Morning Coffee: Nine-Wicket Dates, Desert Classic and Egyptian Balls

Click to visit CNet StoreWelcome to 2011 folks! Here's to a year filled with croquet. Catching up on recent news ...

Midwest Regional VP Matt Griffith has confirmed that the Missouri Croquet Association will again host the USCA Nine-Wicket National tournament in Kansas City. Dates have been set for September 16-18.

The Mission Hills Club has a flyer out with details on the upcoming Desert Classic Association event to be held January 25-29 in Rancho Mirage, California. Mission Hills has a busy schedule and you check out more events on their club website -- http://www.missionhillscroquet.com/

In case you missed it yesterday, the USCA has announced the 2011 Solomon Trophy team.

Bob Alman has posted a feature article on the upcoming International Polo Club Palm Beach Invitational detailing the choice to utilize Egyptian GC balls for the event. In addition, Bob has posted profiles for all of the players that will participate in the tournament, which has an $8,000 purse.

Leo Nikora posted a fascinating set of photos of John Solomon completing a single peel during the 1969 MacRobertson Shield on the Maui Club site.

And for the last item of the day, this blog link popped up in my news feed and claims to offer a comprehensive list of movies that feature croquet. Certainly, such an article is a good idea, but I'm pretty sure there are some missing from the list. One afternoon, I caught what seemed to be some 1970's romance movie that featured a brief bit of a croquet match in the background. However, I can't remember the title (help me out by commenting if you know). Fortunately, there is a better list of croquet movies provided in this 2005 article on Croquet World Online (reprinted from the English Croquet Gazette).

Upcoming Croquet Tournaments / December-April 2011

December 2010

Dec 1–5 / USCA Florida Regional Championship / Sarasota County Croquet Club, Sarasota, FL
Erica Sherman / 561-478-0760 /

Dec 7-11 / 2010 US Open (AC) / Mission Hills Country Club, Rancho Mirage, California
Stan Patmor / 602-955-1547 or 800-294-0875 /  / TD Rory Kelley rkelley@postsignaz.com

January 2011

Jan 7–9 / SCCC High Handicap Adjuster (Singles Only) / Pinebrook Park, Venice, FL
Charlotte Neagle / 941-412-8828 / charlotte.neagle@gmail.com

Jan 17–22 / Palm Beach CC Invitational / National Croquet Center, West Palm Beach, FL
Archie Peck / 561-818-6039 / archiepeck@aol.com

Jan 25–29 / Desert Classic (AC)/ Mission Hills Country Club, Rancho Mirage, CA
Ron Hendry / 760-832-7681 / 760-567-6236 / croquetca@dc.rr.com / Ben Rothman, TD

Jan 26–30 / Beach Club Invitational / The Beach Club, Palm Beach, FL
Stewart Jackson / 561-514-9007 / 917-215-5428 / lequipe@aol.com

February 2011

Feb 2–5 / Desert Adventure Golf Croquet Tournament (GC) / Mission Hills Country Club, Rancho Mirage, CA
Ron Hendry / 760-832-7681 / 760-567-6236 / croquetca@dc.rr.com / Ben Rothman, TD

Feb 3–6 / SCCC Winter Singles Invitational / Pinebrook Park, Venice, FL
Charlotte Neagle / 941-412-8828 / charlotte.neagle@gmail.com

Feb 8–12 / Peyton Ballenger Invitational / Croquet Club at PGA National, Palm Beach Gardens, FL
Missy Diack / 561-630-0119 / missydiack@comcast.net / John Osborn, TD

Feb 17–20 / Green Gables Croquet Club Palm Beach Winter Tournament / Palm Beach CC, Palm Beach, FL
Clair Flinn / 732-449-2933 / 908-875-5439 / bracer5@msn.com / Herb Roemmele, TM

Feb 18–20 / SCCC Club Doubles/Singles Championship / Pinebrook Park, Venice, FL
Charlotte Neagle / 941-412-8828 / charlotte.neagle@gmail.com / continued on March 18-20, 2011

Feb 23–27 / 4th Annual Int'l Polo Club Palm Beach Invitational (GC) / International Polo Club, Wellington, FL
Don Jacobson, Host / 561-254-0999 / donjay16@aol.com / Mohammad Kamal, TD / $8000 purse, $5000

Feb 24–27 / 17th Audubon Croquet Invitational / Audubon Country Club, Naples, FL
John Richardson, TM / 239-653-9705 / 416-648-6249 / john_richardson@manulife.com / Fred Jones, TD

Feb 24–26 / Mar-a-Lago Doubles Invitational / Mar-a-Lago, Palm Beach, FL
John Osborn / 561-762-5904 / twenty6to2@aol.com

March 2011

Mar 1–5 / Mission Hills Invitational / Mission Hills Country Club, Rancho Mirage, CA
Ron Hendry / 760-832-7681 / 760-567-6236 / croquetca@dc.rr.com / Ben Rothman, TD

Mar 3–6 / Charles Steuber Invitational / National Croquet Center, West Palm Beach, FL
Archie Peck / 561-818-6039 / archiepeck@aol.com

Mar 11–13 / Boca Grande Invitational / Gasparilla Inn & Boca Bay, Boca Grande, FL
Blaine Davis, TM / 941-964-1092 / 201-506-1982 / blainedavis@att.net / Fred Jones, TD

Mar 13–15 / USCA Croquet Week Golf Croquet Championship (GC) / National Croquet Center, West Palm Beach, FL
Erica Sherman / 561-478-0760 / tournamentusca@aol.com

Mar 15–16 / Hammock Dunes Club Championship / Hammock Dunes Club, Palm Coast, FL
Susan Cole / 386-986-4496 / spcole@cfl.rr.com / Ted Knopf, TD

Mar 16–20 / USCA Club Teams Championship / National Croquet Center, West Palm Beach, FL
Erica Sherman / 561-478-0760 / tournamentusca@aol.com

Mar 18–20 / SCCC Club Doubles/Singles Championship / Pinebrook Park, Venice, FL
Charlotte Neagle / 941-412-8828 / charlotte.neagle@gmail.com /continued from February 18-20, 2011

Mar 28 – Apr 3 / USCA AC Rules National Championship (AC) / National Croquet Center, West Palm Beach, FL
Erica Sherman / 561-478-0760 / tournamentusca@aol.com

April 2011

Apr 5–9 / USCA Western Regional Championship / Mission Hills Country Club, Rancho Mirage, CA
Erica Sherman / 561-478-0760 / tournamentusca@aol.com / Ben Rothman, TD

Apr 8–10 / SCCC Spring Invitational (Singles Only) / Pinebrook Park, Venice, FL
Charlotte Neagle / 941-412-8828 / charlotte.neagle@gmail.com

Apr 14–16 / Mar-a-Lago Singles Invitational / Mar-a-Lago, Palm Beach, FL
John Osborn / 561-762-5904 / twenty6to2@aol.com

Apr 27–30 / Dorthy Fosse Invitational / Hammock Dunes Club, Palm Coast, FL
Susan Cole / 386-986-4496 / spcole@cfl.rr.com / Fred Jones, TD