Croquet reigns at Meadowood resort in Napa Valley
ST. HELENA - The meticulously manicured lawn at Meadowood Napa Valley would make any golfer green with envy. But put away the putters. They will receive no play here.
Mike McDonnell steps on the course, sporting white shorts and a white polo shirt, carrying a mallet 3 pounds. It sets up two balls, one red and one blue, and lines for a shot.
"Walk and rod," said McDonnell, repeating his mantra of the implementation of the perfect shot.
Front McDonnell furls slightly under his cap. He swings his mallet slowly at first, like a pendulum, then takes a full swing.
Bonk!
The blue ball sails over the red ball and passes right through a wicket that allows a mere 1/16 inch of wiggle room. This is what you call a trick shot in the world of croquet.
You've heard of golf and tennis pros at a country club or resort, but how about a full-time croquet pro? That would be McDonnell. And right about now, with summer in full swing, it's the high season for croquet.
He's on call seven days a week to teach the finer points of croquet to groups at Meadowood, where he keeps a small office with a computer and mallet collection. His stomping grounds are right outside, with two lush croquet courses measuring a regulation 84 feet by 105 feet. The lawn itself is trimmed to a buzz cut of 5/32 inch.
"In this country, people think of the backyard game, but this is like the adult version of croquet," said McDonnell. "When people come in for a lesson they say, 'Oh, I've played before.' Well, not like this."
Bonk!
England is the motherland of croquet, with Wimbledon founded in 1868 as the All England Croquet Club. Once tennis emerged as Britain's national craze, the facility's name morphed to the All England Croquet and Lawn Tennis Club, as it's technically still known.
Croquet was introduced to the United States about a hundred years ago but popularized as, shall we say, a less refined backyard game using scaled-down equipment. Think of the movie "Heathers," in which games of croquet were more like blood sport and smacking an opponent's ball off the course was a pure power trip.
Variations on a theme
"Croquet became this wild and woolly game of whacking wooden balls through these wide wire wickets," said McDonnell. "In England it's evolved into this very involved tournament on a putting green. The equipment's heavier, the balls are larger and the clearance through the wickets is tight.
Rules Of Croquet - News
Croquet is traditionally played with six or nine wickets, but many variations of the game exist. International matches use a complicated "association croquet" game, while the US Croquet Association uses its own rules. Though adept at all of them,
The Decision indicates that the purpose of Rule 16-1e is to prevent a "croquet" style of putting. In such cases as these, a player would not have used the stance for that purpose. Contact CORY ARMSTRONG, rules official for the Carolinas PGA,
Probably the best of the backyard variations from formal croquet rules was the lack of out-of-bounds lines. This meant that an opponent — usually the player who was leading, but sometimes simply the family member who most recently irritated you
The more complex six-wicket version, however, didn't gain popularity outside Britain until 1977, when Jack Osborn organized the United States Croquet Association and codified a set of rules for an American version of Britain's “Association” game.
The winner is the first to score 14 wicket points and two stake points, according to the US Croquet Association. For the finer points, read the Rules of Backyard Croquet. Bocce ball is played with eight large balls and one smaller ball (the pallino)
Brooklyn Arden: Quidditch Croquet Rules!
