Happy Holidays from Croquet Network to players and supporters of the sport across the world. It was an exciting year in 2023 as six major international events took place between November 2022 and the end of November 2023. As we wrap up our 16th year covering the game of croquet, I am pleased to present our annual Top 10 Croquet News Articles for 2023 based on total readership.
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2023 GC Women’s World Champion Jamie Gumbrell During Block Play. Photo by Andrew Moss.
Unstoppable: Gumbrell is Women's GC World Champion
After eight days of intense competition from players across the world, Australia’s Jamie Gumbrell claimed the 2023 WCF Women’s Golf Croquet World Championship with a 7-3, 7-5, 5-7, 7-2 win over England’s Rachel Gee in yesterday’s final at the Sussex County Croquet Club in Southwick, England.
Read MoreWCF: U21 Eligibility and Women's Events
Over the coming months, the World Croquet Federation (WCF) Management Committee (MC) will be seeking to agree to new dates for each WCF Event due to be held from 2021 to 2023 with the respective event hosts and will announce these dates when available.
Read MoreCroquet Network Magazine - Back Issue #5 Now Available in Print
Croquet Network Issue 5:
Croquet Network Magazine #5 - March 2010 issue featuring an interview with WCF Women's World Golf Croquet Champion, Alix Verge plus a Paddy Chapman Profile and a feature on the Wine, Wickets and Wheels Golf Croquet Event to be held in July at the Hayes Presidential Center in Fremont, Ohio.
Croquet News: Women's GC Commentary, USCA Club Workshop & Rothman's Calendar
Rosemary Graham and Margaret Melville posted a follow-up in the Croquet World forum regarding tactics and strategy from the Australian players perspective from the recently held WCF Women's World Golf Croquet Championship held in Cairnlea.
Read MoreOpening Game (December 2009)
The video above is the last segment of the game five final between Iman El Faransawi and Alix Verge for the Women's Golf Croquet World Championship. If you haven't already, make sure you view the video before you go any further. Otherwise, I'll probably spoil what is a great viewing moment for any fan of croquet.
I suppose most of the croquet world already knew that Alix Verge had won the event, but the video taken by Chris Clarke truly caught me off guard. I think a lot of us would have been expecting a clearing of yellow there at the end. The double jump for the win takes your breath away.
Overall, I think the video series and following that championship event through the message boards provided a nice kickoff for the month of December, which by the way is still patiently awaiting the arrival of the December issue of Croquet Network magazine. Yes, things are still moving along, but it is an ambitious leap forward for this particular issue and the nature of this collaborative work means that we've seen a few delays. Let me just say that the release is near and hopefully it will be worth the wait.
On the website side of things, there was more planned for November than could really be posted. So, you may have noticed a few of the standard monthly posts didn't make it. I'm feeling a little more caught up on the web side, so we should get that back on track this month. Now, if we can just get this magazine lined out, everyone wil be happy. In the meantime, enjoy the site and have a great December!
Dylan Goodwin
Croquet Video of the Month (November 2009)
Chris Clarke provided this video of the WCF Women's World Golf Championship in Cairnlea, Australia. The video has scenes from the opening ceremonies, a demo game and day one play.
Upcoming Tournaments / November-December 2009
November 2009
Oct 29-Nov 1 / West Indies Croquet Championship / St. Croix, VI
Les Kelley - lkelley@nnldlaw.com (340.773.9363)
Oct 30-Nov 1 / SCCC Fall Invitational (Singles Only) / Venice, FL
Jackie Jones - crokpeople@aol.com (941.484.3206)
Nov 04–08 / Royal Palm Yacht & Country Club 13th Croquet Invitational / Boca Raton, FL
Norma Truman, TM - (561-368-9291) tntboca@aol.com
Nov 08–14 / USCA National Championships / Rancho Mirage, CA
Erica Sherman - (561-478-0760) tournamentusca@aol.com
Nov 17–21 / USCA Seniors & Masters Championship / West Palm Beach, FL
Erica Sherman - (561-478-0760) tournamentusca@aol.com
Nov 21–28 / WCF Womens Golf Croquet World Championship / Cairnlea, Victoria, Australia
Nov 30-Dec 02 / USCA National Golf Championship / West Palm Beach, FL
Erica Sherman - (561-478-0760) tournamentusca@aol.com
December 2009
Dec 03–06 / USCA Florida Regional Championship / West Palm Beach, FL
Erica Sherman - (561-478-0760) tournamentusca@aol.com
Dec 03 / USCA vs CA President's Match / Rancho Mirage, CA
Dec 04–07 / WCF Solomon Trophy / Rancho Mirage, CA
Rich Lamm - (415-928-5525) richlamm@comcast.com
Dec 04–06 / SCCC Doubles Invitational / Venice, FL
Jackie Jones - (941-484-3206 or 941-416-1009) crokpeople@aol.com
Dec 08-12 / 2009 US Open / Rancho Mirage, CA
Stan Patmor - (602-955-1547 or 866-252-2135) patmor@fastq.com
Croquet News Clips: Longman Cup, Kactus Creek & Women's GC Championship Line-up
Croquet on Film tipped this video of the Longman Cup club competition held in England and Wales. The play is bit difficult to follow, but I was pretty impressed with the trophies at the end. A description of the competition is provided on this Watford (Cassiobury) Croquet Club page.
