2026 Golf Croquet World Championship

Venue and dates: The Championship will be held in Cairo in Egypt, between the 21st and the 29th of November, the Opening Ceremony and Practise Day is the 20th of November

Capacity: The event capacity is 80 players.

Entry Fee: the entry fee for this event is £189 [GBP] per player.

Qualifying Competition: the qualifier will be held immediately prior to the Championship at the same venues in Cairo, from the 14th to the 18th of November. The format for this event will be published as details become available.

Accommodation and Travel: specific information is being prepared and will be shared as soon as details become available.

Some deadlines previously required for WCF events have been modified for this event, and I call your attention to important information at the bottom of the email in relation to the current geopolitical situation in the region and the Risk Management Plan the WCF are using for this event.

Please refer to: WCF Sports Regulations   Appendix 3 for further information related to the definition of the various places available for players.

Timetable

Response date: Sunday May 31st, 2026. This is the date by which all WCF Members are requested to inform the WCF Management Committee:

(a) if they want to take up their Membership Place or Places. (RCOs should advise whether they would like to request a Membership Place)
(b) the names of their eligible players who want a Ranking or Membership place in the Event; and
(c) the names of any of those players they wish to nominate for a Wild Card Place.
Individual players who are affiliated to a WCF Member and want to gain a place in the Event must announce their availability via their Member.
However, if a player is not affiliated to a WCF Member and is not eligible to represent any WCF Member, they should contact the Secretary-General directly. 
Allocation date: Tuesday the 16th of June 2026.  
The highest grades achieved by players in the 12 months ending on this date will be used to determine the initial allocation of Ranking Places. Please refer to the WCF Sport Regulations for the exact definition.
Announcement date: Tuesday the 30th of June 2026.
The players who have been awarded Ranking Places and Wild Card Places will be announced on or before this date. 
Closing date: Friday 31st of July 2026.
This is the last date on which Members can nominate players for Membership Places.
Payment date: Monday the 31st of August 2026.
Please ensure you respond by 12pm [ UK time] on Sunday the 31st of May 2026.

2025 AC World Championship – Qualifier details

2025 AC World Championship Qualifier
This will take place between 14-16 October at the National Croquet Center, West Palm Beach, FL
How to enter:
Entry is direct via the USCA: USCA Entry site: WCF AC World Qualifier
Size of Event:
Entry limit 24 players
Entry Fee:
The entry fee is US $75
This event determines the Qualifier Places (4 or more) for the 2025 AC World Championship. Entrants must intend to play in the main Championship if they qualify. (Players who have already been offered a place in the main Championship are not eligible to play in the Qualifier.)
The Qualifier will be played as a strict Swiss in 8 or 9 rounds. (The format is subject to change if there is a large number of vacancies.)
The Qualifier Allocation Date is 14 July. If the event is oversubscribed on that date, the list will be sorted by DGrade* and the top 24 players will be offered places. The remaining players will be placed on a waiting list. If a vacancy arises, the waiting list will be newly sorted by DGrade and the highest-ranked player will be offered the place.
If the tournament is undersubscribed on the Qualifier Allocation Date, all the entrants will be offered places, and additional places will be offered in order of receipt of entry until the event is full.
The Qualifier Closing Date is 29 September; no entries will be accepted after that date.

* Unlike the ranking list used for allocating Ranking Places in the main Championship, the ranking list for this tournament is based on a player's most recent official DGrade, whether or not the player has played any games in the prior 12 months.

A beverage station will be provided.  Daily Lunches are not provided but will be available.  Players will be charged $16 plus tax and gratuity.

Location
National Croquet Center, 700 Florida Mango Rd, West Palm Beach, FL  33406, USA

Key Contacts
Tournament Director: Jeff Soo

2025 AC World Championship – Player Information

The following information is required from all the above competing players by 28th May 2024 (or sooner please if possible).

    • A recent well-lit, clear and good quality photograph (ideally headshot)
    • 150-250 words of biographical details
    • Contact email and mobile phone numbers for during the event (for use by the Tournament Manager)

Please send this information online via Google Forms. Please click on this link: 2025 AC World Championship Player Information

Please note, the photo and bio may be published on the event website and on the WCF website. Players should expect some live streaming and the press may be present taking photographs. Players should note that their results will be published on Croquet Scores. The contact details will be held by the WCF S-G and Tournament Manager for use during the event.

You will also be sent an email with a link to join a WhatsApp group (to be set up during early June) set up for players and officials to chat together about the event, accommodation, transport, meals etc.

Frequently Asked Questions:

Why is this requested via a Google Form?
The organisers for this event will pick up all the bios directly from the Google Form. This reduces the workload. If everyone sends the bio into the WCF separately, maybe by email, word document, pdf, whatsapp etc., then it would then have to be cut and pasted into some central repository. Much simpler if everyone feeds it into one place in one format in the first place.

