Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Backing the Ball

Backing the ball is a concept that works best in American rules (hence the example) but can be used in the Association game and 9-wicket quite often. The concept is to discourage an opponent's shot at a ball on court. In this example the striker (Blue) has an opportunity to move the ball in question, but this play can work from a distance when moving the on court ball is not an option.

So Blue has just made hoop 2, but realizes that hitting partner will not give her a great (90% or better) chance of making hoop 3. With partner on court and no spent ball in the game (yellow is still for hoop 1) setting up partner is too risky. In fact, Red is so close and has Black at its hoop that he will assuredly try to hit that ball. Blue's best option is to go out of bounds, but there's only one place that will truly discourage Red's shot. Anticipating Red's line of play (Red dotted line), Blue shoots out of bounds behind the Black ball (Blue Line). This adds a huge risk to Red's supposed shot and encourages Red to take a less aggressive shot, like cornering.



Whew! Crisis averted.

Note: This will not work when Red has another ball to hit (i.e. Yellow).

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Insane Turn from the 2009 Nationals

Watch one of my most amazing turns in American Rules, and it happened to be a
National Championship game.

The hoop, the attack, the crazy split, the hit in, and the subsequent break.

Friday, November 27, 2009

Croquet World's Photo Contest

A photo of me, taken by Samir Patel was included in the annual photo contest.

Also look out for the Mol/Herin boys (notorious).

Thursday, November 5, 2009

Friday, October 30, 2009

Croquet Network Magazine

Sign up for the Free Magazine!

There's a player profile of me, and wonderful coverage of the 9-Wicket Nationals.

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Quadruple Peels

It's no nontuple peel, but I managed to complete my first two quadruple peels last weekend at the Selection Eights tournament. I know this will be just noise to many of you readers, but for those who are curious, here was an explanation I gave to the editor of Croquet World Online Magazine.

The quadruple peel is a single turn during which, the striker ball completes all of his remaining hoops while sending his partner ball (peeling it) through its final four wickets. For the play to count, the striker must peg out both balls. The term "quadruple peel" refers to the number of hoops the non-striker ball scores.

(1) WHY AND HOW these qp's come about
These qps come about after a mistake. I have heard that Reg used to only run to 3-back to avoid tpos, but I have never seen anyone do that. One of mine came from a stuffed hoop, the other from a missed roquet. One went smoothly, the other was a trial.

The first qp of my career came against Doug Grimsley as a result of me stuffing 2-back. You may say, "this is exactly a quintuple!" but Doug rushed me through 2-back as a means for making hoop one. He went on to stuff hoop 3. I sent a ball to hoop 2, left a ball near hoop 3, and rushed partner from 3 all the way to hoop 1. The rush wasn't the best, but it was only a yard north and 3 yards east of hoop 1. I took off and made the hoop with a nice rush to 3-back ( a nice bit of luck that I foresaw before the take off). I took peelee to about 4 yards south of 3-back straight on. This is the fun part. I peeled the ball through by about 30 feet, it went through with minimal resistance from the so-called "super hoops" and I ended up one yard east of my pioneer ball at hoop 2. That one stupendous death roll turned a play I had never completed in game into a standard tp attempt, which went swimmingly.

Against Jerry the next day, I missed a return roquet after 2-back (my soaking wet rental tie that I found on hoop 3 got in my way). Jerry under rolled position at hoop one and missed a 12 yard shot. I hit the 12 yard shot that he missed with a slightly hampered backswing and after getting the break going, I sent partner as the pioneer at hoop 4. This allowed for the 3-back peel after hoop 4 (which I jawsed). I almost got the remaining triple on track, but I couldn't peel it after hoop 6 (too much angle) at this point I thought it would be a good time to stop the peeling attempt, but I was tempted to try the late triple for reasons I describe below. I managed to get a decent chance at the straight double (peeling penultimate while I was for penultimate) but I jawsed the peel. I could try a conventional jump and hope to hit the ball that was near the peg, but I decided to keep the risks going. I did a drag jump peel, followed by a 6 yard roquet and a soft rover peel. I executed a conventional jump of the rover hoop, cannoned my partner away from the hoop from 15 feet and finished the quad. It was the scrappiest double peel that I have actually finished.

(2) Whether playing to achieve them was correct from a risk-versus-gain perspective or whether you were doing it as "practice" or for some other reason.

Against Doug, it was cold hard reason. There was a little risk in the first peel, but not much. The rest was a relatively easy triple, which has been a safe bet in my repertoire for the last year or so. Against Jerry, I wanted to attempt a delayed quad, partly for practice, partly out of respect for his ability to hit and triple in his own right (the best defense is a good offense), and I felt less stress because I had one (all be it, much easier) qp under my belt.

(3) Whether a qp might be the result of something that goes awry on the way to a sextuple.......and anything else that might enlighten?

It is possible that the qp is a result of a failed sxp, but it would have to have failed pretty early to still have enough time to control a quad. I imagine after failing a sxp, for whatever reason, one may be more apt to run to the peg and set a leave rather than risk another peeling turn, that would usually be quite late.
That being said, I have seen Robert try a late triple the turn after he failed a sextuple. Oddly enough, he failed the tp as well, and was defeated by James LeMoignan (2008 British Open, first round).

Essentially, the quad is essential in damage control, learning to complete a sextuple, and it helps as practice for late triples.
I'm glad to have completed them, but they were my penance for having failed to complete the previous break.

DP = Double Peel
TP = Triple Peel
TPO = Triple Peel of the Opponent (when the peeling player is victorious)
OTP = Triple Peel of the Opponent (when the peeled player is victorious)
QP = Quadruple Peel
QNP = Quintuple Peel
SXP = Sextuple Peel

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

A Guide to Attacking

In American Rules, a major step between beginners and intermediate players is the ability to attack. Even at the top level, there are players making mistakes as to how and when to attack. Here is a somewhat lengthy guide to the whole concept. Check out the croquet glossary if any terms confuse you.

An attack is when a player (we'll call her, the striker) roquets a ball in an attempt to go to other balls rather than going to the striker's hoop. Many goals and strategic priorities may be satisfied with a well executed attack including making the very wicket she seems to be avoiding. As with most tactics, timing is everything. Towards the end of the game, an attack may be defensive or solely a means for running down the clock. In most circumstances, however, the striker has offense in mind when attacking.

In the best attacks, the striker makes her hoop on the current turn. This opportunity is ripe when the opponent leaves a ball or two near the striker's wicket or both balls joined close enough to ensure a rush (more on that later) and near by the striker's hoop so as to minimize the risk of missing the wicket (while three ball dead). Occasionally the opponents are between the striker's current and next hoops. In this case she can rush to the pioneer hoop, take off to the other balls, and manufacture a rush to her wicket to earn a quick 3-ball break, with the fourth ball ready for an easy pick up.

Most attacks are meant to set up the partner ball. These plays cater to proficient break runners because often the striker ball finishes the turn three ball dead. The only justification for such a risky play is the partner making a handful of hoops and possible leaving the striker in position at (if not peeling her through) her hoop.

Setting up the partner ball is an art in and of itself, but the basic concept is to leave partner with a ball close enough to hit (a rush is better, and liveness is paramount) and a ball at his hoop (or pioneer hoop if deadness or location is an issue). The last component of any good set up is nullifying the danger ball. The danger ball, or hot ball, is the next ball to play. If the danger ball has deadness, the striker can get crafty but often the best bet is to isolate the hot ball, leaving it far from any hit in chances.

