The 2024 Tulsa Classic held at LaFortune Park in Tulsa, Oklahoma, over Labor Day weekend proved to be a popular event. The tournament ran Friday, August 30, through Monday, September 2, and attracted 36 total players. Local Tulsa players indicated it was the largest field in at least 10 years for a Tulsa tournament.
It didn’t start out that way though. According to Oklahoma Wesleyan coach Steve Fisher, just three weeks prior to the tournament, entries were only in the single digits. Organizers hit the phones and the golf croquet players in the midwest responded. In particular, the Oklahoma Wesleyan (OKWU) croquet team and Texas A&M quickly boosted the numbers and the event ended up with a split of 28 GC players and eight American Six Wicket players. OKWU brought eight players and A&M had five GC players on hand. The host Tulsa Croquet Club had 11 players participate in the GC division.
GC Online Scores
Event Photo Gallery
For me, it was my first time to play on the new courts at LaFortune Park. The tennis facilities in LaFortune are under-going an expansion and that pushed the croquet club to the north, where four new courts were constructed. As always, LaFortune Park provided a lovely setting and the four new end-to-end courts were separated by two large rental tents. That scenario is scheduled to change as a permanent clubhouse facility has been funded for the same location, but work has been delayed as progress continues on the tennis facilities. The local players were hopeful they would see the new clubhouse by next season.
OKWU players on day one. GC Champion Luka Nettleton is far left under the tent.
I played in the GC division which ran as four open blocks of seven, with the top four from each block advancing to the main playoff and the bottom three slotting into a plate event. Based on the number of new players and players without a Dynamic Grade, it was a good way to get a large field sorted out.
In block play, Vanesa Fernandez won Block A with a 5-0 record, Luka Nettleton was 6-0 in B and Ron Hay took Block D with a 5-1 record as he had the head-to-head win over Steve Fisher, who was also 5-1.
In my C Block, we had a three-way tie at 5-1 between me, Asher Scantlin and Mike Sharp. I was +20 and so was Scantlin, but he won our head to head, so that should given him the Block win. He is however listed in second position on CroquetScores.com. In my mind, he won the block.
The Knockout featured five players from OKWU, four from the Tulsa Croquet Club, two from The Strand Club in Naples, Florida, and one each from Texas A&M, Oklahoma City and the Kansas City Croquet Club.
The toughest game in round one saw Anna Hanson beat Steve Fisher 7-6. She advanced to face Vanesa Fernandez in the quarterfinals but lost 7-6. In the same round, I had a rematch with Scantlin and this time was able to advance with a 7-6 win. I faced off against Luka Nettleton (OKWU) in a 10-point game in the semifinals. He pushed out to a 7-4 lead midway through the game, but I was able to battle back to get an 8-7 lead. Ultimately though, he was able to finish strong as we went to the 19th hoop and he claimed a hard-fought 10-9 win.
The other semifinal saw Fernandez go up against Tom Eggleston from The Strand. It was another back-and-forth battle, with Eggleston taking the win at the tiebreaker 10-9. In the final, Nettleton found a rhythm and was able to get a 10-4 win over Eggleston to claim the tournament title.
The plate had a number of dropouts and the event featured only Zed games. OKWU’s Evan Rogers won both of his games to claim first place.
GC also had a short doubles event with Tom and Joyce Eggleston taking the Championship Doubles over Alix Worley and Austin Ratcliff. Caden Smith and Seth Allen claimed the First Doubles title with Evan Rogers and Karen Hernandez as the runner-up duo.
2024 Tulsa Classic group photo. Eight players participated in ASW and 28 players battled in the GC event.
For the American Six wicket event, seven players participated in a block that featured five championship flight players and two first flight players. The cross-flight games were played as handicap games. In the end, Ron Millican, from Kactus Creek Croquet Club in Kansas City, took the Championship Flight Singles title with Joe Steiner of the Tulsa Croquet Club taking second place. Bob Baker was the winner in first flight with Joe Schulte finishing in second place. Both players are from the Tulsa Croquet Club.
Three teams played a double-round robin in American Six Wicket doubles, with Tulsa’s Kevin McQuigg and Art Parsells claiming first place ahead of second-place finishers Millican and Greg Clouse (Lee’s Summit, Missouri).
The event was well run and supported by a great staff of volunteers from the Tulsa Croquet Club. Joe Steiner as always was in charge of court setup and equipment and tournament organizer Bob Baker said, “No one works half as much as Joe Steiner with his efficient designs for equipment carriers, deadness boards and fence marking to ensure proper court setup. He is always on site an hour before start times to get the wickets set properly.”
It was also noted that Steve Fisher (GC Tournament Director) and the students from OKWU and A&M provided great assistance with setting up and taking down the courts. The social committee of Mary Baird, Ginny Schulte, Barbara Parsells, Karen Hampton and Rhonda Steiner helped with all the lunches, drinks and ice throughout four days of play. Off-site, the Sunday tournament dinner was held at Ti Amo’s Restaurant and was well-attended and replete with all kinds of croquet discussion and tales of amazing feats performed on the courts. I look forward to playing again next year in Tulsa.
—Player report by Dylan Goodwin
American SIX WICKET
Championship Singles
01. Ron Millican
02. Joe Steiner
03. Kevin McQuigg
03. Greg Clouse
05. Deborah Millican
First Flight Singles
01. Bob Baker
02. Joe Schulte
Championship Doubles
01. Kevin McQuigg/Art Parsells
02. Ron Millican/Greg Clouse
03. Deborah Millican/Joe Steiner
Golf Croquet
Singles
01. Luka Nettleton
02. Tom Eggleston
03. Vanessa Fernandez
03. Dylan Goodwin
05. Ron Hay
05. Asher Scantlin
05. Lane Wyatt
05. Anna Hanson
09. Ford Austin
09. Steve Fisher
09. Mike Sharp
09. Maria Chitwood
09. Joyce Eggleston
09. Seth Allen
09. Karen Hernandez
09. Nehemiah Mcfrederick
17. Dan Campbell
17. Caden Smith
17. Austin Ratcliff
17. Elijah Bonds
21. Cade McGlathery
21. Wendall Thompson
23. Giles Penick
23. Alix Worley
23. Orai Lehman
23. Jim Simmons
23. Dylan Vinall
23. Evan Rogers
Plate
1. Evan Rogers
2. Dan Campbell
3. Caden Smith DNF
4. Austin Ratcliff DNF
5. Alix Worley DNF
6. Orai Lehman
7. Elijah Bonds
8. Cade McClathery
9. Jim Simmons
10. Dylan Vinall
11. Wendall Thompson DNF
12. Giles Penick DNF