Debbie Lines, Author at World Croquet Federation

2024 Golf Croquet World Championship – Winner: Blake Fields (USA)

Well done to Blake Fields who won the final in the 5th game with an impressive 7:0.

Robert Fletcher, Silver medallist, had looked very impressive throughout, but on the day could not convert his earlier wins into a Gold medal.

Our semi-finalists, getting bronze medals, are Euan Burridge and Khaled Kamel.

Shield: Edmund Fordyce (NZL) over Stephen Morgan (USA) 7-3, 7-5
Bowl: Sherif Abdelwahab (USA) over Andres Alvarez-Sala (ESP) 7-5, 7-3
Plate: James Galpin (ENG) over Patricio Jnr Garay (ESP) 7-5, 6-7, 7-6

Thank you to everyone at Chesapeake Bay Croquet Club, the USCA as the organising host, and to all the many volunteers who gave up their time to make this a successful event.

The full results can be found on CroquetScores: 2024 GC World Championship Full Results

GC World Championship Sees 120 Players Compete Over 14 Days in Virginia

In a stunning display of power croquet, 18-year-old American Blake Fields claimed the 2024 WCF Golf Croquet World Championship with a 7-5, 7-5, 3-7, 5-7, 7-0 finals victory over Australia’s Robert Fletcher at the Chesapeake Bay Croquet Club (CBCC) near Hartfield, Va. The championship match, held on October 26, 2024, was the culmination of two intense weeks of competitive play.

With Fletcher as the #1 world-ranked player in both AC and GC and factoring in his dominant play throughout the event, the possibility of #84 Fields taking a win in the final would have been unthinkable even at the start of the knockout. But for those following the tournament, it became clear that Fields was gearing up for another level during his quarterfinal match against Brian Lozano of Mexico.

Including the qualifying event, 120 players participated in the world championship and most seemed to have been awed by the challenge presented by the Quadway hoops set in the hard base at the CBCC. The consensus opinion was that the hoops offered the greatest hoop-running challenge to date in world title history.

But against Lozano, Fields went beyond the “big game” and demonstrated that power could indeed overcome the “unsolvable” Quadways more often than not — if you stick to your guns. The match also provided intrigue as Lozano had been the club pro at Mission Hills Croquet Club in Rancho Mirage, Calif., where Fields learned the game and is now the club pro.

“Brian was extremely important in my development of the game,” Fields says. “We played games together every day and talked about strategy and mental approaches. He introduced me to some books about psychology and proper ways to display myself as a gentleman on the court.”

The best-of-five kicked off with Fields claiming game one 7-6. Lozano came back with his own 7-6 win. Fields then won game three with a 7-5 score, but when the “teacher” took game four, 7-3, to level the match, it looked like the power strategy approach might have finally played out.

Only that wasn’t the case. Fields remained calm and steady, showing little emotion in a game five that played out under increasing darkness. It was a true dogfight — an epic match that went to the fishhook with Fields getting a 7-6 victory to advance.

Over the short night, fans wondered how Field’s extreme power game would hold up against the traditional Egyptian power game of highly ranked Khaled Kamel. Kamel would be coming off his own adventures in the quarterfinals after going five games against American Tom Balding. In that match, Kamel reversed a 6-5 disadvantage in the decider at Hoop 12 with a super-clear that left his ball legally set up in front of Hoop 13, plus the advantage at 12. He took 12 and after both of Balding’s distant clears failed to connect, Kamel claimed the 7-6 win to advance to the last four.

Moving to the semifinal, all questions about the matchup were answered quickly. Fields was in the zone and his relentless power game wore Kamel down as he took the match in three games 7-4, 7-4, 7-1 to earn a spot in the finals.

Fletcher’s path was far less complicated as he hadn’t lost a game in the knockout, and notably only had one game loss in block play. His form looked near perfect as he took out 2019 World Champion Ben Rothman (USA) 7-6, 7-1, 7-2, in the quarterfinals. In the semifinal, he would go up against England’s Euan Burridge. Burridge had been a sensation as well taking out eventual Bowl winner Sherif Abdelwahab (USA) in round one, then defending champion Matthew Essick (USA) 7-6, 6-7, 7-2 in round two before knocking off Spain’s Jose Riva 7-5, 7-5, 7-1. But in the semifinal, Fletcher’s excellent form continued as he defeated Burridge in three straight, 7-3, 7-2, 7-1.

That set up a fascinating final. Fletcher looked flawless, demonstrating power, tact and precision as needed throughout the event. On the other side, Fields was playing with a level of confidence and power rarely seen in the sport. The conventional wisdom indicated that Fletcher’s form and experience would likely overcome the mega-power game of Fields.

That theory came apart relatively quickly, though, as Fields took game one 7-5. For the first time in the event, Fletcher found himself playing from behind in a match. Fields continued his solid play and got game two 7-5. Was it going to be a sweep? No. Fletcher fought back 7-3 in game three to stay alive as Fields started showing some signs of slowing down with a few misses on his signature power clears.