The key to easy attacks is to begin with a rush. If the striker can get close to the other balls, the more opportunities she has. Depending on the difficulty of the court or the needs of the partner ball, the striker may roll both balls close to the target balls or just take off. Frequently, the striker should hit the spent ball (that just played) and put it close to partner while trying to get a rush (on the danger ball) towards the striker's hoop. If partner is not close to the opponents, it may be wise to either hit the spent ball and send it away (to partner or his hoop) or hit the danger ball, get a rush on the spent ball to the striker's wicket or a location that helps partner.

Ther is more than one way to skin a cat, but the important part is to accomplish the goals in question with very little risk. If it is possible to end the attack with a big croquet shot towards position at the wicket. Every so often the striker may end up with an wasy hoop shot or a shot that, if missed, will end in a position that helps partner (his current or next hoop) without helping the danger ball.

There are always confounding factors in an attack, but the differences make the game that much more interesting. Sometimes the striker must take off to the attack, or roll close to a boundary ball from great distances. Whatever the case she must know the goals, the risks, and the contingency plans. There is always another option, but if she finds the correct play, she must not be afraid to put on the blinders, keep her head down and execute.

Clinics in Mission Hills























Please contact me for more information:
croquetpro@gmail.com
(925) 212-2593

Thursday, September 17, 2009

Big Lobster 2009


For the 7th time in the last 12 years, perfect weather graced the Big Lobster Invitational the week after labor day in Downeast Maine. Once again the Mount Desert Island Croquet Club, with great support form the Woodlawn Croquet Club, opened its arms to guests from Massachusetts, Florida, Colorado, and Ontario. Visitors and local contenders were treated to amazing views of Acadia National Park, delicious Maine lobster and a unique blend of six and nine wicket competition by the sea.


With four flights of six wicket singles, including four players under a two handicap, the Big Lobster marries competitive singles and a busy schedule of cut-throat nine wicket doubles. Most of the nine (that's right, nine) doubles games in the block were on the back lawn of the historic Claremont Hotel, a beautiful home to croquet tournaments since 1976. The inherent difficulties in transitioning the tactical divide between the defensive American rules and extremely offensive Claremont rules was well negotiated while sipping coffee in adirondack chairs on the hillside or during lunch at the boathouse literally on the water.

The singles flights each had a nice inland excursion for a day to the burgeoning Woodlawn Museum. The play was highlighted by unfettered play of three players. Tim McCormick, Sturgis Haskins and Linda Huxtable each managed to go undefeated. While the Huxtables controlled the championship flight there was a bit of drama in the race for a spot on the podium. The father of croquet in Maine, Larry Stettner, needed to upset top seeded Tom Hughes in the last game of the day to steal away third place. It took last turns but the local guru took down the favorite by one wicket 12-11 to take home the hardware. The closest battle for first divided the loving Pearson couple who split time between Maine and Phoenix. Jim edged Janet out of first on net points alone, but they reunited for the doubles competition.

Local politics were put on hold while Hancock County Commissioner and croquet instructor Fay Lawson took time off to dominate the First Flight doubles with Fran Martin. The familiar partnership exhibited a firm grasp of the game as they defeated the visiting Gallaghers 30-15 in the final. Thankful for the many block games Dolores and John surprised themselves with a semi-final victory “We were just glad to be in the final!” exclaimed Dolores as the happy couple raised their hand crafted 2nd place platters.

As for the championship flight, the top half of the draw favored the seasoned 9-wicket team of Alan Madeira (a prodigious croquet collector and the man behind the Clarkpoint Croquet Company) and Eileen Holberg (a well travelled socialite in Palm Beach and San Miguel). Alan and Eileen made their way to the finals by defeating Ben Rothman and his patient partner Barbara Rappaport 26-24 in the last turn of the semi-finals. Alan and Eileen were finalists in the recent Claremont Classic 9-wicket doubles tournament while Alan took the Claremont singles title for the fourth time; not exactly a light-weight.

On the other side of the final match-up was Claremont veteran Dave Nelson and his rookie partner, Gerry Lancto, who showed her daughter what's what defeating Linda and her husband Ron in the semi-final. The final match was a dog fight, with the lead flip-flopping back and forth until a critical error in last turns gave Dave control. After taking the lead, Dave cleaned the court only to watch Eileen hit-in and nearly steal the championship but failing to score the game tying hoop in last turns. Dave and Gerry took the title 21-20 as the crowd applauded as sailboats crossed the sparkling sound reminding them all that playing croquet in Maine is “the way life should be.”


6-Wicket Singles

Championship Flight Singles
1.Linda Huxtable
2.Ron Huxtable
3.Larry Stettner
4.Tom Hughes
5.Perry Mattson
6.Dolores Gallagher

First Flight “A” Singles
1.Jim Pearson
2.Janet Pearson
3.George Blagdon
4.Marko Schmitt

First Flight “1” Singles
1.Sturgis Haskins
2.Charles Alexander
3.Randall McAndrews
4.Don Lancto

Second Flight Singles
1.Tim McCormick
2.Gerry Lancto
3.Barbara Rappaport
4.Barbara Entzminger
5.Connie Perin
9-Wicket Doubles

Championship Flight Doubles

1.Dave Nelson + Gerry Lancto
2.Alan Madeira + Eileen Holberg
3.Ben Rothman + Barbara Rappaport
3.Linda + Ron Huxtable
5.Sturgis Haskins + Charles Alexander
6.Randall McAndrews + Don Lancto
7.Tom Hughes + Oakley Johnson
8.Jim + Janet Pearson

First Flight Doubles

1.Fay Lawson + Fran Martin
2.Dolores + John Gallagher
3.Marko Schmitt + Barbara Entzminger
3.Tim McCormick + Connie Perin

Saturday, September 5, 2009

Croquet Clubs on my Radar

I was playing with google maps for the upcoming Big Lobster Invitational and I decided to make a map of croquet clubs I visited in the last year or two. Enjoy:


View Croquet Clubs in a larger map

Saturday, August 29, 2009

Nontuple Peel You Say?

Colchester, Essex, United Kingdom

About two weeks ago, croquet reached new heights. Even in the small realm of croquet, this isn't landing-on-the-moon big or even Usain-Bolt-breaking-the-100m-record, but it is like somebody bowling a 301, or a 903 in three games.

Here is the best croquet player (scratch that, artist) in history reporting the event, in his own terms [translation in brackets]:
Not in the rankings [not sanctioned], but beat [Jack] Wixy today in the Colchester Club champs, +26TP [26-0 Triple Peel] (5th turn), +26NP [26-0 Nontuple Peel, meaning 9 peels on a 12 hoop break to end the game] (4th turn). Pretty sure this was the first competitive nontuple. Might have never been a nine turn match before either. Hoops were generously wide Omegas though overall don't think the conditions were any easier than at this year's opens [court was normal, if not difficult American conditions]. I had two big chunks of luck in the nontuple plus a relatively good starting position for getting a peel before 1. See below for more detail.

[Jack Wixy is a young (maybe 23) but very skilled protege of Robert Fulford, our narrator and 5-time World Champion.]



