Croquet Search Trends (April 2010)

Here is the April list for hottest trending croquet keywords that hit CroquetNetwork.com last month:

01. Annapolis Croquet
02. St. John's Croquet
03. Navy croquet
04. Croquet Network
05. Wii Croquet
06. Solomon Trophy 2009
07. Greenwich, Connecticut Croquet
08. Alix Verge
09. Sarasota Croquet Tournament
10. Robert V. Salinas
11. 2010 Croquet National Championship
12. Croquet Southern Cal
13. Peachwood Classic
14. Croquet Champions
15. Shane Botwin
16. New York Croquet Club
17. Morford Mallets
18. Croquet Jokes
19. Carie Shapiro
20. Palm Beach Croquet

Morning Coffee: Mission Hills News, Sunflower Wickets and more

Recent activity and news from the Mission Hills Croquet Club in Rancho Mirage, California as reported by Genie Hendry:

• Ben Rothman was on site from November 2009 thru April 2010 as our contract “Croquet Pro.” It is now OFFICIAL ... Ben will return in November on the Mission Hills Staff and will again be offering lessons, clinics and his valuable expertise in directing our tournaments. During the summer, he’ll be playing in tournaments with fellow TEAM USA members in preparation for the MacRobertson Shield Trophy competition, which will be held in August in England. You can catch Ben at the NA Open at the Sonoma-Cutrer Winery in Windsor, CA, and the entire USA Mac-Rob team at the Rocky Mountain Invitational in Denver, CO. GOOD LUCK GUYS ... GO TEAM USA!!!!!
• Mission Hills’ own Ron Hendry has accepted the USCA Western Region Vice President position from Patrick Sweeney of Portland, Oregon. Patrick has done an outstanding job in representing the West through his participation as VP and by hosting the Western Regional tournament each year. Thanks for all your hard work for croquet, Patrick! The 2010 Western Regional will be held in Seattle, WA, August 26-29. See the USCA website, www.croquetamerica.com, for more details.

• Club President Jim Butts reports Jim Bonacci has “retired” as Club Treasurer and Mike Orgill will take up his responsibilities. Jim commends Bonacci on his diligent, responsive, and almost flawless performance for the past seven years of service to the club. Thanks to Mike for taking over this important job!

The Missouri Croquet Association provided equipment and referees for the First Annual Mahaffie Sunflower Wickets golf croquet fundraiser on Saturday morning in Olathe, Kansas. The single-elimination event had 32 players participate and reportedly raised $4000 for an expansion of the main building on the historic Mahaffie Farmstead. More details and photos located on the MCA website.

Scroll down this article to find details on a Bennington, Vermont summer croquet league.

Completed registration forms are due by June 4. Registration for the season is $50 per person plus a membership in the Park McCullough House Association, which is available at a special discounted rate to croquet league members ($30 individual, $20 senior/student, $50 couple/family).

Registration forms can be picked up at the Park McCullough House, and should be dropped off with check at the kick-off party on June 10. For more information, call 442-5441.

The Buffalo Rising website reports that The Olmsted Conservancy and the Buffalo Croquet Club are hosting an open house (more details and a great night croquet photo):

... on Sunday, May 16, from 1pm-5pm, adults are welcome to join in on a round of six and nine wicket croquet. The equipment will be provided, and families are encouraged to come out and watch. By hosting an open house, the conservancy is hoping to attract more players and leagues similar to the Buffalo Croquet Club, which is an organized men's league that plays every Monday night during the summer.

The West River Wickets Club recently appeared in a feature on hometownannapolis.com. Excerpt:

Around 2004, the West River Wickets Croquet Club was officially born. The group now boasts over two-dozen active members and a handful of trophies and titles from tournaments up and down the East Coast.

May Croquet Poll: How Do You Prefer To Receive Croquet News?

This month's poll is a critical one and can be found in the right navigation column or by clicking here. Please encourage others to participate as this will help determine future plans for Croquet Network.

Last's month's Annapolis Cup Poll final results:

Morning Coffee: Davidson GC Champs, Egyptian Open, Jim Carey and WCF Action

The Davidson team of Mac Gilliland and Mark Millard went 9-0 at the Collegiate National Championships to claim the Collegiate GC National Championship at the Merion Cricket Club in Haverford, Pennsylvania. The duo faced off against Navy in the final match.

“The competition was intense, but we made it through,” Gilliland said. “All of our matches were close, including five wins by only one wicket. Mark’s go-for-it attitude and my experience at the tournament made a deadly combination.”

The WCF has been in the news quite a bit this past week, which makes it particularly frustrasting that they've broken their news module. Once ahead of the curve for all of the association sites, their RSS feed is now broken on the site and there are two stories that I would normally direct link. Oh well, let's move on ...

