There were 19 entries for the 12th Irish Golf Croquet Championships,  which was held at carrickmines thanks to the generosity of the Club.   Block play  - 4 blocks of 4/5 were completed on a sunny(!)  Saturday by  lunch time, with the top 2 from each block going through to the quarter  finals and others playing doubles for the Plate.
The Quarter finals were
Patsy Fitzgerald v Danny Johnston
Simon Williams v Derek Old (an English visitor)
Ben Harris v Robert Barklie
Ed Cunningham v Andrew Johnston.
After  tough best of 5 trials Patsy, Derek, Ed and Robert were the  winners, with Simon and the Newcastle Three left licking their wounds.
The semi finals on Sunday were between Patsy and Robert and between Ed  and Derek.  Each was an epic match.  Patsy prevailed with a scoreline of  5-7, 7-5, 4-7, 7-4, 7-6  -  it really couldn't have been closer! In the  other match it took longer to play 4 games, as the quality of shooting  and clearing was so good but Ed eventually won with the score 7-4, 5-7,  7-6, 7-3.
Rain started to fall just as the Final began but a thrilling match saw  Patsy emerge as the winner at 7-5, 7-5, 7-3.
This was the third time in succession that Patsy has been the Irish  Champion and in recognition of his feat the Trophy was presented to him  outright.
The Plate was won by Jane Shorten and Robert Miller, who beat all comers.