The nontuple was;



Jawsed 4 before 1, (The turn started with peelee and another ball 5 yards north of 1, and the other ball just west of 4 having got there by bouncing off hoop 1)

peeled 5 getting a rush to 3,

peeled 6 getting a rush to 5,

peeled 1b before 6,

jawsed 2b sending peelee down from 1b(!) [15-20 yard jawsing] before making 1b,

irish peeled 3b nicely up to 4b from an angle but lucky to have back ball finish in a runnable position, [irish peel is when he is trying to make that same wicket (3 back) through which he is peeling partner. He must have bounced off of the wicket, but stopped in front where he could make it on the second shot.]

relatively unsweaty STP [Straight Triple Peel] finish with longish penult peel going through cleanly down to rover. [This was actually a straight Quadruple Peel as he was peeling 3 back while he was for that wicket]



Rob
[So ends Rob's modest post]


It is notable that the first game resulted in a "perfect game" in the American consciousness, while the second game is above nearly everyone's expectations (some readily await the dectuple or dodectuple [duodoctuple?] peel). A Straight Triple Peel, let alone a Straight Quadruple Peel, is very rare in our backyard. I personally cannot wait to watch Danny Huneycutt get an Octuple or try the Nontuple Peel.

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Croquet Fashion Gear


Funky Adidas Urban Croquet Gear
http://www.yankodesign.com/2007/10/04/urban-croquet/

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

A Few Clinics Left...

Mission Hills Club Newsletter

http://www.clubnewsmaker.net/missionhills/e_article001508893.cfm?x=bfW1Wtr,bfpwLfr2

there's a whole lot going on in Palm Springs this year...

Monday, August 17, 2009

I Remember... (an essay from a 12 year-old)

[I wrote this for some homework assignment when I was 12 or so, I'm not sure on the date]

I remember a special time with my second cousin Larry Stettner (he's my dad's cousin). He was staying at our house, but we went to two croquet lawns in San Francisco. The special time was when he took two hours to teach me all of his strategies to six wicket croquet. He also showed me some of the hardest (for me) shots I've ever seen! He played in the San Francisco Croquet Tournament but lost.

This experience was especially meaningful to me because now I love to play six wicket croquet, and it is more fun when you know good moves and strategies when your parents don't!

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Jerry Stark: The American Way

http://www.americanwaymag.com/jerry-stark-phoenix-kansas-city-arizona-croquet-club

Friday, June 19, 2009

The Future Has Arrived


Matthew Essick has been playing croquet in some form for over half his life. That’s not particularly unusual- a lot of people have played croquet for years. But Matthew just turned 10 years old last December. He began at the age of 3 with a special homemade mallet that Danny Huneycutt gave him. It was just his size. He call it “the yittle mallet”. He soon began hitting croquet balls with a regular mallet, often playing golf croquet with the Meadows gang.
He played in his first sanctioned Croquet Tournament at the age of 6. It was quite by accident. His Dad and Grandparents belong to Meadows Mallet Club in Northern Davidson County in North Carolina. The last week in July, all the clubs in NC converge on the Linville area to play the NC Club Teams Tournament. It is easily the largest tournament in the NC tournament circuit. It is absolutely the high point of MMC’s croquet year to play in that tournament. They formed the club late in 2002, competed in 2003 and came in third. In 2004, they came home as the Champions. Chomping at the bit in 2005, everyone in the club was matched up with a doubles partner and were all set to head up into the cool, clean air of the NC mountains and vie for the top prize yet again. Casper Essick, Matthew’s grandfather, had his partner to drop out because of a family emergency. Danny Huneycutt, Steve Summer, Jon Essick , Casper & Becky Essick gathered at the Essick court on Tuesday evening for a last practice when they got the news. All the members of the club already had partners. There was no one to be Casper’s team-mate. While they discussed the dilemma the club faced, Matthew practiced shooting wickets on the court, using the 20” mallet his Grandma had made especially for him out of her first mallet. He had only played Golf Croquet, never 6-Wicket, but he loved to shoot. Danny watched for a bit, then turned to Casper. “Would you be willing to play with Matthew as your partner?”, he asked.
“Well, I’m willing, but you know we won’t win a game.” Casper replied.
Danny called Matthew over and asked him if he would listen to his Grandpa and shoot the ball where he told him.
A big grin came over his face as he nodded. Matthew loves competition and loves his Grandpa to death. He couldn’t be happier!


Meadows went up the mountain with a dream and came back down on Sunday proudly as the winning club of NC.
Oh, and Matthew and his Grandpa only lost 1 match that magic week (by 1 point) and won their flight. They have been a team ever since. This year (2009) will be their 6th Club Teams Tournament as partners.
-Becky Essick

[Editor's Note: Matthew just came in second in the third flight of the Southeast Regionals, losing to another promising junior who is 5 years older. His handicap will soon be equal to his age, but not for long.]

An Epic Doubles Playoff Ladder

At last weeks Southeast Regional, young punk Charlie Gillmarten and I played together in the championship flight doubles. It was tons of fun and we even managed to win a few games. Here is my memory of the eventful final day:

The semi-final match, Sunday morning, was back and forth between locals Bob Cherry and Frank Thompson and the young guns Ben Rothman and Charlie Gillmarten. After a prolonged out game between Ben and Bob, Ben pulled off an attack in a very tricky corner four, nearly rolling his ball out of bounds on the pass roll to the opponents. Charlie took the break around, but before he could peel his partner, he made 4-back and went out of bounds. Bob and Frank seized the innings and played a shrewd deadness game. Even as they failed a croquet-out play, they retained overall control and made several difficult attacks until Bob had a game ending break chance. Before the break was fully realized (no pioneer) Bob chose to attack back near that risky corner to get the fourth ball, but his roquet rolled off. The bearded boys got clean and took the lead going into last turns leaving Bob one last chance. As last last ball, the former National Champion went ball to ball to get a rush as close to wicket 5 as he could. Bob needed only score 1-back for the win, but missed the roquet after making hoop 5 giving the finals spot to the twenty-something croquet bums.

The other side of the ladder which had the lone dominant result, with the only team to score over 20 points in a game, was another Pinehurst combination of Horace Hayworth and Mike Taylor who managed to effectively handle the team of John Knott and Barry Williams 25-10 in the semi-final.

In the doubles final, the kids tried a croquet out while Horace and Mike were separated by 12 feet across corner 1. Horace said, “this is when Ben likes to screw with your head” and promptly hit the line ball to take the break using only opponent balls. All was well until Horace stuffed hoop 6, handing Ben a laid 3-ball break with the spent ball. Ben went around but stopped after penultimate with a leave that nearly wired the danger ball and left a rush for his partner-dead teammate. Mike took the hail mary shot from 100 feet and while missing the peg, he hit hoop 3 and stayed on court. Charlie started strong, peeling partner through rover on the second attempt (a rush peel after making wicket 6) but missed the following wicket. Horace took the reins again and made it count by staking out Ben's ball. With around 20 minutes remaining, Mike went about his slow and methodic two balling. The home team needed a mere six wickets to take the lead. After some jockeying, Mike took the lead and separated. Charlie managed to get in position at 1-back and with only one minute remaining, Charlie made the go ahead wicket. The precise hoop shot left Charlie 1 foot past position at 2-back, so he escaped to corner three as time expired. To begin last turns, Horace was in corner two while Mike was out of bounds a few yards north of corner four and for wicket 2-back. Needing the game tying point, Horace shot at the peg with just enough pace so that if he missed, which he did, it set a straight six foot rush for Mike. Mr. Taylor, who was recently lowered to a 2 handicap showed that he has ice water running through his veins as he made a great rush and tied the game. He shot so well, in fact, that he made the hoop cleanly and went out of bounds! This left Charlie the slimmest of hopes.