After a lunch break, Fletcher evened with a 7-5 win to force a decider. So, the storyline seemed back on track as many GC followers felt like game five would favor the more experienced Fletcher. Still, even with the game four loss, Fields seemed to be getting his monster swing back online. Sure enough, Fields was able to jawz at Hoop 1 and that ended with Fletcher peeling him through unintentionally. The same thing happened at Hoop 2 and Fields dutifully converted the advantage at Hoop 3 to a 3-0 lead. A battle ensued at Hoop 4, but Fields claimed that one as well. Once it got to 5-0, momentum was in play it didn’t take much longer to slam the door with a 7-0 victory to claim the world championship title.

After the match, Fields spoke about the importance of winning the first two games. “I knew I could not show any fear or be afraid facing the number one player in the world,” says Fields. “Winning the first two games was my way to make a statement and show that I came to win and not just try my best and see what happens.”

Besides being the youngest player to claim the GC world championship title, the victory also represented the third straight win for a U.S. player in the event, following Rothman’s win in 2019 and Essick’s title in 2022. The U.S. is now second on the list of GC world titles won following Egypt with nine total titles. South Africa has two and Ireland has one.

Fields says, “Keeping the winning pattern going and winning our third title in a row is very crucial for U.S. croquet. We have proven to have the best croquet players in the world and that we always come to perform. We challenge each other to be better. I can personally say that Matthew and Ben have raised my game to another level because I am competitive and never want to lose, so I had to perform at a higher level to overcome failure. They also are extremely willing to share their knowledge and be supportive.”

Commenting on the impact of the U.S. three-peat, Rothman says, “It means nothing for visibility unless we use this opportunity. The USCA and the croquet community in general need to help spread the word. Croquet is for all ages. Croquet is for all genders. We need more publicity and marketing to show the country that people of all ages should learn the game and they can play with the best in the world.”

From a competition standpoint, he notes that the U.S. team has never been stronger. He says, “We will go to the World Team Championships with the best team we’ve ever had with a roster that will include the three most recent world champions. We just won the Solomon Trophy with our youngest AC team and Blake could bring our average age down even more in the future because he also plays AC and has completed triple peels in competition.”

USCA President Damon Bidencope says, “The USCA is very proud of Blake’s effort and success. For the USCA to have the last three GC World Champions is fabulous. The standout performances by many of our USCA members in progressing through the event is due in no small part to the USCA providing events for competition, High-Performance Talent Development Programs and the supplemental funding of representative teams through the Lee Olsen Fund. Without these fundamental platforms for development reaching the heights we have would not be possible. The engagement of youthful talent is vital to the long-term success of the game.”

Tournament report by Dylan Goodwin, publisher of the USCA Croquet News.
[The WCF thank Dylan for kindly allowing us to publish his article here as well].

Main Event

The 2024 Golf Croquet World Championship will be held in Virginia, USA at the Chesapeake Bay Croquet Club between Friday 18th October and Saturday 26th October 2024.

We are very excited that the WCF is able to stage this World Championship at the Chesapeake Bay Croquet Club, the largest club in the world, with 24 lawns.

The Event capacity is 80 players.

The entry fee for this event is £153 per player.
This is based on a rate of £17 per player per day for 9 days.

Qualifying Competition

The qualifier will be held at the same venue between the four days of 13th- 16th October. There are 40 places available. The top four finishes will go through to the Main Championship.

To enter, apply via the USCA website using this link: Qualifier Entry

Qualifier Allocation date: 14th July 2024
Qualifier Closing date: 29th September 2024

Clothing

Shirts with collars and sleeves are required. Players are invited to wear their WCF-approved national player uniforms. Otherwise, predominantly white clothing is required (except for footwear, hats, and rain clothing).

Welcome Ceremony, registration and Practice

The welcome ceremony will be on Thursday 17th October 2024. Players should plan to arrive soon after lunch for registration. Practice will be available.

Social

There wil be a dinner and other socials arranged for during the event. These will be published on the Event page of the USCA website nearer the time: www.croquetamerica.com

Balls and Hoops

Dawson balls with be used.
Hoops are expected to be Quadways.

Payment

Details on how to pay will be sent out to players shortly after the closing date.

Main Event Dates
Invitation Date	22 January 2024	This is the date that Members will be formally invited to send players to participate in this event.
Response Date	19 March 2024	This is the date by which Member nominations for Ranking and Wild Card places must have been received by the WCF Management Committee. Members must also specify the number of Membership Places they wish to take up and RCO's should advise if they would like to request a Membership Place.
Allocation Date	2 April 2024	The World Ranking List to be used to determine the initial allocation of Ranking Places is that published at the end of the Allocation Date.
Announcement Date	16 April 2024	By this date the breakdown of places will be advised and players awarded an Initial Ranking Place or Wild Card will be announced.
Closing Date	16 May 2024	This is the last date Members can nominate players for their Membership Places. Within 1 to 2 days the MC will announce recipients of Membership Places and Replacement Ranking Places and request payment.
Player Contact Details & Bios	16 June 2024	This is the date by which players are asked to provide their contact details, bio's and a headshot photo.
Entry Fee Due Date	18 June 2024	Per Sports Regn Appendix 2 6.1. Any players awarded a place on the Announcement Date will lose their place if they have not paid by this date.
Main Event Cut-off Date	2 September 2024	This is the date after which returned places are generally filled by creating extra Qualifier Places instead of Replacement Ranking Places.