Why can’t you re-use the information you sent last time?
Regarding your contact details:
due to data protection rules, we ask that personal data is not kept by the organisers after the event, so emails and telephone numbers need to be captured each time. And of course, these could easily change year on year.
Due to privacy laws in the UK we also need you to consent to the use of your data each time.

Regarding your bio: firstly, there is no way for the WCF to know who wants to keep an old bio and who wants to update it, so we ask for new each time. Plus, most players prefer to update the words for each event. Especially those of you that play both codes, who may want to say different things depending whether it is a GC or AC event. You might have major wins in one code and not in the other for instance.

Who might read my bio?
It could be used in various ways to advertise and promote the event.  Variously, it could be included in Sponsor Packs, the Event Website, the Programme, or perhaps sent to the Press.
Our sport needs sponsorship to help make these events financially viable. We need to look professional to attract sponsors. It is therefore important that your bios are sensible, well-written and give a good impression to the World.

Why is this information requested so early?
Work to prepare for a World Championship starts very early. The website and programmes are put together by volunteers, many of whom have other commitments. We need to give them as much time as possible to do this, to ensure that they not only do a good job, but that no undue stress is put on them.  The army of volunteers works hard to make these world championships run smoothly and to ensure that you, as a player, have a fantastic event. As players you are not asked to do a lot to help, providing this information is something you can do.

Do I have to provide this information?
Yes.
Per WCF Sports Regulations, Appendix 2 Singles Events, Clause 6.3, all players are required as part of their participation in the event to send this information through on request, in the format and manner requested by the Secretary-General and the hosts.

6.3 …. all player information requested must be received by the date specified in the Invitation. This might include a photograph, email address, contact phone number during the event (if available) and up-to-date biographical details. These should be sent to the Secretary-General in the format requested.

Do I have to join the WhatsApp group?
No, this is optional.

2025 AC World Championship – How to pay your entry fees

The 2025 AC World Championship will take place at the National Croquet Center, West Palm Beach, Florida, USA, between 18 and 26 October 2025.

Entry Fees are due by 30th May at the latest.
The Entry fee for this event is £189 per player for Full and Associate Members.
[This is based on a rate of £21 per player per day for 9 days].

Please do not pay until you have been notified that you have been awarded a place in the event.
Those on the Replacement List, do NOT yet have a place.
Lists of those with awarded places can be found on event webpage.

The ERC would prefer that you pay by Bank Transfer. All details on how to do this will be in the email sent to each Member by the Secretary-General. We ask that our Members please forward this information onto their players. Paying in this way incurs lower fees for the ERC and will be very much appreciated.

If you do need to pay by PayPal, please click on the button below:

2025 GC World Championship Tier 1- Champions USA

Results

Congratulations Team USA

The USA team played superbly throughout and had a well deserved win in the recent World Team Championships. Their squad of five players included the last 3 Singles GC World Championships, Ben Rothman (captain), Matthew Essick and Blake Fields. They were ably supported by Tom Balding  and Stephen Morgan.

The Egyptian team had a great run through to the final. They also sent a squad of five players, featuring Mohamed Nasr, the 2026 Singles Champion as their captain, and top ranked and experienced players: Khaled Kamel, Mohamed Taha, Mohamed Walid and Yasser Sayed. In Cairo, Egypt play with different equipment and hoops, and normally later in the day, so it was great to see them playing closer to their best when dealing with overseas conditions.

Bronze medal went to the home nation, Australia. The three Fletcher brothers were supported by Ed Wilson. They all played superbly but were outclassed by Egypt in the semi-final. New Zealand fought hard in the 3rd/4th place play-off but narrowly lost, Australia taking home the medal with a 5 to 4 win.

The relegation match was between Ireland and Spain. Spain had been unable to send their top players and were keen not to go back into Division 2 which they won in 2021. Unfortunately unable to send their top players, due to work and family responsibities, the spaniards had to work hard.

Nicolas Denizot (Captain), was supported by his mother, Begoña Elzaburu (is this the first time a mother and son have played in the World Teams?), Juan Ojeda and Julian Gutierrez.

It came down to the final hoop, of the final game, in the final match. Begoña vs Rob O’Donoghue were 1 game all, 4 matches all, and it went to a thrilling 13th hoop. Well done Begoña for holding her nerve, playing some good positional shots, and winning for the spaniards.

The event was filmed every day by 'You Tube Live Sports' and the videos can be watched in full on their site. Links to all the footage can be found in the WCF YouTube channel - go to Playlist GC World Teams Championships.