Saturday, June 6, 2009

Ellsworth American Article

http://www.fenceviewer.com/site/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=10027:Wizard%20with%20a%20Croquet%20Mallet&catid=34:ellsworth&Itemid=106

San Diego Reader Follow-Up Article

http://www.sandiegoreader.com/news/2009/jun/03/rothman-rules/

I wonder if the Lodge at Torrey Pines cares...

Thursday, June 4, 2009

2009 Association Croquet Amateur National Championships


America was floundering. Maybe it was just bad timing, but there were only 17 competitors in the 2008 Association Croquet National Championships. And despite the recession, despite the heavy 2009 schedule, we rebounded. There were more than 40 players in this year's field. Thanks to this burgeoning interest in Association Croquet the USCA was able to initiate an Amateur National Championship. The powers that be saw fit to split the tournament into flights, allowing for a quickly developing crew of competitors to flourish without having to fear the big bad triple peel. There were ups and downs, but in the end there was an historic battle between two future forces in American croquet.
After two oddly similar match ups and coincidentally identical games, the two young guns emerged from the semi-final fray. An established North Carolina fixture in Tommy Harrington, who has been known to best 12 time National champion Jeff Soo in several club championships, playing against an undefeated new comer in John Young III. John has long been an accomplished American Rules player but was making his debut in Association Croquet after learning the game on a two-day clinic during the road trip up to Pinehurst from West Palm Beach. John took two breaks and an early lead on Tommy but gave up the reins at hoop 5 where he had to approach from just behind the wicket, known as the “death position”. Tommy returned the favor by missing the 2-back wicket on his first break. The game became fairly interactive, but John was able to build better breaks when he had control. After hitting in a few times (including a 50 footer on the last turn) John sent home the tournament's #1 seed 26-8.

On the other half of the ladder there was rookie of the year, Charles Gillmarten, who outlasted local up-and-comer Mike Taylor. Both missed a few short roquets and while Mike proved to be a better sniper on that day, (hitting in 3 out of 7 times from over 40 feet), Charlie was a more consistent break player and made more out of his opportunities to win 26-10.

This was the matchup the fans (mostly the Argentinian women) had been waiting for. Both players were in their first Association Rules tournament lending credence to the title of Amateur National Championships. Charlie, having played for months in practice games with his mentor, former National Champion and US team member Stewart Jackson, was no longer the upstart he once was. John, hot off of his Club Teams National Championship, was still treading water in an unfamiliar sea of nuance when it came to Association tactics. In the blocks, Charlie had come the closest to blemishing John's record, producing 18 points in a close game that went to the wire.

The game started with Charlie going to maximum distance and a standard Duffer's tice from John. Charlie chose to shoot at the tice softly, but missed with his ball stopping near the peg. While John had been hitting well and Charlie known for his accuracy, nerves showed a little bit as both missed the ensuing hit in chances. On the sixth turn of the game John finally hit a 40 foot double target left by Charlie's near miss. John had no trouble converting the hit into a controlled break and showed how much he had learned in the short week by setting the diagonal spread leave in an efficient and timely manner. Charlie took the 20 yard shot down the east boundary and watched as his ball rolled slightly towards the line and missed. John got off to a good start, but after rolling too far at hoop 3 John missed a tough angled shot.

Charlie took advantage, hitting a 15 footer but failing to rush to hoop one. After attempting a pass roll from mid court to position, Charlie joined up near wicket one enticing John to bite at his clever trap. John went for the bait...


John took his back ball all the way around 10 wickets and to the peg while his partner ball was still for four back. As Charlie's window for a comeback was closing, John envisioned becoming a National Champion and concentrated on his leave. What John failed to focus on was his shot after rover and he missed an easy 6 foot roquet! Charlie swooped in, took his break around to 4-back and set a near perfect diagonal spread. John tried to avoid the roll of the court by shooting at the on court ball, but to no avail. Charlie got started with a little difficulty, having to shoot wicket one from 8 feet, but he nailed it. The ball went through so cleanly, in fact, that Charlie was left with a long return roquet.


While successfully avoiding these distanced wicket shots at 2, 3 and 4, Charlie over rolled his way into a difficult angled position at wicket 5. While he had made many jump shots on such angled shots during the week, at this distance Charlie stayed grounded, and there he remained. John was left to hit a 4 yard roquet for the finishing chance...

He was able to get his final 3 hoops while putting Charlie's ball through wicket 5. John took the title of 2009 Amateur National Champion and remains undefeated in Association Croquet to this day.






Saturday, May 23, 2009

Jump Shot Highlight Reel

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kCmZO81Wekk

Trevor Herin helped Charlie and I record this video during the practice day before the 2009 World Croquet Championships.

Enjoy!

Friday, May 8, 2009

San Diego Reader Article

Oddly enough, one of my favorite periodicals in San Diego wrote an article about me!
http://www.sandiegoreader.com/news/2009/may/06/what-do-you-know/

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Two time National Champion!!!!

I did it!



I accomplished a several of my long term goals on sunday the 19th of April. Not only did I manage to win the highly competitive singles championship (without losing a any playoff games) but Doug Grimsley and I managed to win the doubles championship as well. This was not new for Doug, in fact, he won last year with Leo McBride. It had always been a pipe dream to win both championships in one day. I was super excited that I had two chances at a National title, I never hoped to win both.

It was mostly a result of consitently hitting in. During the last few days of the tournament I managed to hit around 75% of all hit-ins under 20 yards, which is remarkable for me. My long shot peaked at just the right time. I've always enjoyed the saying, "it's better to be lucky than good".

I've decided to make a change

I am not blind. I realize that in trying to put up full reports, my blog is months behind reality. While I will continue to publish full reports of major tournaments and periods of time on tour, I will supplement that material with brief updates.

I hope this will meet my goal of helping friends and family stay updated on the events in which I participate. This may crowd the blog, but I plan on labeling full posts so they can be found easily by clicking on the "tour" label on the right column.

Association Rules Amateur National Championships



After a poorly attended tournament in 2008 (only 17 participants) it was a shock to have 15 players in the first flight of the 2009 national championships. Along with the 28 in the championship flight (three of which played in both tournaments) the USCA had a record setting 40 players for the Association Rules National Championships. During the wonderful opening reception at competitor Mike Taylor and Elaine Moody's estate, tournament directors Ron Lloyd and Ben Rothman dubbed the inaugural event the Amateur National Championships.

While there were a few veteran players (including favorites Tommy Harrington, Bob Whitmore and Frank Thompson) many of the participants were association rules rookies. Those few in their first tournament were local Dave Strawson, rookie of the year Charles Gillmarten, and club teams champion John Young III. The first day of the tournament featured heavy rains and cold winds and while this effected everyone, the young rookies were quite distracted. Both Charlie Gillmarten and John Young managed to run the rover hoop in the wrong direction. Thankfully this silly mistake did not cost either of them more than a few points, but Charlie did manage to lose unexpectedly. Despite the cold Canadian winter, Jane Beharriel came out on fire. In block play, Jane beat two of the players who earned top spots in the playoffs. But Jane was not the only female assassin in the midst. Local matriarch Becky Essick scored two pivotal victories against the top two seeded players in the block proving that croquet is a gender neutral game.