Key Personnel

2024 European GC Women’s Championship Winner: Maria Taylor

Congratulations to Champion Maria Taylor from Spain

Winner: Maria Taylor (Spain), who beat Louse Smith (England) 7-5, 7-2 in the final.

Third was Leticia Gonzalez de la Bastida (Spain) who beat Clair Whyms (Ireland) 5-7, 7-5, 7-6 in the 3rd/4th place playoff.

The Shield was won by Begoña Gomez (Spain), who beat Liz Farrow (England) 4-7, 7-5, 7-6 in the final.

The Bowl was won by Diana Wilson (England), who beat Begoña Elzaburu (Spain) 7-5, 6-7, 7-6 in the final.

And the Plate was won by Caroline Denny (Belgium) who beat Patricia Whitty (Ireland) 5-7, 7-4, 7-2 in the final.

The full results can be found on Croquet Scores: Results: 2024 ERC GC Women's Championship

Original Event Information

The 2024 GC European Women's Championship will be held between 1-4 August 2024 at the Compton Croquet Club, Compton, Eastbourne, England.

Main Event
The event capacity is 32 players.

The entry fee for successful entrants will be £68.00, based on a rate of £17 per player per day for 4 days.

Format
Main event: Block play followed by knock-out. Details of the format will be provided shortly.

Plate: Entry will be open to those that do not qualify for the Championship Knock-Out Stage. It will consist of block play and matches will be single games. It will be followed by a knock-out stage.

Bowl: Entry will be open to the first-round losers in the Knock-Out Stage. It will be a knock-out event and matches will be best-of-three games.

Shield: Entry will be open to the second-round losers in the Knock-Out Stage. It will be a knock-out event and matches will be best-of-three games.

Use of double banking: The Manager will have the right to double bank as necessary in order to ensure the tournament stays on schedule.

Allocation Process

Allocation shall be done according to the WCF Sports Regulations taking into account specific Variations to the WCF Regulations to be used in all ERC events, version 1.1 published on WCF website Europe page.

The Member Place Limit for this event is 5.

Closing Date
Members are reminded that they should nominate their Membership Places by 11th April 2024 latest.

Player Information
Successful entrants should note that contact details must be provided to the ERC as per the published timetable.

Practice
Players may practice at the club on Wednesday 31st July (around any lawn preparation requirements).

Catering
A large selection from a buffet of dishes will be offered. Charges are £10 for lunch, plus £5 for all day tea, coffee, cold drinks, biscuits and cake.

Welcome
Team photos will be taken before play starts on Thursday 1st August. There will also be a Managers briefing.

Key Dates
Invitation Date	12 Dec 2023	This is the date that Members will be formally invited to send players to participate in this event.
Response Date	12 Feb 2024	This is the date by which Member nominations for Ranking Places must have been received by the WCF Management Committee. Members must also specify the number of Membership Places they wish to take up and RCO's should advise if they would like to request a Membership Place.
Allocation Date	26Feb 2024	The World Ranking List to be used to determine the initial allocation of Ranking Places is that published at the end of the Allocation Date.
Announcement Date	11 Mar 2024	Announcement of the players who have been awarded Ranking Places.
Closing Date	11 Apr 2024	This is the last date Members can nominate players for their Membership Places. Within 1 to 2 days the ERC will announce recipients of Membership Places and Replacement Ranking Places and advise players how to pay.
Player Contact Details & Bios	11 May 2024	This is the date by which players are asked to provide their contact details, bio's and a headshot photo
Entry Fee Due Date	11 May 2024	Any players awarded a place on the Announcement Date will lose their place if they have not paid by this date.

Key Personnel
Tournament Director	Richard Bilton
Tournament Manager	Andrew Fall
WCF Event Lead	Begoña Elzaburu
Tournament Referee	Jason Carley

2024 European AC Championship Winner: James Death

Congratulations to James Death - 2024 European AC Champion

James was presented with his trophy by Tony Barr, President of the Carrickmines Croquet and Lawn Tennis Club, and Alan Looney, the Croquet Captain.

Silver medallist was Stephen Mulliner from England. Simon Williams from Ireland beat David Fuller to take the bronze medal.

Jack Good beat Gabrielle Higgins to take the Shield, and Ian Sexton won the Bowl. The Plate was won by Joakim Norback.

Thank you to the Carrickmines Club for hosting the event and to all the competitors who helped to make it a most enjoyable tournament.

Full results can be found on Croquetscores: 2024 European AC Championship

The Tournament Report - written by Referee of the Tournament: Martin Murray

2024 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP

The 25th European Championship was held at Carrickmines from August 15th to 18th. This was a welcome return of the event, which had not been held since 2018. Over the years it has been held in a total of five different countries: this was the third occasion that Ireland had hosted the event. Carrickmines has four excellent lawns, a minimum capacity to host all the countries able and willing to send competitors. Alan Looney managed the event with a good-natured and relaxed competence.

