Pleasantly surprised to dodge the predicted stormy weather, the Rochester Croquet Club welcomed 17 players to its 10th Annual Rochester Invitational held at the Grace & Truth SportsPark August 10 through 13 with Rich Curtis serving as tournament director and Sue Sherer as tournament manager.
Prevailing against an accomplished array of other Hi-Lo Doubles teams, Rich Curtis and first-time tournament participant Denise Ireland took first place in an exciting match against second place finishers Leo Leither and Fred Beck.
In 2nd Flight Singles play, Sue Sherer won first place with Linda Pike taking second place. In 1st Flight Singles play, lowest on the roster at the start of the games, Peter Sherer surprised all by winning second place after beating Jan Fisher in the semi-finals. However, newcomer to the Rochester tournament, Quinn Reinhardt, took first place in 1st Flight handily winning all of his games.
Championship Flight included handicaps from -1 to 3.5 as often happens in smaller tournaments when players need to be set into flights. After block play, semi-finals began with first seed Rich Laging (1.5) defeating Leo Leither (3.5) and second seed Rodney Lassiter (-1) losing to third seed Ryan Thompson (3.5). Defending play on his home court, Rich Laging fell to Ryan Thompson 23-19 in a hotly contested game.
Known for its unique tournament awards, the watercolor print cheekily titled “It’s a Jungle on the Court!” was painted by Randy Mohr, a college friend of tournament manager Sue Sherer. She commissioned the work after finding a pair of humorous posters he had rendered in pen and ink in college hidden behind a dresser as she was moving from Rochester to Louisville, KY. Sherer said,
“My personal favorite is the bear as I can just imagine him saying ‘I can’t believe I just did that.’”
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