After a wonderful dinner of tender filet mignon at the Pinehurst Country Club, the playoff pairings were announced. The local favorites, Mike Taylor and Tommy Harrington earned the third and fourth seeds with byes into the quarter finals, while rookie favorites John Young III and Charlie Gillmarten earned the number one and two seeds. Sidewinder Barry Williams and the Jane Beharriell earned a late start in Saturday's single elimination playoff with the fifth and sixth seeds. The fantastic meal ended with a sweet treat as competitor Jon Essick sang a few tunes for the remaining diners.

The next morning, the talented entertainer managed to defeat Bob whitmore and earned a game against the rookie of the year. The unlucky Jon Essick missed one severely angled wicket attempt at hoop 5, while his quarter final opponent Charlie Gillmarten drained 3 of 4 such hoop shots. After staying alive with these impressive jump shots, Charlie showed his proper grooming with a nice diagonal spread and a sexy crosswire leave to end the game. The resilient Barry Williams managed to beat Bob Roth but ran into a wall of rain which favored the versatile Mike Taylor. Mike smoothly operated his way to a win earning a spot against the Charlie in the semi-final.

In the other half of the ladder, undefeated John Young III waited with zen like patience for his opponent, Becky Essick, to emerge. Becky dispatched of Mike Conry 13-5 despite his efforts to distract her with his best Gilligan impersonation. Becky rallied and maintained a lead though the first 70 minutes of the two hour match, but when given an opening, John ran three breaks in only 34 minutes for a 26-7 victory. In the race to join "3 strokes" in the semi-final was the dark horse David Collie. David was the only player breaking seed as he beat past Allen Clem and even Canadian phenomenon Jane Beharriell. While he was well prepared for the storm that arrived during the quarter finals and even held the lead for 80 minutes, David came up short.

The semi-finals were virtually synchronized as Charlie and John managed to run their first breaks simultaneously. It could have been predicted that both Mike and Tommy would miss the lift shots, but both Charlie and John missing hoop 5? It was almost scripted. John managed to hit in and beat Tommy, but he had to wait to see his fellow finalist. Charlie hit in, but so did Mike and in the end Charlie won a close game.

The amateur national championship game pitted two young players, who had never played in an association rules tournament before, against each other. The game started off a little sloppy. Charlie won the coin toss and started off conservatively with a ball at maximum distance. John responded with a duffer's tice which proved un-hittable by both players. On the fifth turn Charlie chose to shoot at partner 11 yards away, but missed. John hit in from 14 yards and got control. John ran 9 hoops and set a beautiful diagonal spread leave showing that he had learned a lot in the past week. After Charlie missed the lift shot, John over rolled position at hoop 3 and tried to make a tough jump shot, but he missed. Charlie made a canny play, leaving "3 strokes" balls at hoop 2 and 3 while trying to roll up to hoop one. He set a nice leave that would have assured him a break, but John hit in. John ran his back ball all the way to rover, but while concentrating on the leave, he missed an easy roquet! Charlie showed no mercy in building his break, running around to 4-back, and setting a nice diagonal spread leave. John missed the long lift shot, but the synchronicity remained. Only, instead of over rolling hoop 3, Charlie gave himself a difficult jump shot at hoop 5. While Charlie made these hoop shots all week (especially against Jon Essick), this one stuck in the jaws. John had things all laid out for him. After rush peeling Charlie, John made the last three wickets and staked out to become the National Champion!

1. John Young III
2. Charlie Gillmarten
3. Mike Taylor
3. Tommy Harrington
5. Barry Williams
5. Jon Essick
5. Becky Essick
5. David Collie
9. Jane Beharriell
9. Mike Conry
9. Bob Whitmore
9. Bob Roth
13. Allen Clem
13. Dave Strawson
DNF: Frank Thompson

(I plan on making a personalized account of this tournament with much more media, but here's the official story, for now)