It is somewhat of a hybrid event, combining a top-class tournament capable of attracting Europe's top players with a development role in offering competitive experience to the smaller and newer croquet playing countries. Thus this year the entry of twenty players included three English players selected for this year's Presidents Cup (James Death, Stephen Mulliner, and Gabrielle Higgins), two Irish players of similar standard (Andrew Johnston and Simon Williams), and four more, two English (David Fuller and Jack Good), one Welsh (Rick Harding), and one Swiss (Ian Sexton), with grades over 2000. The international variety of the entries was shown by the participation of one further English player (John Gosden), two Irish (Nathaniel Healy and Russell Harris), two Scottish (David Houston and Mark Shanks), two Swedish (Joakim Norbäck and Archibald Zimonyi), one German (Joern Vinnen), one Austrian (Andreas Hartmann), one Portuguese (Dusan Turcer), and one Latvian (Andrejs Savinovs), making a total of ten countries. In playing experience, they ranged from one or two years (Jack and Andrejs) to almost fifty years (Stephen).

The tournament started with four blocks of five players, and the wide range of abilities (a 1500 grade difference between top and bottom) meant that many games were very one sided, and therefore quite quick. With two players qualifying from each block the only real contest was in Block 3, where the battle for the two qualifying places was very close between Andrew Johnston, Jack Good, and Rick Harding. Jack was unlucky to lose to triple peels from both Andrew and Rick, so failed to qualify for the knock-out stage. Fortunately for the manager, no block had any ties, so the block play was comfortable completed early on the second day, and the best of three knock-out stage started the same day.

The first round produced two surprises, Simon Williams beating Andrew Johnston with two swift triples, then David Fuller beating Gabrielle Higgins. A further surprise seemed possible when Ian Sexton, having got to peg and 4-back against Stephen Mulliner in the second game, and then having his peg ball pegged out by Stephen, hit a forty yard shot from corner four to corner two. He made 4-back, and looked likely to finish, but failed to approach penultimate and his chance was gone.

The semi-finals produced triple peels in all five games. Stephen Mulliner and Simon Williams provided three of them, alternating +26tp scores, but Stephen's were in the first and third games, so he ran out the winner. That meant that Simon had played six consecutive games with a scoreline of +26tp. Possibly a record? In the other semi-final David Fuller ran James Death very close, getting to peg and peg in the second game, but failing to peg out giving James the chance to pounce.

So the final between James and Stephen, which Alan decided to play best of five, was keenly anticipated. James has been in imperious form this season, winning both the Men's Championship and the Open, but Stephen has won this event a staggering 13 times, and is still playing world-class croquet. The first two games were shared tpos, but in games three and four Stephen stuck in 2-back and 3-back at critical moments, allowing James to strike with clinical triples each time. James thus won the event on his first attempt.

While all this excitement was going on in the main event there was plenty of excitement in the consolation events which WCF regulations provide to give plenty of play for all contestants.

The first of these was the Shield, which starts with the three players from each block who failed to qualify for the main knock-out. Since Nathaniel Healy had unfortunately had to withdraw due to contracting Covid, the tournament director, Sandy Greig, took his place in the Shield. The winners were then joined by the first round losers of the main knock-out. These might have been expected to provide the winner, but Jack Good, having been unluckily eliminated at the block stage, managed to prevail in a high-class three triples final against Gabrielle Higgins. Jack, the youngest player in the tournament by some distance, who has only been playing Association Croquet for two years, has already reached a remarkable level of skill and maturity. Definitely one to watch for the future.

The Bowl is for the four players who lose in the quarter-finals of the Shield. Unfortunately Andrew Johnston had to withdraw for family reasons, so the event only had three contestants. Ian Sexton, after his disappointment against Stephen Mulliner in the main event, was too good for both Russell Harris and David Houston, so won both games.

The final formal event, for the seven players eliminated from the Shield in the early stages, was the Plate, which saw Joakim Norbäck emerge as the winner with four wins out of five. He was run close by Dusan Turcer with three out of four, who saw his grade improve by almost 100 points over the tournament. The other players all got at least four games and one win in the event, which provided all of them with educational and competitive experience.

Play was generally quick, especially in the main event, with a total of 28 triples, 3 tpos, and 2 quadruple peels in 94 games. On Friday, having completed four consecutive triples, and having to wait for her next game, Gabrielle Higgins asked the manager to allow her and Rick Harding to play a "Z" game. Alan duly obliged, and Gabrielle promptly compete her first ranking sextuple peel with no apparent difficulty, a feat which eluded both James and Stephen during the four days, despite several attempts by both of them.

The full measure of Irish hospitality was evident throughout the event. The Croquet Association of Ireland kindly hosted two excellent social events, a barbecue on Friday evening and a dinner on Saturday evening, and the facilities of the Carrickmines club were a joy for all the competitors.

Main Event Format
Blocks: there will be 4 blocks of 5, with the top 2 going through to a 8 player Knock Out.

Knock Out: Best of 3 matches.

Consolation Events:
Plate, Bowl and Shield as follows:

Shield:
Round 1: Block placed 4th plays Block 5th
Round 2: Block played 3rd players winner of Round 1
Round 3 (Quarter-Finals): Round 2 winners v Main Event Round 1 losers
Followed by semi-final and final

Bowl: for the four players losing in round 3 above. Format KO.

