Country Boys Won by Danny Huneycutt

14-17 October 2010
Meadows Mallet Club, Lexington, NC
by Danny Huneycutt

The 2010 Country Boys was four full days (and nights) of croquet, food and fun.  With two lighted courts, play was from 8:30AM till dinner, with one or two rounds after dinner.  An 11 player round robin was completed Saturday afternoon as six players advanced into a single elimination bracket, while five players dropped into the Championship B bracket.

Danny Huneycutt led the way into the playoffs with 5 TPs, 1 TPO and a SEXTUPLE.  Steve Summer was the surprise of the round robin with upset wins against Ricky Wilhoite, Bob Cherry and Brian Cumming.  He would have earned a playoff bye as the 2nd seed if not for a loss to Tom Yates in the last round robin game.  After the round robin phase, 1-ball was used for all tie breakers.  Each of two players has 1 ball as they participate in a game to the peg.

The Championship B playoffs had many highlights but none more impressive than Tommy Harrington scoring 21 points during his last two turns against Tom Yates to win a semi-final game 21-20.  Then Tommy continued his good play with a 2-point win over Tony "The Plumber" Reaves in the final.

Bob Cherry avenged his earlier loss to Steve Summer with a triple peel win while Ricky Wilhoite put a sleeper hold on Brian Cumming with a triple peel win during the other quarter final.  Danny Huneycutt and Jeff Soo met in the finals after close wins against Bob Cherry and Ricky Wilhoite.  Jeff held the early advantage in both games of the best of three finals only to see Danny gain control and win with non eventful TPs.

Country Boys final order:

1 – Danny Huneycutt
2 – Jeff Soo
3 – Ricky Wilhoite
4 – Bob Cherry
5 – Steve Summer
6 – Brian Cumming
7 – Tommy Arrington
8 – Tony Reaves
9 – Tom Yates
10 – Becky Essick
11 – Jon Essick