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Mission Hills Invitational


Just one week after celebrating it's 20th anniversary with founders Pat Apple and Nancy Deupree, the Mission Hills Country Club in beautiful Palm Springs, California, hosted its annual Invitational tournament. Club President, Jim Butts, and his wife Phyllis worked tirelessly to make this one of the best invitationals in recent memory. The brilliant sunny days and temperatures in the 70s and 80s attracted snow birds from British Columbia, Idaho, Minnesota and New Hampshire to round out a very competitive yet fun-loving crew.
The second flight of waterford doubles was characterized by useful instruction and last second heroics. In several games, weaker players were ready to accept their games as lost until their partners encouraged them to “go ahead and try to hit that ball on the boundary.” Which they promptly did on several occasions. With such immaculate courts, anything is possible including the dramatic ending of one such game featuring the healthy and vibrant return of Nancy Feldman with doubles partner Toni Kemp versus Cindy Bagby and John Adams. With only seconds remaining, a two point deficit and serious deadness on the board, Toni made a point to stay nearby to help partner, in position at 2-back, rather than set up for a last chance at liveness. Nancy not only made her difficult wicket shot, but hit Toni's ball on the boundary and made an amazing roll; sending partner to 4-back while getting a rush on a ball near wicket 5 towards her current wicket, 3-back. Nancy ran around to the rover wicket, taking the lead by two, and grooming the court. Cindy was now faced with a 60 foot shot at a ball near corner one. Cindy casually mentioned “I've only got one chance” and managed to hit the ball while keeping it in! In order to prove the shot was not a fluke, Cindy performed a very nice full-roll around her wicket, number 5, from 50 feet away only to miss the 6 foot wicket shot. Donna Dixon proved to be the highlight of this doubles competition winning all four games to earn the title after winning no doubles games the previous year. Karen Comeau proved her 14 handicap unfitting of her skill in her second place performance while the spotlight shined on American Rules rookie Caren Sawyer. Under the kind tutilage of David Collins and Mohammad Kamal in Pasadena, Caren has developed into a wonderful shot maker in capturing the third place trophy in doubles.
The first flight of waterford doubles had some amazing match-ups with the top four seeds all at a -1 handicap. The strong play left a few players in the two on one situation after a break taken dangerously too far, and more than a few wins by 15 or more points. The final round featured a nationals caliber pairing with two teams, each with a combined handicap of -2. The results of that “showcase” game determined the overall victor as Jim Butts and Bill Hixon prevailed in a very well executed game over Paul Bennett and Rick Sheely 26 to 6. The 20 net points allowed Jim Butts to capture the doubles title over the previously perfect Paul Bennett. Aviv Katz was honored to take the third place trophy thanks to consistent play and a 13 point victory over fourth place finisher Barbara Mitchell in the third round.
Second flight singles featured the arrival of a mostly association rules player, Marvin Salles, abolishing his 13 handicap with a first place finish in the block and convincing playoff wins to remain atop the flight and winning the crown. Mission Hills was proud to welcome the aforementioned Caren Sawyer and her husband Eric to their first American rules tournament in which Eric beat out the lowest handicapped player in the flight to get to the semi-finals and eventually capture fourth place; not bad for a first timer. The true underdog story chronicled Jean Engebretson who was the 6 seed in the playoff ladder and scored a few key upsets to become a finalist. Jean's supportive husband, Dick Engebretson finished in third place.
With handicaps ranging from 3.5 to 7 the competitive first flight singles action featured many upsets with the top seeded player in the flight going winless in block play. Mission Hills' own Marty Ormsby, a 6 handicap when the tournament began, captured her block with a victory over undefeated Rich Schiller. With only 8 out of the 15 players making the playoff, there were no easy playoff games. Local favorite Phyllis Butts snuck into the ladder as the 8 seed but took off from there. Nursing a knee injury, Phyllis overcame mediocre block play and took out number one seed Marty Ormsby on her way to the final match and a second place finish. Despite being outnumbered, the Texans took control of the loser's bracket in Alamo fashion. Representing the Lone Star state was doubles champion Donna Dixon who was defeated by Lee Hamel. Lee eventually captured 3rd place shoring up a place for Texas in the singles ceremony as well.
Championship flight was a veritable who's who of West Coast croquet with 3 former U.S. team representatives and more than half of the field at a handicap of 1 or less. Block play went nearly to seed as the top four ranked players in each block made it to the 8 person playoff with a lurker “Sandy” Bob Van Tassell narrowly missing the last playoff spot. The sand-bagger was playing up as his 4.5 handicap does not encompass his skill on the lawn. “Sandy” Bob scored victories against the other low seeds in the block as well as an impressive 26-7 victory over the precocious Ben Rothman that featured nearly flawless play and impressively aggressive tactics from this new juggernaut. Mr. Van Tassell only missed the playoffs because of a head-to-head tie-breaker despite a 76 net point advantage over eventual 8 seed, Mike Orgill. This may be the last cut that Mr. Van Tassell misses for a long while. Friday morning began with 3 upsets in the first round of the playoffs. Whether it was the full moon rising or the drinks from the tournament dinner the night before, no one knows. Only top seeded Paul Bennet held his own against Mike Orgill, while two of the -1 handicaps were sent to the loser's bracket along with -2.5, Ben Rothman. Tennessee player Bill Martin took the honor of hitting in last turns after Rothman had just ran a break to the peg to get the lead by one. The self titled “Croquet Pro” sent his two balls off court in a croquet out leaving the danger ball a 24 yard shot from wicket five to two balls in corner 3. Martin roqueted the slightly closer ball into the other and managed to keep both balls in bounds. After tying the game, the man in white knickers made the most of the deadness to win by one point in the third rotation of last turns. Rick Sheely later defeated Wild Bill on his way to third place. Rick's shrewd strategy and his ability to stop a rolling ball with the snap of his fingers led him to both semi-finals. The good Dr. Sheely's only losses of the tournament were against the finalists. Young Ben made his way through the loser's bracket with four wins in a row to reach the finals against Paul Bennett. In the first of a possible two final games, a Chernobyl opening was slowly played out until Ben attacked into corner 3 from corner 4. Ben got the break going on that turn, but later missed an angled wicket shot at hoop 5. When Ben attempted to position his partner ball, Paul hit in and masterfully kept Ben dead for the majority of the game. Paul won the final after a few desperate 25 foot hoop shots that went awry for young Ben. In the end Paul managed to go completely undefeated through the entire tournament in singles. Paul's only loss was in the previously mentioned nationals calibre doubles game. Paul graciously accepted his trophies and honored many of the people responsible for such an excellent tournament including the generous Ellory McClatchy. Unbeknownst to Paul, a motion was made at the club's 20th anniversary celebration to rename the Mission Hills Invite as the Ellory McClatchy Invitational in the future. See you there next year!

Championship Singles:
1.Paul Bennett
2.Ben Rothman
3.Rick Sheely
4.Bill Martin
5.Ron Hendry
Jim Butts
7.Mike Orgill
Bill Hixon
9.Bob Van Tassell
10.Aviv Katz
11.Janet Hamilton
Len Lyon
13.Bill Hamilton
Bill Roche

First Flight Singles:
1.Rich Schiller
2.Phyllis Butts
3.Lee Hamel
4.Donna Dixon
5.Marty Ormsby
Mary Rodeberg
7.Becky Essick
Cindy Bagby
9.Bob Kays
Ruthie Windsor-Mann
11.John Adams
Peter Bach
Hope Harmon
14.Len Lyon
15.Biff Roche
16.Barbara Mitchell

Second Flight Singles:
1.Marvin Salles
2.Jean Engebretson
3.Dick Engebretson
4.Eric Sawyer
5.David Cartwright
Karen Comeau
Toni Kemp
8.Caren Sawyer

First Flight Waterford Doubles:
1.Jim Butts
2.Paul Bennett
3.Aviv Katz
4.Barbara Mitchell
5.Bill Hamilton
6.Mike Orgill
7.Ron Hendry
8.Bob Van Tassell
9.Rick Sheely
10.Bill Hixon
11.Jim Bonacci
12.Bill Martin

Second Flight Waterford Doubles:
1.Donna Dixon
2.Karen Comeau
3.Caren Sawyer
4.Nancy Feldman
5.David Cartwright
6.Cindy Bagby
7.Rich Schiller
8.Peter Bach
9.Eric Sawyer
10.Hope Harmon
11.Toni Kemp
12.Mary Rodeberg
13.Dick Engebretson
14.Frank Dixon
15.John Adams
16.Lee Hamel

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

My Advertising Pamphlet

Here's a look at the promotional pamphlet I'm sending out around the country to promote clinics and lessons taught by yours truly.



Thursday, January 8, 2009

The British Opens


Heralded as "the most competitive tournament in the world" (Brian Cumming, national champion), the British Opens were my first experience in a major international tournament.

I traveled to Fairford (a town 45 minutes from Cheltenham) with Paul Bennet to stay with Ron's relatives on the cheap. Ron introduced us to his kind aunt and uncle and then sent Paul and I off to stay with his less than accommodating curmudgeon of an uncle who terrorized him as a child. Gee, thanks Ron.

Playing in the Opens was an eye opening experience, I was finally able to meet the juggernauts of the game (Fulford, Bamford, Mulliner, Death, etc.) whom I had heard and read so much about. David Maugham organized a creative opening round format; a swiss in which six wins or six losses decided whether you made the playoffs. The best players ended up with a difficult road as they continued winning, and those with losing records fought tooth and nail to get closer to that winning record and that chance at the best of three, single elimination knock out. The doubles was a simple best of three knockout.

Paul and I continued our fruitful partnership and started against Samir Patel (top 20 in the world and eventual singles finalist) and his partner Louise Bradforth. We played on a court with some character (about half of the courts had some unique rolls) and played a quick clean match winning +23, +26tp (my triple).

This put us up against compatriot Danny Huneycutt and David "the Goat" Goacher, known for his off-whites, slow pace, and unique technique. David bends at close to a right angle, rarely stalks the ball, plays with a very spread standard grip with his top hand hinging near his chest. He lines up his accurate shots with a few hundred casting swings and occasionally refuses to shoot; opting to back off, scratch himself, and line up once again. These antics proved great basis for drinking games late in the day as we watched David run patient breaks around in the twilight.

