The Buffalo Croquet Club is excited to announce its 7th Annual 6-Wicket Invitational Tournament, taking place from August 17-20, 2023. This USCA-sanctioned American 6-Wicket tournament will be held at Delaware Park and will feature singles and doubles matches, with white attire required.
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Patmore Wins the 2022 Buffalo Invitational
After four years in one player's hands, the "Bronze Buffalo" has a new champion. Chris Patmore (center) won the 2022 Buffalo Croquet Club Sixth Annual 6-Wicket Invitational this past August, unseating Tim Rapuano (right), who has held the title since 2018.
Read MoreCompetitive Croquet Returns to Buffalo
Competitive croquet returns to Buffalo this week for the 3rd Annual Buffalo Croquet Club 6-Wicket Invitational. Over 30 players, coming from New York City, Boston, California, Florida and Canada will arrive in Delaware Park for one of the sport’s most popular tournaments.
Some of the country’s top players will be in the Queen City, including returning champion John H. Young III, of Bermuda, whose grandfather helped invent this American version of croquet; Chris Patmore, who originally rose through the croquet ranks of Britain; and Rich Curtis, the former president of the U.S. Croquet Association.
Elite Croquet Returns to Buffalo
After last year’s widely publicized Buffalo Croquet Club Invitational, top croquet players from across the nation and overseas are returning to Delaware Park in August.
The three-day tournament drew widespread acclaim and attention last summer for both its on-court competition and off-court festivities. During the day, players ranging from adolescents to elderly, men and women, competed nonstop from morning to evening. At night, they hosted cocktail parties and galas at local homes and hotels.
“It can sometimes feel like a party-and-play marathon,” said Tournament Manager Ryan Thompson, a 40-year-old attorney who lives in the Elmwood Village. “You wake up at sunrise, play croquet, have lunch at a bar, play more croquet, and then have a different party every night. Sometimes it’s the 80-year-olds who are last to bed.”
Soo #05: AC Nationals Down to Four
Ian HarshmanIn the singles quarterfinals, Danny Huneycutt's uncharacteristically shaky form continued, which allowed me to win 2-0. Dan Pailas gave plenty of fight but likewise went down 2-0 to Stuart Lawrence. Brian Cumming v. Chris Patmore opened with a quick Cumming triple, but Patmore fought back with an extended 3-ball ending and leveled the match. The third game was more error-prone, Cumming winning. Simon Jenkins v. Stephen Morgan had some similarities, particularly in the error-prone game 3. Morgan survived, ending an impressive run by Jenkins, who had started the singles blocks 0-4.
The singles plate is underway as a flexible Swiss. Jim Bast and Wayne Davies are undefeated.
The pegged-down doubles match had to wait for the end of the Jenkins v. Morgan quarterfinal, leaving just over an hour to play. The match has once again been pegged down in game 2, and will resume first thing Friday.
Jeff Soo vs Stuart Lawrence
Brian Cumming vs Stephen Morgan
2017 USCA AC Nationals Singles Knockout:
croquetscores.com/2017/ac/us-national-championship/singles-ko
Soo #03: Tiebreakers Dead Ahead
Mike TaylorWhile there were some faster games today, there were still plenty of games going to time, including a 14-11 barn-burner in which Jenkins played Aunt Emma tactics to beat Pailas. Pailas has now beaten the top four seeds in his block but lost to two of the lower-ranked players; he can guarantee a spot in the knockout by winning his final game. A four-way tie for second place remains possible in this block. As does a four-way tie for fourth place. Which could also happen in the other block. The manager rather hopes that none of these scenarios transpires. But it does look highly likely that playoff games will be needed to determine the Elite Eight.
Some key matches for the final block games:
Huneycutt v. Lawrence: Lawrence is already in the KO; Huneycutt needs a win, or a loss from Bast.
Bast v. Osborn: An Osborn win and a Huneycutt loss creates at least a three-way tie for fourth in Block A
Patmore v. Morgan: Morgan is already in; Patmore assures himself a spot by winning
Cumming v. Taylor: Taylor desperately wants a win, although even with a loss he could still make a playoff
Jenkins v. Harshman: Jenkins still has an outside chance to make a playoff with a win; Harshman can guarantee at least a playoff spot with a win
Abdelwahab in Control of US GP
Looking at the current USCA Grand Prix standings, it appears as though Sherif Abdelwahab is on his way to claiming the 2016 race. The standings below were pulled from the USCA website on December 18, 2016, and show that Abdelwahab is just ahead of Stuart Lawrence. From our last glance at the end of August, the positions are exactly switched.
Lawrence Leads USCA Grand Prix
Heading into fall Stuart Lawrence now leads the 2016 USCA Grand Prix. Our last look at the USCA Grand Prix race was at the end of the April and this snapshot taken on August 31 has a number of new players in the rankings:
Read MoreMorning Coffee: 2016 AC Worlds Coverage
It's been an entertaining eight days of croquet at the 2016 WCF World Championship in West Palm Beach, Florida. As we prepare for a few remaining block finishes and the tiebreaker, we'll note that Mark Avery (9-0) (ENG) and Simon Jenkins (6-3) (USA) have made it all the way from the qualifier to the knockout. Also from the qualifier, Ted Salter (5-4) (AUS) could make the tiebreaker playoff, if Chris Patmore can defeat Ian Lines in the last remaining game for Block F.
Read More2016 AC Worlds - Day 3 Block Standings
Day three had a flurry of action at the 2016 WCF Association World Championship and you can see below a few tiebreakers will be on deck. Block F and Block H have interesting unfinished game scenarios. In Block F, Ian Lines (ENG) can avoid a tiebreaker playoff with Ted Salter (AUS) if he can finish with a win over
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