Price: $42 ($57 with cushion grip)
Website: www.croquetstore.com (oakley woods)
Phone: 866-364-8895
Other: Rounded or square heads available (tested with square head)
This one is on loan from my brother-in-law ... sort of. He left it here during his last tourney, so I decided to give it the full
croquet network review.
Overall, this a good mallet for the low price. It has a few ounces of additional weight over the extreme mallet, but it's still a little bit of an effort to plow through a backyard turf. Certainly, with a little power adjustment, you can make shots in the short game. The long splits are where you may feel uncomfortable.
The number one issue for the Sport would be the wooden head which will get dented and lose shape over time. My personal recommendation is that the polyethylene heads are worth the price because of the extended life.
However, the Oakley Woods shafts always feel appropiately balanced and sturdy which is nice. With the lock system they use, you can always replace on old head or upgrade easily and have a pretty good tournament mallet.
Recommendation: For someone looking to get into a little more competitive play, I'd probably recommend something a little heavier like the Brighton. However, at $42 I think the Sport Mallet would be a great mallet for filling out your set or to have around as a house mallet for guests.