Our match was an epic four day encounter stopping and starting with rain delays and having to be pegged down several times in the rain and dark. Despite my very delayed (first peel after hoop 6) triple in the second game, Paul and I were defeated +25, -20 tp, +15tp (Danny's triple). Danny and the Goat (feel free to sing their name to the theme of Benny and the Jets) managed to scrape out some amazing victories only to be defeated by the heavily favored Fulford and Death in a best of 5 final. The last few rounds that Fulford and Death Played were quite interesting as Robert could not miss, hitting in 3rd or 4th turn nearly every game and leaving it to James to finish. Normally this would be entirely standard and boring, but Robert insisted that James not drink in the final rounds. James was markedly uncomfortable, and maybe it was just the pressure, but many speculated the sobriety was not helping his mental state.

The singles swiss was hard to organize (and David Maugham did an amazing job; taking a half hour or less to figure out each round of 40 pairings) but eliminated so called "dead games" which often occur when people know whether they have made the knock out or not and have to play their somewhat meaningless remaining games. The swiss was seeded to start with leaving #2 in the world against 17 year-old James LeMoignan, son of Tony LeMoignan who is an established world-class player from the Isle of Jersey. James had yet to play a top level tournament, and this was one of his first away from home. Tony had soberly told James not to expect to win any games, let alone against Fulford. After a failed sextuple and a failed quadruple peel, James managed to hit in and score a triple peel against #2 in the world! James went on to qualify for the knockout before Tony did. So much for Tony's preditction.

I started off with two quick losses to David Foulser and WCF persident David Openshaw -19tp and -3tp respectively. I managed to beat my former host, Ian Vincent +19, and take down a young upstart Chris Chambers +26dp. I had to face my compatriot Stewart Jackson, but I managed to dispatch him +17tp. Having worked my way to a winning record, my competition heated up. Now I faced #5 in the world James Death, who would go on to win the doubles title. James set up for the sextuple peel and I got extremely lucky and hit in. It would be pretty hard to build a break, so I set a nice leave giving James a 26 yard hit in chance. Wouldn't you know it, he hit in and got the sextuple peel anyways. I got lucky in that my next two opponents hit in first, but both missed shots after making hoop 1. I beat Martin Murray +25 and Tony LeMoignan +23. At 5-3 I had a chance to qualify without that stressful win or go home game.

I had to play Jack "Wicksy" Wicks, a 20 year-old kid who has been mentored a bit by Fulford. I played against him in the East Midlands where I managed two clean 6th turn triples. Wicksy hit in first and went around. I managed to hit in, but I couldn't get the break. Eventually I got that ball around and managed to get my three peels. The last peel was a straight rover, leaving me no shot on the wicket. Wicksy only got one hoop on the ensuing turn and set a leave. I calmed my nerves and hit in from 18 yards, but after making rover, I worried so much about getting my partner ball staked out, that I missed the 4 yard return roquet! Wicksy ran into trouble around hoop 6 leaving me one last chance. I watched as my 42 foot shot stayed on line and hit, dead center. I had two balls for the peg while he was for hoop 6 and penultimate. My partner ball was near corner two, nd I couldn't get a rush on it to peg out. I set one last leave, but Wicksy hit in as well. He managed to get his double peel and win by 2. I recovered poorly, missing a few easy hoops in a 24 point loss to Ian "Digger" Burridge.

That woke me up. I had to play Sam Tudor in a game to go. We were both 5-5, so this game decided one of the last spots in the playoff. We were on the showcase court right in front of the clubhouse at the end of the day. There was quite a crowd to watch us young guns go at it. I went East of hoop 4, while Sam played the Duffer tice. Knowing I needed to focus, I shut out the peanut gallery and hit the 18 yarder. I managed to turn it into a third turn break around, giving Sam the 3 ducks leave. He missed, and in front of some o fthe best players I've met, in a win or go home situation, I ran the second 5th turn triple of my career.

We Americans did well, with Danny and Paul qualifying in only 10 games and David Bent qualifying in a nail biting game against his doubles partner Ron Lloyd. I've been told that there had never been four Americans in the Opens Knockout. We didn't get much furthur than that.
I went down -17tp, -26tp to Mark Avery; Danny lost to Robin Brown; David lost to David Maugham; Paul did the best, losing in three games to Jonothan Kirby.

There were two separate consolation events: an official plate and a Z-event to allow people to play as much as they would like. I was able to win a few games in the plate, but was knocked out by Richard Jenkins by way of a triple. In a few extra games I managed my first tpo. When it came to the semi-final, there was a bit of uproar over the random top four seeds. The random seeding put Robert Fulford and Reg Bamford in the same half and up against eachother in the best of five semi-final. I really wanted to watch the match, as did my opponent Peter Trimmer. I was glad to allow him time to watch as I got my third ever 5th turn triple. We were able to watch the most impressive display on a croquet court I could have imagined.

Reg played first, and missed the third shot. Robert hit on fourth turn, set the sextuple leave, and ran a 6th turn sextuple for game one. Reg only missed two shots, one of which was 28 yards or so. In game two Robert played first, hit third turn and got a 5th turn triple. Reg only missed one shot. Game three was a repeat of game one, except Robert also hit on second turn and spread the balls out. All in all, Robert beat #3 in the world allowing him only 5 shots, 2 of which were tea lady shots. Robert went on to win against Samir Patel in the final. I was knocked out of the Z-event by a sextuple, meaning of the three events (the knockout, plate, and z-event) I was knocked out by three triples and a sextuple. At least my opponents had to perform to beat me.

I left England a few grade and index points ahead, a U.S. team event and a major WCF event under my belt, and a 23-18 record. It was an amazing adventure and I feel it was a formative time in my croquet life.

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Brits?

Our Solomon Trophy test match started as a MacRobertson Shield format with 6 players per team, each player playing 2 singles matches (best of 3) and the three doubles teams playing each of the other three teams. The doubles partnerships fell into place for us as Ron and David had played together before and Paul and I had played often in the West, leaving Danny and Stewart as our best ranked team.

[I get a bit verbose here, reporting the first few rounds in detail. This only attests to the excitement in play, while many games were triples to form, some had amazing back an forth and a few had 6 (or more) peels.]


(The bowler turned US croquet player
topiary was named George Bush)

We started with a bit of ceremony and a day of doubles matchups. Ron and David were quickly overpowered (possibly thanks to their late arrival and lost bag) by Jonathan Kirby and Ian Lines with two +26tp games, impressive. Danny and Stewart fared slightly better, but only slightly. Ian "digger" Burridge and David Maugham won with a +25tp, +26tp match. Meaning Danny and Stewart got a wicket! Paul and I were matched up with Keith Aiton and Tony LeMoignan who dispatched with us +26tp on the fifth turn of the first game. We didn't get to take croquet. In the second game, Paul failed to hit on third turn and Tony hit a 20 yarder to get going, but he missed 3-back! Paul took the first break around and while I failed ot get any peels, Keith missed the hit in allowing Paul to finish a +18 game putting the Yanks on the board! With our spirits high, we watched an instant replay of the first game as Keith ran another fiifth turn triple for the +26tp win in which we did not take croquet.