Kactus Creek Invitational Results / A new club competition was introduced in the Kansas City metro area over the past weekend. Players from the Kactus Creek Croquet Club in Parkville, Missouri squared off against a group of Minnesota players. Matt Smith reports that Minnesota "kicked the tar" out of Missouri 6-3 in singles and 2-1 in doubles.
2009 WCF World Women's Golf Croquet Championship Roster / The WCF announced line-ups for the women's GC championship to be held in Cairnlea, Victoria, Australia November 21-28.
Players of Note
Iman Elfaransawi - Egypt (reigning hampion);
Marwa Mostafa Mohamed Youssef - Egypt;
Hemmat Mostafa Abdelmoneim Mostafa - Egypt
Jenny Clarke - New Zealand
Line-ups By Country:
Australia
Alix Verge
Rosemary Graham
Wendy Dickson
Creina Dawson
Tricia Devlin
Pam Gentle
Liz Fleming
Anna Miller
Christine Pont
Margaret Melville
Anne Quinn
Kay Chynoweth
Susan Sands
Wilma Bonnar
Judy Evans
Rosemary Newsham
Genny Vandersluys
Jacky McDonald (Wild Card)
Elizabeth Allen (Wild Card)
Judy Wembridge (Wild Card)
Sue Beattie (Wild Card)
Sue Leitinger (Wild Card)
Egypt
Iman Elfaransawi (reigning hampion)
Marwa Mostafa Mohamed Youssef
Hemmat Mostafa Abdelmoneim Mostafa
Manal Ali Mohsen
Shaden Okasha Ahmed Abdelkader Okasha
Soumaya Saad Salama Mohamed El-Eryan
Nihal Ahmed Sayed Ahmed
Sarah Riad
Salwa Saleh Ahmed Shaaban
Sherine Mohammed Hamdi Hamed
Abir Moustafa Abdelhamid
Samia Mohamed Ali Mahmoud
England
Kath Burt
Teresa Burt
Ros Pimlott
Ireland
Jane Shorten
New Zealand
Jenny Clarke
Mavis Brogden
Phyllis Young
Dallas Cooke
Ann Sharp
Alison Wall
Erica Stephens
Marlene McCaa
Sue Roberts
Gwen Salisbury
Laura Whittaker
Ashley Cooke
Scotland
Jola Jurasinska
South Africa
Carole Jackson
Clare Stableford
Anne Oxton
USA
Anne Taves
Josie Jackson
First Alternates
Nerida Taylor - Australia
Marga Podnieks - Australia
Upcoming Tournaments / October-November 2009
OCTOBER 2009
Oct 02-03 / Mallet Mayhem 09 (9-Wicket)
Rockford, IL / www.tinkercottage.com
Oct 08-11 / Country Boys Croquet Tournament
Lexington, NC / Danny Huneycutt - (336-764-4554) huney1322@triad.rr.com
Oct 15-18 / Texas Croquet Classic (US)
Dallas, TX / Bob Knowlton - robertk@baylorhealth.edu (214.750.8722)
Oct 20-25 / Coastal Croquet Clubs Fall Invitational (US)
Hilton Head, SC / Avril Nicholson - avril@sc.rr.com (843.705.2929)
Oct 22-25 / Selection Eights (AC)
West Palm Beach, FL / Rich Lamm - richlamm@comcast.net or Jerry Stark - TPRover@aol.com
Oct 23–25 / Jekyll Island Invitational
Jekyll Island, GA / Dan Lott - lott1965@bellsouth.net (912.506.8744)
Oct 29-Nov 1 / West Indies Croquet Championship (US?)
St. Croix, VI / Les Kelley - lkelley@nnldlaw.com (340.773.9363)
Oct 30- Nov 1 / SCCC Fall Invitational (Singles Only) (US?)
Venice, FL / Jackie Jones - crokpeople@aol.com (941.484.3206)
NOVEMBER 2009
Nov 04–08 / Royal Palm Yacht & Country Club 13th Croquet Invitational
Boca Raton, FL / Norma Truman, TM - (561-368-9291) tntboca@aol.com
Nov 08–14 / USCA National Championships
Rancho Mirage, CA / Erica Sherman - (561-478-0760) tournamentusca@aol.com
Nov 17–21 / USCA Seniors & Masters Championship
West Palm Beach, FL / Erica Sherman - (561-478-0760) tournamentusca@aol.com
Nov 21–28 / WCF Womens Golf Croquet World Championship
Cairnlea, Victoria, Australia
Nov 30-Dec 02 / USCA National Golf Championship
West Palm Beach, FL / Erica Sherman - (561-478-0760) tournamentusca@aol.com