Plate: for those who lose in Round 1 and 2 of the Shield. Format tbc by Manager later.

Double Banking
All games will be double banked.

Hoops & Ballls
Cast iron, Jacques style.
Dawsons.

Allocation Process
Allocation shall be done according to the WCF Sports Regulations taking into account specific Variations to the WCF Regulations to be used in all ERC events, version 1.1 published on WCF website Europe page.

The Member Place Limit for this event is 3.

Player Information
Successful entrants should note that contact details, a photograph and a short bio for the programme, must be provided to the ERC as per the published timetable.

Catering & Socials
The Club have caterers who will be providing lunches, available for purchase for approx. €13-€15 .

There will be prosecco reception at the opening ceremony on the Wednesday evening. Other socials are planned - more to follow soon.

Practice
The lawns will be available for practice on Wednesday afternoon.

More information
An event website will launch soon - watch this space!

Key Dates

Payment

Details of how and when to pay will be sent out after the Closing Date.

Key Personnel

Tournament Director: Sandy Greig
Tournament Manager: Alan Looney
Tournament Referee: Martin Murray
ERC Event Lead: Alan Looney

Results of the 2023 WCF elections

Congratulations to the successful candidates in the recent WCF Elections. All three will serve a four year term of office starting from 1st January 2024.

WCF President: José Álvarez-Sala from Spain

José won the election with 36 votes. Jeff Soo polled 25 and Andrew Hobbs 2 votes.

Management Committee (2 positions): Samir Patel from England and Jeff Soo from USA.

Samir Patel gained 60 votes, Jeff Soo 49 and Stephen Wright 15.

All WCF Members voted in what was a close election.

Thank you to Lewis Palmer and Chris Williams for being the election scrutineers.

Thank you to all the candidates who we hope will try again in future.

Ahmed Hamroush

Ahmed Hamroush was an Egyptian intellectual and visionary. He was born in 1921. He graduated from the Egyptian Military College in 1942 and later acquired an advanced military degree at the Egyptian Military Academy in 1953. He was a member of the “Free Officers” Organization that led the 1952 movement. In 1955, he changed career by leaving the military to pursue his passion for writing and journalism. He was chief editor of many Egyptian newspapers and weekly magazines and was a regular columnist. He authored books and articles with special focus on modern Egyptian history, particularly the July 1952 revolution of which he was considered one of its most prominent historians. He published 25 books in politics, arts and literature. He was elected as secretary general of the Egyptian Committee for Afro-Asian Solidarity and president of the Egyptian Organization for Solidarity. He continued to be productive until he passed in 2011.

Hamroush’s love for croquet was sparked sometime in the late 50s when he and his wife Fawzia watched the game from the balcony of their Alexandria apartment that overlooked the croquet courts of Sporting Club. They both became fascinated by the game and decided to take it up as a hobby. It did not take long before they became highly competitive players. So competitive that Ahmed won the Egyptian national championship in singles in 1965. Up until that time, croquet was exclusively played in elite clubs and was predominantly played in a social and friendly fashion without a governing body.

On February 16, 1967, Ahmed Hamroush established the Egyptian Croquet Federation (ECF) and served as its first president, holding this position for many years. As a visionary, he felt the game needs to be organized like an advanced sport requiring established rules, regulations and governance protocols.

Under his leadership, the ECF formalized 5 national championships in men’s singles, ladies’ singles, men’s doubles, ladies’ doubles and mixed doubles. In addition, the ECF established a well-designed club league that allowed teams to compete in home-and-home events competing in five matches in men and women’s singles, doubles and mixed doubles. This brilliant design allowed equal representation of men and women on every team. Something that we rarely see today in national or international team competitions, which is a testament to Hamroush’s progressive and forward thinking.

Hamroush believed that the mission of the ECF should be to remove barriers to participating in croquet. He refused the notion that croquet is an elitist game. He diligently worked on ensuring that every club had at least one croquet court. He was most proud of his efforts to help build a court at the Sugar Factory Club (Hawamdeya). This club not only competed in the club league but also produced national champions.

Hamroush would have been immensely proud to see Fawzy Abdel Gayed reach the final of the WCF under 21 world championship earlier this year (February 2023). Fawzy is the most recent product of Hawamdeya following the footsteps of his father and grandfather. Another barrier-breaking endeavor was building 3 croquet courts under the management of the Egyptian Federation to provide a venue for anyone interested in playing croquet, particularly those who have no access to a croquet court or cannot afford a club membership.

