With the revolutionary controller, the Wii is perfect for croquet and exciting to see the release of a croquet game on the console as part to the compilation Summer Sports: Island Party game. The game is based on the backyard (one-ball) nine-wicket croquet version, but with some creativity, you can create a partner ball contest that is similar to the official nine-wicket rules.
Read MoreMaybe A Little Too Passionate About the Game
We've all been here before right? Well, maybe not. Check out this match gone bad from Hartland, Maine:
According to the Bangor Daily News, a family game of croquet turned ugly when one player was assaulted, another set fire to their home and the police were called in.
Neighbours said Andrew Fox III was playing croquet with his wife Lisa and her 16-year-old son. But when Fox lost the game, he turned toward his stepson and punched him in the head. The boy and his mom then ran to a neighbour's home and called police.
At the point, police say Fox barricaded himself inside the family's mobile home and set it on fire. An arrest quickly followed while firefighters were called in to extinguish the blaze.
First Shot: Six-Wicket Mission Accomplished
I organized my first croquet tournament on July 4, 1998. I was 30 at the time and my wife had plans to get our usual crowd together to celebrate the Fourth at our house. By that time, the summer house party circuit was just about to bore me to death. However, I had an idea -- a croquet tournament.
There was one problem though. Our yard was slightly undersized in my opinion and dotted with landscaping. Sure enough, after a trip to the library to gather some publications, the standard court size was 100' x 50'. So, I decided we would play with a reduced version of the six-wicket court, which fit my yard pretty well. However, I wanted to get as many people in a game as possible, so we played it as a standard, cutthroat (one-ball) game.
I called the event the PBR Classic and awarded the winner a 12-pack of Pabst Blue Ribbon in a styrofoam cooler. The event was an instant success and the following year everyone was clamoring for another tournament. By 2002, we had a full circuit going with a season long points race and a website.
Still, going back to the prep for that first event, I would skim through those library books and marvel at the photos of the six-wicket game. With the putting green surfaces and insanely tight wickets, I was truly fascinated by the concept of six-wicket play.
A few weeks ago, I finally played my first real game of six-wicket croquet in Parkville, Missouri. The experience did not disappoint so later this month I will provide the details on my trip to Parkville and my thoughts on the six wicket game. In the meantime, keep swinging the mallet while I try to figure out how to carve some more time out of my hectic schedule to get back to Parkville.
Sincerely, Dylan, Publisher -- Croquet Network
June Croquet Photo of the Month
Product Review: Oakley Woods Sport Mallet
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.
Death of the One-Ball Game?
Future of the Yard Game
Here in Kansas City both of the main clubs have been focused on playing one-ball (cutthroat) croquet. Last fall Greg Clouse won the Missouri Croquet Association's (MCA) final tournament with an opening 16-wicket run. The run itself is not uncommon for the MCA, but it was a huge win for Clouse. Over the winter though, I thought about how that 16-wicket run really presents the main problem for the cutthroat game. Ultimately, the blue ball is facing the absolute possibility of no chance to win. Red is really in pretty rough shape as well if blue plays the proper defense. So I followed up with Clouse and laid out that concern.
"This is and has been a concern of ours," he said. "It is no fun (if you're not the one running the course) to watch someone run the course especially early in the game. In fact, others may be hurt by one person's, either mistake or non-experience."
He went on to say that the MCA had already decided to address the issue and was planning on playing some standard partners nine-wicket and singles (one player plays two balls) tournaments for the 2008 season.
This took the air out of me as I've always thought the one-ball game was a lot fun. You can accommodate six players on one field and the whole event takes on the feel of something like a bike race. Yeah some good fortune can be involved, but if you are on your game you'll always get your chance. Lately though, I've been getting a sinking feeling that as more players in my club develop the ability to go on that big run, ultimately it's a game of chance.
Bob Kroeger pretty much explained this for me on the phone a few years ago as we discussed some rules issues on the nine-wicket game, but I buried my head in the sand. Having the MCA change games brought it home for me.
At this point though, my club plays on backyard lawns, so that tends to throw some curve balls at the better players -- disrupting runs at extremely inopportune times. We can forge on, but I've started to work on a contingency plan -- just in case. I've scratched out a few rule changes to consider that would might help break up the potential for a 16-wicket run and preserve the one-ball game:
- Make the standard field 136' and extend the area between the stakes and respective wickets 24 feet. Putting the starting line at 20'. I thought this might mix things up at the beginning and possibly create some complications at the turning stake. Still, good players could handle that one.
- Put the starting line on the sideline (roughly perpendicular) to the current starting line (ala golf croquet). Again, this would mix things up a bit at the beginning as it would be impossible to score on that first shot.