(These four beautiful courts were immaculate
and fast, thanks to Paul Rigg)

After round one we were 0-3 in matches 1-6 in games and 27-156 in wickets. Ouch.
Round two saw Burridge and Maugham beat up on Ron and David, but Ron did take a nice 9 hoop break around bringing the scores to +26tp, +17tp. Danny and Stewart took a game off of Keith and Tony but still lost +26tp, -26, +17.
In our match against Kirby and Lines, Paul played the archtypal hero. In the first game, Paul hit in on fourth turn only to miss wicket 2. After Kirby ran a beautiful break, Linesy missed a hampered shot after just dribbling through wicket 6. Paul took his ball around to 4-back and willed Jonathan to miss for me. I was working on a delayed triple, getting the first peel before wicket 6, but only jawsing the penultimate peel before making 4-back. I failed to get Paul into peeling position at rover and asked if he minded me trying a post-humous peel (peeling rover after I had already made the wicket myself). Paul replied, "I don't see why not." Only to watch me jaws the peel and follow with, "I guess that's why not." I spread the balls out and staked out my ball (in retrospect, a bad decision since they were both for wickets that allowed us balk line lifts). After hitting in, they set a nice leave and Paul was playing one-legged. Paul decided to put his hero hat on and hit a 21 yarder; but alas, after making rover, he had no shot on any ball (hampered). Paul decided to go for the peg from 7 yards, through the wicket. Sure enough, he hit giving us the +11 victory. The second game was quite defensive with the first three hit in's resulting in only two wickets, but I was able to set a trap and make my way to 4-back. After the missed lift shot, Paul ran a form delayed triple until he was left with a horribly angled peel at rover. Having yet to hit the near ball at rover, Paul decided to try an Aspinall peel (while jawsing peelee, one lats the sriker ball roll cannon the ball through on the same shot) that Jim Bast had showed us the day before. It worked wonders and Paul secured our first match +11, +25tp!

We all enjoyed a wonderful cookout at David Maugham's house in and the brits offered to change the format. We were so ahead of schedule we could play best of 5 singles matches or each have three best of 3 matches. After a bit of back and forth about what served us best (trying to win the test match or playing more games and developing) we decided to each play three singles matches.

Our first singles matches had some predictable results as the British team had much more depth. The lowest ranked Brit (Burridge) was ranked #38 in the world (our best, Danny, was #42) while our lowest ranked player (Ron) was #90.
Paul put up a great fight, but lost -10tpo, +24tp, -8tpo to Tony. Digger had a straight triple in game tow beating David +3tp, +23stp. Jonathan Kirby didn't give Ron much to play with winning +25, +26tp. Stewart had a close one with Linesy, but lost +26tp, +9. My match against David "the Beast" Maugham started well as I managed a very delayed triple +25tp. After ruining my first break chance in game two he decided to Popp (peel me through 1 and 2) my ball in the so I was for hoops 3 and 4, very small chance of getting a triple. It proved overkill as I missed the lift shot and he finished +21tp. In the third game he tried to sextuple, but only missed 3-back after getting four peels. I took a ball around only to watch him hit in and win in two turns, -25tp, +21tp, +17. Danny proved to be the best prepared as he battled with Keith (#4 in the world at the time) and won +13, -6tp, +25tp!


(The Solomon Trophy with our mascots)

Danny continued to take down giants. He played in a near perfect match against the Beast -26tp, +26tp, +26tp as well as taking down Linesy -17tp, +17tp, +25 for a perfect 3-0 record! Paul, Ron, and David were all defeated, while David got a nicce +26tp victory over Tony LeMoignan.
Keith rebounded from his loss to Danny by beating up on me +11tpo, +26tp. My last match against Ian was most unusual.
In the first game, I managed to take the first break around only to watch him hit in and do the same. His second break didn't go so well as he missed position at 2, and after getting it going again he could not get any peels. After a missed lift shot he managed to blob 4-back! I could either play the front ball with an easy break to the peg or play a leave for the back ball. I chose to go to the peg, but he hit the leave and pegged two balls out. Now it was 1v1 with him for 4-back while I was for hoop 1. He actually managed to make 4-back before I made hoop 1, but he had to be careful making punultimate with me around wickets 2 and 3. I managed to get nice close position at 3 as he "deemed" (passed) in corner 2. I decided to be coy and I played into the jaws, then more than halfway through the jaws at three while he waited in corner 2, deeming all the while. I was able to "turn the corner" with three well played shots; making 3 while setting up at 4, making 4, and getting decent position at 5 all in one turn. As I prepared to do the same through 5 and 6, I got him to shoot at me in the jaws at 5. When I eventually set up at 1-back he played to the middle of the north boundary, only 10 yards away! Just the opportunity I was waiting for. Of course, I missed him, allowing him to make penultimate, put me back on th enorth boundary and get position at rover. I had no play but to hit him, now 24 yards away, so I did. I got poition at 1-back and he went back in front of rover. With no margin for error, I made 1-back, hit the 9 yarder I had at him, and ran the sloppiest 2-ball break around to penultimate. I had no rush to rover, so I took off and made rover and escaped to the East boundary. He took position at rover and I could play north of the peg, or shoot at him... I hit him from 13 yards and won, having overcome a 10 hoop deficit in one-ball.
The second game was much more ordinary. I was able to run around on the third turn (three-ball breaks are much easier than two ball breaks, let me tell you). And he missed the lift shot at my three ducks-in-a-row. While I braved multiple heavy downpours, I managed to get my three peels and as I rounded 4-back, a camera crew arrived and was taping me. Not wanting to bore them with ordinary footage, I put my first ever 5th turn triple at risk by just barely running penultimate and having to get Danny to ref a 5 yard sweep shot. I thought, "Just great, the Brits can watch me miss on the news." Thankfully I hit and finished the triple giving me a +2, +26tp victory over #7 in the World.


(The British team, left to right: Ian Lines,
David Maugham, Tony LeMoignan, Ian Burridge,
Jonathan Kirby, Keith Aiton and officiant Colin Irwin)

Meanwhile, Stewart had the most eventful matches against the Beast and Keith. David Maugham showed Stewart Fulford-like perfection with a +26 sxp, +16tp victory. As the matches finished and an actual crowd appeared, Stewart had to take on Keith Aiton. In a scrappy game 1, Stewart gave us something to cheer for with a +19 win over #4 in the world. But Keith took charge with a delayed sextuple ending with a straight triple (rush peeling through 4-back after making 3-back). Stewart started out well in game three, but missed 3-back. Just when we thought we'd seen it all, Keith started the third game with a very wierd play, double loading 3. We all wondered if he would try a quadruple peel out, but Danny said, "Uh-oh, he's gonna do an octuple!" Sure enough, we five Americans sat together watching a near perfect octuple which ended up ahead of Keith's sextuple as he peeled penultimate on the way to 4-back. As Keith pegged out we five students of the game, lead by our team captain, Danny Huneycutt, walked out to the bounadary string and bowed to the master.


While we lost the match 21-6, we played well and learned a lot. We also gained a new US team supporter, a British defecter:


(Our newest fan)

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Croquet Calendar

I'm trying to create a comprehensive calendar of North American croquet events. I would love to have it as an open forum for people to post and edit and 9-wicket, American, Association, or Golf Croquet tournaments.
I have had trouble in the past finding out which tournaments are overlapping or how I could travel to an area once and play in more than one tournament. Hopefully this helps croquet players to better organize their schedule.
Nothing against the USCA's list or Stuart Lawrences schedule or even the Croquet Calendar, but Something that includes all events might be helpful to all players.
With that in mind, check out this Google Calendar.
Or just scroll down as I embedded it at the bottom of this blog.