Under Hamroush’s leadership, Egyptian Golf Croquet (GC) became the game that captured the world’s attention. It was the sophisticated rules that allowed Egyptians to excel and become the accurate shooters and great tacticians of the game. And this is what impressed the late Chris Hudson (WCF HOF 2020-Posthumously). Hamroush and Hudson formed a bond rooted in the love of the game. In 1996 when Hudson visited Egypt and watched the Egyptians play GC, he was mesmerized. This sparked the conversation about Egypt joining the WCF. It was Hamroush’s vision to have WCF GC world championships. Despite the disparity between the advanced Egyptian GC rules and the primitive WCF GC rules at the time, Hamroush wisely agreed to play the first world championship in 1996 under the WCF rules. He managed to convince Hudson and the WCF to allow Egypt to host the next world championship in 1997 and to play the event under the Egyptian rules. He provided a translation of the Egyptian rules, which was distributed to the non-Egyptian participants. The event was a big hit and the players at the end of the tournament voted to request that the WCF adopts the Egyptian rules as the official WCF rules. This resulted in the formation of the first WCF Golf Croquet Rules Working Party (1) that drafted the GC rules, which is the version that is being played today with minor modifications.

The growth of GC across the world would not have happened without the work of Ahmed Hamroush. His passion for organization and his diligent efforts in creating a well-designed system that rewarded skills, created a highly entertaining and spectator-friendly version of the croquet. Golf Croquet was transformed from an introductory game to Association Croquet into a game that stands on its own as a formidable alternative. In America and other parts of the world we see clubs that play GC exclusively. Other clubs that struggled in the past to recruit new members are now trying to add courts to keep up with new players attracted by GC. The world had GC for many years, but it was Egypt’s joining the WCF that resulted in GC’s transformation into this attractive and spectacular version. This was eloquently stated in Chris Hudson’s Hall of Fame citation. “In 1996, Chris met General Ahmed Hamroush, the President of the Egyptian Croquet Federation. As a result, Egypt joined the World Croquet Federation, the world was shown a whole new way to play GC and the first GC World Championship was held in Italy in that year.”

Ahmed Hamroush deserves to be recognized for his lifetime work. Although he is no longer with us, his recognition posthumously means that the croquet world remembers his contribution and honors his memory. Inducting Mr. Hamroush into the WCF Hall of Fame will send a heartwarming message of love and gratitude to his family and the Egyptian croquet community that he is not forgotten and that his efforts are leaving an everlasting mark even after his passing.

Mr Hamroush was interviewed by Jeremy Paxman as part of a documentary about the British Empire. Watch from about 33 minutes in.

Video clip > The British Empire - Jeremy Paxman

Would you like to help run the ERC?

There are FOUR open positions on the European Regional Committee (ERC) – nominations due by 30th November 2023.

The ERC has now been in place for two years. The committee normally serve for 4 years, but when we started, we set 3 of the 5 members a shorter two-year term, so that the committee would not all change at the same time going forward.

Three members end their initial term on 31st December this year – Roberts Stafeckis, Daniel Larsson John Swabey. Roberts and Daniel are willing to stand for a second term, should they be elected, whereas John has decided to stand down. Kerstin Loretz has decided to resign from the committee with immediate effect.

We are therefore recruiting for FOUR open positions.

The committee operates via email but also meets approximately once per month. The main language used is English. The ERCs main task is to ensure that the calendar of ERC Championships and Club League Matches are organised and planned. This involves finding hosts, agreeing the bids, sending out invitations, managing the player lists, communicating with the host organisers and advertising all this on the WCF website. Additionally, the ERC may consider regional promotional or development initiatives if requested by the Members.

Please advertise this opportunity to help organise and develop croquet in Europe amongst your players. We invite nominations by 30th November 2023.

The Nomination Process

All nominations must be made via the Member Organising body to the WCF Secretary-General and may be submitted by Full or Associate Members. Nominees may come from a Recognised Croquet Organisation (RCO) but must be nominated by a Member.

All nominations for these positions must be authorised in writing or by email by the candidate and by an appropriate officer of the nominating Member. Nominations must be accompanied by a brief résumé of the candidate’s personal details and their objectives. They must be received by the WCF Secretary-General no later than the 30th November 2023. A headshot photo would also be appreciated.

Election – if there are more candidates than open positions, there will be an election. The process for this will be circulated should it become necessary.

2023 retraVision Over 50’s Golf Croquet World Championship – Winner: Ahmed El Mahdy

The 2023 retraVision Over 50's Golf Croquet World Championship was held in Western Australia between Saturday 14^th October 2023 to Saturday 21^st October 2023 at two venues, the Moorabinda Croquet Club (MCC) and the Bunbury Tennis Club (BTC).

Congratulations to Champion Ahmed El Mahdy from Egypt.

Ahmed won the GC World Championship in 2015 and now adds the retraVision Over 50's to his impressive list of titles. Showing strong form throughout the Championship, Ahmed beat fellow Egyptian Omar Fahmy in 3 straight games in the semi-finals with barely a clearance missed. In the other side of the draw Jenny Clarke from New Zealand won through to the final by beating Jeff Newcombe, one of the qualifiers better known for being a long-term top 50 AC player.

Jenny took the first game of the best of five final 7:5 with good clearing and some excellent hoop shots. However, Ahmed settled in patiently and his long hoops and accurate clearing were too strong, and he won the next three games.

The Plate was won by Brett McHardy, from Australian who beat Steinar Olsen from Norway 2:1 in the final.

In the Bowl, Australian Pete Landrebe came through 7:5 7:5 against Stephen Mulliner.

Torben Bak, another qualifier who did well in the main event, reaching the last 16, made it to the final of the Shield but lost to Barry Jennings, also Australian.

