Last Sunday 3rd October – The Roger Frais Challenge Tournament & President’s Pimms

The President’s Pimms tournament has been an annual event at the club for many years, devised by Wendy Driver and Roger Frais when he was Club President. In 2019 it was renamed in memory of Roger who sadly died in March of that year. This is the second time members have competed for the Cup. It was excellently run by Wendy for mixed doubles pairs of a combined age of 110 or over.

In a fantastic turnout, 18 pairs fought it out all morning in two groups with 7 rounds of 7 handicapped games; all for the honour of winning the Roger Frais Challenge cup which the Frais Family kindly donated. The handicap system made for some very close, competitive rounds. The top pair from each group then played in a final round. It was cloudy at first but then the sunshine broke through; unfortunately the wind picked up at the same time, making it challenging for the final couple of rounds. Finalists Tej Purewal and Alex Bolotov beat Vicky de Lacy and Colin Stone by 4-3 in a closely fought final.

Roger’s daughter, Carrie and two grandchildren came from their home in Spain to attend the tournament. Roger’s son Adam was also able to attend, as well as his brother Neil who is a member of HLTC. Carrie and Adam both gave short moving speeches with fond memories of their much missed father, his love of the club and his maverick sense of humour. They then presented the trophy to the winners – see photos below.

Many thanks go to Beverley Bailey, our current President and Simon, who provided the thirst quenching Pimms and other drinks; to Wendy and other members who helped with organising and running the event, recording the scores and to those who provided lots of edibles at the end of the thoroughly enjoyable morning.