Considering that a croquet player can get anywhere from 10,000 to 15,000 steps per day during a croquet tournament, croquet shoe selection has to factor both comfort and durability. However, don’t forget to add in the style factor as you’ll want a shoe that shows off your love for the game. With that in mind, the PUMA RS-X is our ultimate Croquet Shoe for 2023 as it has both comfort and style as it is one of the few brands to sport the full U,R,K,Y croquet color scheme.
Read MoreCroquet Poll: Mallet Head Length?
Morning Coffee: Nine-Wicket Dates, Desert Classic and Egyptian Balls
Click to visit CNet StoreWelcome to 2011 folks! Here's to a year filled with croquet. Catching up on recent news ...
Midwest Regional VP Matt Griffith has confirmed that the Missouri Croquet Association will again host the USCA Nine-Wicket National tournament in Kansas City. Dates have been set for September 16-18.
The Mission Hills Club has a flyer out with details on the upcoming Desert Classic Association event to be held January 25-29 in Rancho Mirage, California. Mission Hills has a busy schedule and you check out more events on their club website -- http://www.missionhillscroquet.com/
In case you missed it yesterday, the USCA has announced the 2011 Solomon Trophy team.
Bob Alman has posted a feature article on the upcoming International Polo Club Palm Beach Invitational detailing the choice to utilize Egyptian GC balls for the event. In addition, Bob has posted profiles for all of the players that will participate in the tournament, which has an $8,000 purse.
Leo Nikora posted a fascinating set of photos of John Solomon completing a single peel during the 1969 MacRobertson Shield on the Maui Club site.
And for the last item of the day, this blog link popped up in my news feed and claims to offer a comprehensive list of movies that feature croquet. Certainly, such an article is a good idea, but I'm pretty sure there are some missing from the list. One afternoon, I caught what seemed to be some 1970's romance movie that featured a brief bit of a croquet match in the background. However, I can't remember the title (help me out by commenting if you know). Fortunately, there is a better list of croquet movies provided in this 2005 article on Croquet World Online (reprinted from the English Croquet Gazette).
Breaking News: U.S. Announces Solomon Team
From the USCA announcements page, the U.S. Solomon Trophy team has been announced:
Jim Bast
Doug Grimsley
Danny Huneycutt (Captain)**
Chris Patmore
Ben Rothman
Jeff Soo
The 2011 Solomon Trophy Test (U.K. versus USA) will be played June 28 - July 1 at Hampworth (near Salisbury), United Kingdom.
** Selected by team
December / January Issue Now Available in Print
NEW PRINT ISSUE IS NOW AVAILABLE!!!
Croquet Network Issue 9: December-January 2011 #9
Croquet Network December/January 2011 Issue #9 featuring follow-up coverage of the 2010 MacRobertson Shield. Chris Clarke offers an overview of the event and Reg Bamford is the player profile for the issue.
The magazine is currently available for free viewing on the iPad via the MagCloud app. The free digital desktop version will be released next week.
Update on 2010-12-31 20:35 by Dylan
I've had some questions on what "MagCloud" is and maybe some frustration over not necessarily having access to the normal "digital flip magazine" format.
1) First, the standard free magazine will be released sometime in the next week or so and notification will be sent out. The time lag is mainly because there are slight differences in format between the "print" version and the "digital" version. The print one has a longer turn-time from a proofing standpoint, so it is better for me to release that one first.
2) MAGCLOUD -- MagCloud is simply an external service that provides single copy printing of magazines. Meaning when you order, one copy is mailed and sent to the buyer. You don't have to become a member of MagCloud if you do not want to. The purchase can be as simple as any other online purchase.
Croquet Video: WGS Hendrick's Chicago Croquet
People love to dress up and play croquet!
Croquet On Facebook (December 2010)
Most popular croquet groups on Facebook for December 2010:
Rank / Group / Likes
01. I'm Not Posh, Just Jolly Good At Croquet - 58,088
02. Croquet (Wikipedia) - 7,005
03. Croquet (1508) - 1,748
04. Croquet (Danny H.) - 187
05. Croquet East - 157
06. Croquet Network - 129
07. National Croquet Center - 129
08. Croquet (Jaques London) - 123
To find these groups, log in to Facebook and search "croquet."
Croquet Website Rankings (October 2010)
OCTOBER / UNIQUE VISITORS (Previous Rank)
01. croquet.com - 3986 (1)
02. oakleywoods.com - 1403 (6)
03. croquetamerica.com - 1332 (2)
04. croquetworld.com - 903 (5)
05. houstoncroquet.com - 379 (-)
06. croquetnational.com - 215 (4)
07. croquet.org.uk - 186 (7)
Source: Compete.com (U.S. domestic traffic)
Please note that compete.com generally seems to under-report traffic, especially for what are considered low-traffic sites.
Morning Coffee: Women's GC Championship, Pacific Cup and Southern Veterans
Click to visit CNET StoreThe WCF has announced that Bay of Plenty, New Zealand will host the 2011 Women's Golf Championship to be held November 19-26. WCF president Charles Jones was quoted on the Croquet New Zealand Website:
“The hosting of this world championship can only be good for Golf Croquet in this country. New Zealand has a exciting future in women’s golf croquet, especially with an increasing number of talented young women playing the sport.”
Previous host cities include Cairo (2005), Dublin (2007) and Melbourne (2009).
A few recent North American tournaments have been announced. The Pacific Cup will be held in Kirkland, Washington September 8-11 and the Mar-a-Lago Club has announced a singles event for April 14-16 and doubles for February 24-26.
Croquet New Zealand recently announced results from the Southern Veterans' Tournament held at the Winton Croquet Club November 24-28:
Association Singles Championship
Winnner: Paul Castell 6 wins
Runner up: B Monckton 5 wins on count back
Association Handicap Singles
Winner: J Cleine
Runner up: A Sandilands
Association Handicap Doubles
Winners: M Gwynne and J Pullar
Runnners up: V Skinner and J Hamilton
Golf Croquet Championship Singles
Winner: B Monckton
Runner up: D Jackson
Be sure and stop by the Mallet Poll if you haven't already. We'd love to see as much feedback as we can there. So far the two other mallet choice votes have come in as "Lee Thomas" and "Bob Fish".
Mission Hills Croquet Graduates
RANCHO MIRAGE, CA -- Mission Hills Croquet Pro Ben Rothman conducted an Intro to American & International Rules Croquet Class from November 29th thru December 3rd along with co-facilitators Dick Engebretson and Leo Nikora. Many of the experienced Mission Hills players participated as "coaches"... Aviv Katz, Mike Orgill, Mary Rodeberg (two days!), Len Lyon, Pat Apple, Biff Roche, Jean Engebretson, and Karen Comeau.
Graduates in the above photo from left to right:
Front row -- Coach Jean Engebretson, Lynn Smith, Welles Farago, Lou Ann Evans, Mary Brault, & Coach Mary Rodeberg.
Back row -- Coach Leo Nikora, Paul Christy, Nick Gray, Coach Dick Engebretson, Bob Morford, Bill Courtney, Scott Smith, and Croquet Pro Ben Rothman.
If you are interested in attending a Mission Hills croquet class, contact Ben at (925) 212-2593 or croquetpro@gmail.com for a class outline & details and upcoming dates.