The WCF should like to thank the ACA for hosting the Championship. Special thanks go to the Moorabinda Croquet Club and the Bunbury Tennis Club for the use of their excellent lawns. Our thanks also to the Manager Chris Clarke and to Director Max Kewish and to the many other officials and volunteers who organised the event.

Full results can be found on 2023 retraVision Over 50's World Championship Results

Pre-event Information

The 2023 retraVision Over 50's Golf Croquet World Championship will be held in Western Australia between Saturday 14^th October 2023 to Saturday 21^st October 2023.

It will be held at two venues, the Moorabinda Croquet Club (MCC) and the Bunbury Tennis Club (BTC). There are six courts at Moorabinda and 2 at the Bunbury club.

The Event capacity is 48 players.

Current Players Lists: See post: Latest Players

retraVision: Top Aussie Company to Sponsor World Croquet Championship in Bunbury

The ACA have recently announced a new major sponsorship deal with retraVision.

Croquet has entered the big league with famous Australian Retailer Retravision throwing its weight behind the sport down under. It’s a real coup for the sport in Australia and Western Australia to have a sponsor with the reputation of Retravision coming onboard. The Award Winning electrics appliance company is not only famous for its retail success, but its community minded approach to business. It has sponsored and linked with numerous organizations through the years. Now croquet is set to benefit from the company’s generosity.

Age Restriction! Members and Players are reminded that all entrants for this event must be 50 or over on the start date of the event. “Sports Regulations - Clause 5.1.6. A player may compete in an Event subject to a minimum age limit if they have attained the minimum age on the first day of the Event.”

The entry fee for this event is £136 per player. This is based on a rate of £17 per player per day for 8 days.

Qualifying Competition

There will two qualifying tournaments:

- Western Australia, Cambridge Croquet Club, Sunday 8th October to Wednesday 11th October 2023. Download the pdf for information on how to enter: 2023 Over 50 GC Qualifier Flier - Cambridge

- Eastern Australia ,Cairnlea Victoria, Tuesday 26th to Thursday 28th September 2023. Download the pdf for information on how to enter: 2023 Over 50 GC Qualifier Flier - Cairnlea

If extra places for the main event become available after the main cut-off date of 27th August, then these will all come from the West Coast qualifier.

West coast final qualifier closing date 23rd September.

Main Event Format

The 48 players will form 8 blocks of 6 players. Top 4 from each block advance to the Knock-Out Stage.

All matches in the Block Stage and Knock-Out Stage will be best of 3 games (except for later rounds of Knock-Out Stage), single-banked and played without time limits subject to Sports Regulations 7.2 and 9.4 in emergencies.

The semi-finals and final will be best of five games. The quarter-final at managers discretion.

Consolation Events
The Plate, The Bowl and the Shield will be played in accordance with WCF Sports Regulations Appendix 8 paragraph 2, 4 and 5 respectively.

Hours of play: Play will commence at 8.30 am and continue until around 6.00pm. However, all courts are floodlit so play may continue after dark at manager's discretion.

Hoops: Quadway hoops will be used.

Balls: Dawson balls will be used.

Practice: players wishing to practise before the event starts will be welcome on Thursday 12^th October 2023 & Friday 13^th October 2023. Details to follow.

Social Programme:
Welcome Ceremony: Friday 13^th October 2023.
Championship Dinner: Saturday 21^st October 2023. Players to purchase tickets.
Award Ceremony: Saturday 21^st October 2023 immediately following conclusion of final.

Accommodation and Travel:
Information will be available on the event website early in 2023.

Internet, publicity and Communications
Wireless internet connections will be available. Live streaming is expected to be arranged on the last two days. A dedicated website for the event will be available a few months before the event starts.

The events key dates are below:

Main Event Dates
Invitation Date	15 January 2023	This is the date that Members will be formally invited to send players to participate in this event.
Response Date	15 March 2023	This is the date by which Member nominations for Ranking and Wild Card places must have been received by the WCF Management Committee. Members must also specify the number of Membership Places they wish to take up and RCO's should advise if they would like to request a Membership Place.
Allocation Date	29 March 2023	The World Ranking List to be used to determine the initial allocation of Ranking Places is that published at the end of the Allocation Date.
Announcement Date	12 April 2023	By this date the breakdown of places will be advised and players awarded an Initial Ranking Place or Wild Card will be announced.
Closing Date	12 May 2023	This is the last date Members can nominate players for their Membership Places. Within 1 to 2 days the MC will announce recipients of Membership Places and Replacement Ranking Places.
Player Contact Details & Bios	10 June 2023	This is the date by which players are asked to provide their contact details, bio's and a headshot photo.
Entry Fee Due Date	12 June 2023	Per Sports Regn Appendix 2 6.1. Any players awarded a place on the Announcement Date will lose their place if they have not paid by this date.
Main Event Cut-off Date	27 August 2023	This is the date after which returned places are generally filled by creating extra Qualifier Places instead of Replacement Ranking Places.

