Gool in Goole – Part Two

The game starts with the Gool balls racked three feet in front of the hole. Both players must play all their shots from a prone position. The game then commences much like a game of pool with players either potting all the spotted balls or all the striped balls followed by the black. However, because of the lack of cushions some games can last for hours because unscrupulous players sometimes cannon their opponent’s balls down the fairway. Normally players agree that any balls that go off the playing surface can be replaced on the edge of the green. This rule was introduced after the June 20^th, 1964 game between Jockie Smith and Jed Gerald, which had to be abandoned because of nightfall. Half the balls had been knocked off the green and every other shot was a miss because the players didn’t have the necessary cue power from a prone position to hit their balls.

Andy Kellock has won the Goole Green Gool championship four times. His tactics are to pot his balls into the hole and not worry where his opponent’s balls are as it’s so easy to overcomplicate a straightforward game.