Full Results can be found on CroquetScores

A huge thank you to PFC Mallets for sponsoring the championship, and also to the many other companies that supported the event.

We couldn't hold these events without the many hard-working volunteers. Your efforts help make WCF Championships successful. Thank you so much.

 

Photos

Some photos from the week.

Congratulations Team USA - 2025 Openshaw Shield Champions
Livestream Link

The link for the livestream HAS MOVED

To access it go to YouTube and search for The Openshaw Shield 2025.

It's being aired by YouTube Live Sports.  https://www.youtube.com/@Youtubelivesports

Each day is split into 3 separate live feeds.

 

Team Seeding & Match Draw

Croquet Scores

Croquet Scores commentary will be being used for updates: Croquet Scores 2025 WTC Tier 1

Event Details

The WCF PFC Mallets GC World Teams Championship, competing for the Openshaw Shield is the fourth occurrence of this contest. It will be held between Monday, 17th to Sunday 23rd February 2025 at the Northern Tasmanian Croquet Centre, St Leonards, Tasmania.

The team entry fee for this event is £588 per team (based on 7 days, teams of 4, @ £21 per player per day).

8 full-sized courts will be available, to host the 8 teams of 4 players who will compete. The competing teams, all of whom have confirmed their attendance, are:

🇳🇿 New Zealand (Holders)
🇦🇺 Australia
🇪🇬 Egypt
🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 England
🇮🇪 Ireland
🇿🇦 South Africa
 Spain
🇺🇸 USA

Event Conditions and Information:

Rules: the latest editions of the Rules at the time of the event (currently Edition 6, 2022) and any Official Rulings on the Rules of Golf Croquet that may be issued prior to the commencement of the event, will be used.

Lawns: these are anticipated to be 11-12 Plummers in speed. The courts do not have lighting, however, at this time of year there is thirteen (13) hours of daylight.

Balls: WCF approved balls – type to be confirmed at least six months
prior to the event start date.

Hoops: Quadway, set to WCF Tournament standards

Format

Format:
The format will be block play followed by a knock-out Championship.

Full details of the format are available in the specific Event
Regulations:

2025 GC WTC Playing RegulationsTier 1 -Ver7Final

Schedule
Block Play: Monday 17th to Wednesday 19th February 2025.
Championship Knockout and Plate: Thursday 20th February to Sunday 23rd February.

Useful Information

Key Personnel

Event Lead: Graeme Roberts
Tournament Director: Elaine Hazell
Tournament Manager: Peter Freer
DTM/Plate Manager: Sylvia Wing
Tournament Referee: Liz Fleming
Secretary: Ruth McKean
Treasurer: Graham Keating

Transport and Accommodation
Travel: Players, or their Member countries, will be responsible for the costs of and arranging travel to and from Launceston and within Launceston to the Northern Tasmania Croquet Centre at St Leonards.

Accommodation: There is a variety of accommodation available in Launceston, ranging from the very basic to the higher end of the market. Options will be listed on the event specific website.

Meals: Snacks and lunches will be available for purchase at the venue.

Publicity
Scores: will be reported online via Croquet Scores. A team will be put in
place to ensure Croquet Scores is updated regularly.

Website: There will be a dedicated website for the championship. Until this is created, please keep an eye on this webpage for further updates and news items.

Livestreaming: It is anticipated that live streaming will be provided for the
event. This will be confirmed closer to the event.

Social Media: Facebook and Twitter accounts will be established in the lead-up to the championship.

Functions
Opening Reception with the Mayor: Friday 14th February 2025.  This will be held at Launceston City Council between 5-6pm.

Welcome Ceremony and BBQ: Sunday 16th February 2025, between 12 and 2pm at the Club.

Tournament Dinner and Award Ceremony: Sunday 23rd, February 2025 from 19:00. Players to purchase tickets

Venue layout map

Website and Facebook
Click the image to access the dedicated Event Website
Click the image to access the dedicated Event Facebook page
News Items
Key Event Dates

Main Event Dates

Invitation Date

18 May 2024

This is the date that Members will be formally invited to send a team to participate in this event.

Response Date

18 July 2024

This is the date by which Members must formally accept the invitation.

Team Announcement Date

17 December 2024

Players to be announced. 
Team Entry Fees are due by this date.

Team Seeding Date

10 February 2025

The teams will be seeded based on average grade of the top four players in the squad who are expected to play.

Note revised date.


Opening Ceremony

16 February

Practice and Opening Ceremony, before it starts on 17th.

Previous Winners
2020 Golf Croquet World Team Championship: the New Zealand winning team being presented with the Openshaw Shield, by David Openshaw.

To see all the previous winners, visit the Championship archives and Roll of Honour:

WCF Roll of Honour

Championship History