Key Personnel
Tournament Director	Max Kewish
Tournament Manager	Chris Clarke
DTM/Plate Manager	David Squires
WCF Event Lead	Peter Payne
Tournament Referee	Jim Clements
Treasurer	Judith Nicholls
Secretary	Rob Bowling
Webmaster	Gary Phipps
Marketing/Publilcity	Marcus McGavock

AC Country Rankings as at 30th September 2023

Position	Country	Average Grade	Players
1	England	2,575	6
2	Australia	2,523	6
3	New Zealand	2,487	6
4	USA	2,424	6
5	Ireland	2,112	6
6	Scotland	2,112	6
7	Wales	2,063	6
8	South Africa	1,916	6
9	Canada	1,916	6
10	Sweden	1,614	6
11	Spain	1,592	6
12	Germany	1,450	6
13	Austria	1,656	5
14	Latvia	1,277	5
15	Switzerland	1,730	3
16	Czech Republic	1,620	3
17	Iran	2,201	1
18	Jersey	2,120	1
19	Luxembourg	1,970	1
20	Mexico	1,761	1

GC Country Rankings as at 30th September 2023

Position	Country	Average	Players
1	Egypt	2,561	6
2	England	2,488	6
3	Australia	2,450	6
4	New Zealand	2,434	6
5	USA	2,427	6
6	Spain	2,372	6
7	South Africa	2,270	6
8	Ireland	2,186	6
9	Wales	2,138	6
10	Canada	2,121	6
11	Sweden	2,089	6
12	Germany	2,089
13	Switzerland	2,056	6
14	Czech Republic	2,008	6
15	Latvia	1,999	6
16	Scotland	1,938	6
17	Norway	1,906	6
18	Finland	1,813	6
19	Mexico	1,800	6
20	Austria	1,960	4
21	Portugal	1,780	3
22	Belgium	2,240	1
23	France	1,880	1

European Golf Croquet Club League – The Grand Final

Roehampton played host to the inaugural European Club League final. Six teams had won through qualifying heats across Europe to be represented CERN (Switzerland), Dulwich (England), Ealing (England), Ikskile (Latvia), Roehampton (England) and Sherry (Spain).

The all-play-all tournament was exceedingly closely fought. Each four player match was played to a best of 10 format (2 doubles, 8 singles) and the largest scoreline achieved in any match was 8-2. The final round pitted all the teams against their closest rivals. CERN beat Ealing to secure 5th place and Ikskile beat Sherry to come 3rd.

The deciding match was a close affair with Dulwich only needing to draw the match to win the title, after Roehampton had only managed to draw with Sherry the previous evening. Dulwich took a quick 3-1 lead but Roehampton were able to peg this back to 3-3 before the final round of singles. Andrew Hobbs scored first for Dulwich, beating Mark van Loon, at hoop 13 to leave Dulwich needing just one of the remaining three games for the title. However, Joel Taylor and Nick Yates beat Guy Scurfield and Johnny Claxton respectively to make in 5-4 to Roehampton. With Pierre Beaudry leading 6-3 against Tim Russell it was still looking good for Dulwich but Tim managed to take the game to the golden hoop. Tim had the first two attempts from 4 yards 45 degrees and the boundary but the second failure left Pierre a 2 yard hoop to secure the title for Dulwich.

The lawns at Roehampton were in excellent condition for the time of year and they extended excellent hospitality towards all the visitors, including hosting a tournament meal on the Saturday evening.

And next year - 2024:
The event is aimed at club sides from all over Europe. Next year there will be qualifying heats in, Carrickmines (Dublin, Ireland), Ealing (London, England), Hambury (Germany), Ikskile (Riga, Latvia), Novo Sancti Petri (Cadiz, Spain) and Telc (Czechia), leading into the Grand Final. Full details will be sent to national associations and made available on the WCF website in the coming months.

WORLD CROQUET FEDERATION

Author: Debbie Lines

2024 Golf Croquet World Championship – Winner: Blake Fields (USA)

Blake Fields
2024 GC World Champion

Well done to Blake Fields who won the final in the 5th game with an impressive 7:0.

Fields Powers to 2024 GC World Title

QUALIFIER RESULTS

PRE-EVENT INFORMATION

Player list - Latest

2024 European GC Women’s Championship Winner: Maria Taylor

Team pictures from the Opening Ceremony

Event News

Places Awarded

2024 European AC Championship Winner: James Death

Some pictures from the event

Latest Event News

Results of the 2023 WCF elections

Ahmed Hamroush

Would you like to help run the ERC?

2023 retraVision Over 50’s Golf Croquet World Championship – Winner: Ahmed El Mahdy

Event Website & Facebook Page

AC Country Rankings as at 30th September 2023

GC Country Rankings as at 30th September 2023

European Golf Croquet Club League – The Grand Final

WORLD CROQUET FEDERATION

Blake Fields 2024 GC World Champion

Well done to Blake Fields who won the final in the 5th game with an impressive 7:0.

Fields Powers to 2024 GC World Title

QUALIFIER RESULTS

PRE-EVENT INFORMATION

Player list - Latest

Team pictures from the Opening Ceremony

Event News

Places Awarded

Some pictures from the event

Latest Event News

Event Website & Facebook Page

Blake Fields
2024 GC World Champion