The resignation of Brian Storey as WCF Secretary General and subsequent appointment of Chris Clarke as his replacement brewed up a firestorm of controversy on the Nottingham e-mail list. You can see the offical release on the WCF website. To get a rundown on the overall story, check out the letter on the "Secretary-General" post on the Croquet World forum.

The 2010 Egyptian Open Golf Croquet tournament is now open for registration. The event takes place at the Gezirah Club and Federation Lawns, Cairo from October 1-6. Confirmed entries include:

Ahmed Nars
Reg Bamford
David Openshaw
Dick Strover
Leo McBride
Sherif Abdelwahab
Len Canavan
Wayne Davies
Ed Cunnningham
Evan Newell

Interested players should contact the Egyptian Croquet Federation Vice-President, Amir Ramsis.

Despite the spelling, Jim Carey tweeted about croquet over the weekend:

"Said 'Yes' 2 crochet 2day! I knocked my cousin's teeth out with 1 of those mallets 38yrs ago. He stood right behind me!"

April Croquet Links: Virginia-West Virginia and Russian Croquet

Virginia-West Virginia Croquet -- Website covering croquet in Virginia and West Virginia with updated district schedule.

Croquet-Club (Russia) -- Great Russian site that is currently promoting a croquet photo contest. Use Google Translator to interpret the text.

All links above will now appear in the Croquet Links section on the navigation bar at the top of the site. Any links back are greatly appreciated.

Morning Coffee: Huneycutt, Fulford and Mulliner

Danny Huneycutt protected his #1 U.S. ranking by snagging a 2-1 match victory over Ben Rothman at the USCA Association Rules National Championship at Mission Hills in California this past weekend. Rothman didn't get blanked though as he partnered with Doug Grimsley to take a 2-1 victory (+13tp, -14tp, +17tp) over Bob Van Tassell and Johnny Mitchell for the doubles title. You can check out Rothman's full report in the Croquet World Online Forum.

In weekend U.K. action, Rob Fulford took the Colchester Open with a 6-2 record that was matched only by David Maugham. Fulford won the head-to-head match to claim the title.

Earlier this month, Stephen Mulliner took the Surbiton Golf Croquet tournament with a 7-4, 7-3 victory over Nelson Morrow in the finals. Knockout results:

Stephen Mulliner beat William Gee 7-1 7-4
Andrew Johnson beat Roger Barnacle 7-2 6-7 7-6
Howard Cheyne beat Dick Stover 7-5 5-7 7-4
Nelson Morrow beat Jamie Burch 7-4 7-2

Mulliner beat Johnson 7-3 7-4
Morrow beat Cheyne 7-5 7-6

Mulliner beat Morrow 7-4 7-3

Croquet Video: Fewest Shots in Association Croquet

Members of the Fylde Croquet Club answer a question from the CA's Croquet Gazette. What is the fewest number of shots needed to complete a game of association croquet. Make your guess before the video. Not sure if it is really possible to have a makeable double stake shot with the balls resting together after completing an Irish peel throught the rover wicket ... thoughts?

Morning Coffee: Annapolis Cup, Hayes Center and USCA Association Championship

Available for purchase, click for detailsSt. John's ruled the Annapolis Cup again beating Navy 5-0 last Saturday. St. John's now leads the series 23-5 and have pushed their current streak to five straight. Probably the biggest surprise to come out of the event is that the St. John's president took the opportunity to trash the sport of croquet:

"St. John's President Chris Nelson proclaimed croquet the "slowest sport" and invited the campus' guests to 'enjoy the picnic and watch the grass grow.'"

The Rutherford B. Hayes Center Croquet Club continues to generate headlines in their local media. The week they got a write-up on their season openining session.

The USCA Association National Championship kicked off day one yesterday at the Mission Hills Club in Rancho Mirage, California. Check the Croquet World forum for daily reports. Here is the line-up:

Championship Singles
Danny Huneycutt
Ben Rothman
Doug Grimsley
Jeff Soo
Rich Lamm
Brian Cumming
Paul Bennett
Jim Bast  
Paul Billings
Johnny Mitchell
Bob Van Tassell
Ron Lloyd
Jim Butts
Charles Smith
Ron Hendry
Steve Scalpone
Steve Summer
Martyn Selman
Steve Johnston
Tony Reaves

First Flight Singles
Donna Dixon
Dick Engebretson
Marvin Salles
Phyllis    Butts
Sheri Foroughi
Mary Rodeberg
Jane Beharriel
Steve Mossbrook
Judy Dahlstom
Jean Engebretson
Toni Kemp

Doubles Championship
Rothman/Grimsley
Soo/Lamm
Cumming/Bast
Bennett/Billings
Huneycutt/Summer
Mitchell/Van Tassell
Butts/Hendry
Scalpone/Selman
Smith/Johnston
Lloyd/Reaves

First Flight Doubles
Engebretson/Salles
Dixon/Mossbrook
Rodeberg/Behariel
Dahlstrom/Kemp