Yes I went to Sonoma yesterday, yes I played, and No, I didn’t score any medal.
I arrived at the field around 9:00 am and it was a bit chilly; many of the people present were wearing wool hats and I didn’t feel too much like a freak for wearing one. I also came equipped with 5 layers of garments.
By 10:00 a.m. 19 “doublettes”(38 contestants) had been put together. The organizers who probably know everybody by name did not bother to list the surnames, so my guess is as good as yours.
Early on, I discovered that I was paired with none other than “Le Facteur” and this did not perturb me a bit. Jean-Michel is a good player and when he can control his emotions he can even be a great player. He is a semi-pro, having played regularly on practically every Bay Area field. He is much more experienced than I am, so I gladly let him take the lead.
Three (3) eleven (11) points games were played in the morning.
On our first game, we faced Peter Wellington and Robert (?); we lost the coin toss and our opponents had the option to pick the court. They chose the North-East (?) corner of the field, the one usually reserved for the finals. This area is blanketed with pebbles and is challenging for people (like me) unfamiliar with it. We lost that game 7/11.
On our second bout, we played against Hans Kurz and Francois Moser. We lost the toss again and Hans insisted on playing on the very same field we just left. He won the toss, it was his choice.
We lost that game again 8/10 due for a great part to Moser’s excellent pointing.
On our 3rd game, we came across against a couple of unknown players. They won the toss again and demanded to play on the graveled area again. This time though, after becoming more comfortable with the field, we won.
With 2 losses under our belts, we ended up in the Consolante.
After lunch, we played (on another court) against Jean-Claude Bunand and Renaud (?) and we won again.
On our 5th game, we came across Steve Paulsen and a certain Tim, both good players. They clobbered us and sent us packing.
By 2:30 pm we were out the tournament. It was time to grab my camera and shoot some pictures, which I dutifully did.
After a while though, the weather becoming increasingly cold and windy, I chucked my reporting duties and called it quit.
I cannot tell you who won.
Sorry! Check the VOMPC site of Facebook for additional results.
Alain
PS: You still can watch a few pictures on my site.
Addendum
It looks like I left a little early and I am sorry to say that I missed a good story.
According to Maggie Lane, the tournament ended in a hail storm with (I assume) everybody running for cover. I would have loved to be there to record the scene!
In the finals, John Dalmau (unsure of the spelling) and Mark Shirkey faced Maggie and Holly Sammons.
John and Mark came on top. Congratulations!
Pictures of the winners were added to my photo album.