured banter and perhaps one or two 'colourful phrases' (!) to be heard ringing around the pistes.
The big change for this iteration is the introduction of time-limited games. The session is split into three rounds of games with set start times of 1000, 1040 and 1120. The last end for each round is called at 1035, 1115 and 1200. Scores are recorded at each interval and a new blind draw is conducted to select teammates and opponents for the next round. The competition will run for 12 weeks allowing a maximum 36 games to be played, of which the best 24 games will count for everyone's final total.
The new format was very well received and players enjoyed the extra mixing up of play that it created. The chance to escape the tortuous triple singles variant after only one game was a big plus too. Interval turnarounds were efficient as everyone understood that time equals points! We thank Gerry for the initial suggestion and Ciaran for the refinement of same.
Interesting new tactical considerations have been created too as games will not necessarily be fully completed. Players are encouraged to consider how much time they want to spend measuring etc. and how much risk they might want to take as a game draws closer to that dreaded 'last end' call... is it worth going for the spectacular take out to try get more points or should you just limit those ever-pesky opponents to low single digit scores? Decisions, decisions!
We have a couple of rule changes to confirm:
1 - The acceptable distance for the coch/jack from the side boundary is now reduced to 25cm.
2 - Pistes can be raked between games but only if all players agree. Given the time constraints, we suspect this will not be a popular option!
The League Standings after Week 1 follow below. Michael has raced to the top of the table with three very impressive scores. Sean and Charlie are in joint 2nd a few points back. We expect the scoring in this iteration to be much tighter overall so it will be interesting to see how things develop as the weeks go by.
 |
| No escaping Piste C for Michael today... not that it did him any harm! |
 |
| A very impressive cluster of 12 boules was spotted on Piste C. |
 |
| James out to ruin Charlie's morning... |
 |
| Pink or Salmon? Who cares! Sean scored 2 points this end. |
 |
| It's not a caption competition... unless you say it is! |
Group B
Casual play is continuing twice weekly in Group B. Eleven players were rewarded with some glorious weather this week... you only had to close your eyes and you too could imagine being on the Continent with Kevin and Barbara or Tom and Eileen!
Assorted photos from Tuesday's play:
 |
| Not sure if Viv is playing boules or about to run the 100m... |
 |
| Jim taking some time out to admire his handywork in an excellent end. |
 |
| Bouncing boules on Piste D. |
 |
| Group B on the advance! |
Group A & Group B Open Sessions
In other news, as the late holiday season is in full swing and player numbers are low-ish on Tues (11am), Wed (10am) and Thurs (11am), we're opening these sessions up to all players on a temporary basis. This is a good opportunity to meet players across the wider group so please do take the opportunity to drop into a slot you might not ordinarily attend. In the event that player numbers exceed 16 on any given day, the Group who would ordinarily play that day have priority. Monday play remains reserved for Group A players only as competition has now restarted.
Doubles Match Play
Apologies for the long delay setting up the new Doubles Match Play competition. This is being worked on and an announcement will be made as soon as possible.
Comments
Post a Comment