- No bonus for the turning stake. I'm not sure the effect this would have, but it would be impossible to run the field in one turn. It might have the effect of creating two short games.
- Limit to only four players. Part of the problem is there are so many balls available. It takes a little more skill to string together a run with only four balls on the field. Also, taking a few of those balls off of the field reduces the "other player" mistakes that leads to the opponent win. I always view it as there is you, the guy with the ball and the four others. This means there are just two others. Still, part of the fun is emerging from a pack of six players.
The best solution really may be as I suggested above -- stay off of the smooth turf for cutthroat croquet. And perhaps for me it's time to let go of my obsessive attachment to the backyard game. It may be a signal to move on to singles and partner play on the nine-wicket course (plus golf croquet) and learn to appreciate the cutthroat game for what it is -- a great social contest for the backyard that provides a good base for croquet skills and strategy.
Club Links: Houston Croquet Association
Houston Croquet Association / Club
The Houston Croquet Association is a member club of the United States Croquet Association and plays on the croquet lawns in Memorial Park. We play the 6-wicket version of the game which differs from the 9-wicket backyard game that most people are familiar with. It is sometimes referred to as "the sport of croquet" or competitive croquet. As a sport, croquet is played competitively around the world in various forms. There are American rules, Association Laws and Golf croquet, each with it's own merits and nuances. The HCA participates in all forms of the game. Whether you want to play competitively or just for fun, croquet has something to offer for everyone. http://www.houstoncroquet.com/
See more North American Croquet Clubs in our online directory:
croquetnetwork.com/north-american-croquet-clubs
June Video: Rockin B Awards Ceremony
The Missouri Croquet Association had it's first event of the year with two flights at the Rockin B Tournament. Looks like Matt Smith won the championship flight and Harvey Clouse won the first flight. The MCA is setting the bar pretty high for the rest of us by producing video updates.
May Tournament Winners
5/04 -- Peachwood Classic/Columbia, MD -- Ben Rothman
5/04 -- Dorothy Fosse Invitational/Palm Coast, FL -- Ted Knopf
5/10 -- Gamewell Junior Open (doubles golf)/Lenoir, NC -- Travis Shomaker & Taiwan Harper
5/10 -- Croquet Ball/Overland Park, KS -- Greg Lloyd
5/17 -- Massachusetts State Championship/Lenox, MA -- Stephen Carter
5/17 -- North American Open/Windsor, CA -- Ben Rothman
5/18 -- Southeast Regional Championship (singles)/Hilton Head, SC -- Ken Scoggins
5/18 -- Southeast Regional Championship (doubles)/Hilton Head, SC -- Bill Berne & Billie Jean Berne
5/18 -- Piping Rock Invitational (singles)/Locus Valley, NY -- Dick Sullivan
5/18 -- Piping Rock Invitational (doubles)/Locus Valley, NY -- Rufus Bayard & Ron Shiftan
5/25 -- Rocky Mountain International Open/Denver, CO -- Rich Lamm
5/26 -- Delaware Croquet Club Invitational (singles)/Wilmington, DE -- David Lyon
5/26 -- Delaware Croquet Club Invitational (doubles)/Wilmington, DE -- Tom Hughes & Rufus Bayard
05/31 -- Mad Dog Shootout/Lenexa, KS -- Dylan Goodwin
Sources: USCA, Croquet World, PBR Tour
First Shot: A New Home and Look
Blogger was fun, but pretty slow and ineffective, so I jumped ship and moved the site to Squarespace. I use the Squarespace service for many of my other sites, so I knew it was time to upgrade. The reality is a good croquet site like this deserves nothing but the best and this platform will allow for many features to be added. Expect new additions to roll out as they become available.
Anyway, enough about the site -- we're knee deep into croquet season and hopefully you've been able to get your share of mallet play in this year. We finally got an official tournament underway at my club that enjoyed some warm weather and a dry field. Standing around in wet shoes was getting a little old.
In addition, I've been playing some backyard Golf Croquet with friends and as I've mentioned before -- I'm hooked. Not sure if I can make it through the season without setting up an impromptu golf croquet event.
On the national scene, I'm finding more and more croquet sites that are offering blog type platforms. I think this is a key for growth as they generally offer RSS feeds. In fact, you'll see in the left column we're getting more and more sites into the network feed, which is about the most useful tool I can offer. Good stuff as it's becoming easier to stay up to date. So, it looks like Web 2.0 is catching on in the croquet world, and I'll feature some of the blog types site later this month in the club/links department.
That pretty much kicks things off for June. Hope you enjoy the site this month and I'll leave you with this link to a blog post on what is great about croquet.
Sincerely,
Dylan -- Publisher, Croquet Network