Noun [from geography and Shakespeare, 2005] 1. A small forest of words in the great metropolis of Brooklyn 2. A collection of ruminations, photographs, and lists on topics including (but not limited to) books, writing, movies, television, theatre, current events, publishing, food, and nonsense 3. The blog of Cheryl Klein, reader, writer, children's books editor, and busy lady about town
On Tuesday I'm going down to Florida for LeakyCon 2011 , and I am PSYCHED . . . to speak at Lit Day, to see the Wizarding World theme park for the first time, to party with Harry Potter fans, and because my hotel has a croquet court! (For the reason I'm obsessed with croquet, hit the "Frog" label on the right.) This obviously requires a game of Quidditch Croquet, which in turn requires the establishment of rules for Quidditch Croquet; and I propose the following for discussion/comment: Play shall generally proceed as in a standard croquet game , with the wickets in a figure-eight configuration , and in order of the colors on the post; but with the following exceptions: The black ball shall be the Bludger, and the yellow ball shall be the Snitch. Neither the Bludger nor the Snitch can play until all other balls have passed through the opening two wickets. -- The Snitch shall go first, and the Bludger second. -- They should both start at the opposite post from the rest of the players. The Bludger does not have to follow the standard course and try to go through wickets, but rather should spend its time trying to knock all the other balls (besides the Snitch) as far off course as possible. -- If the Bludger touches another ball (a roquet), it gets only one additional hit, instead of the standard two. ---- If necessary, an additional limitation can be imposed on the Bludger, that the player controlling it must play one-handed and/or with his/her less dominant hand.) -- If another ball (besides the Snitch) touches the Bludger, it gets three additional hits, instead of the standard two. The Snitch also does not have to follow the standard course and try to go through wickets, but rather should travel consistently up and down the midline of the course, from post to post through the center wicket. The Snitch does not want to strike or be struck by the other balls. -- If another ball (besides the Bludger) touches the Snitch, it gets four additional hits, instead of the standard two. -- The Bludger is not allowed to hit the Snitch, and if it does, its turn is over and it misses its next turn.The game ends when a player successfully completes the course, through all nine wickets and touching both messages (the message open twice at the beginning and end) - where the Bludger knocked on all the balls assets (except Vif) twice (a dashboard can be useful here) and has reached the closing station before everyone else - or when the Vivid has successfully completed after thirteen-to-post-in -le-stop center passages of the court, at least three of which have not been hit by another ball (ditto on the dashboard), and reached the closing station before everyone else.This allows the Bludger and Snitch to behave as they do in the Quidditch, but gives all players an incentive to win. (I chose thirteen after strolling to post to the snitch because it would take some time to achieve, I hope, and thirteen is a good number of wizards.) I wonder about your book. During the campaign Kickstart, I paid 50 million, which if I remember correctly, meant I got a copy of the book, but I have not received one. I, too, won long ago, on this blog a "worst SENTEC" contest where the prize was a copy of the book.I commented as I did not need to give contact info I had already had to get one. I'm sorry to post here but I searched the blog to see if there were messages on this subject with the details and did not find one. What should I do?
Bought a croquet set, but the rules seem boring. I'm thinking of adding an element of physical punishment. Like "toe hammering."
@ I'm very unsure about the rules of croquet ...
Played my first game of croquet - not strictly according to the rules though - and it was great fun. Even had cucumber sandwiches after!Rules Of Croquet - Bookshelf
Croquet, an annotated bibliography from the Rendell Rhoades croquet collection
Illustrated with engravings and diagrams, together with all the rules of the game; hints on parlor- croquet, and a glossary of technical terms. ...Draper's self culture
Sooting — See Rule 7. CROQUET RULES. Note. — The following Rules, though adapted and adopted for Loose Croquet, are, nevertheless, used by the most ...Winning croquet, from backyard to greenward, the skills, strategies and rules of America's classic outdoor sport
14 UNITED STATES CROQUET ASSOCIATION RULES (With a Note on British and American Rules) Since their adoption in 1976, the USCA Rules for both the 6- wicket, ...Sports, pastimes and physical culture
TERMS USED 1N CROQUET. To Roquet — To hit with one's own ball another ball ... CROQUET RULES. Note. — The following Rules, though adapted and adopted for ...The Sportsman's year-book for 1880, Containing a digest of information relating to the origin and present position of British sports, games,and pastimes
RULES OF CROQUET. The following are the Rules of Croquet as passed at a Conference of Players in 1870, and which are still recognised : — 1. ...Complete Information Directory
Rules for Croquet
Includes a short history of the sport, plus rules for playing nine-wicket croquet.
Croquet Rules & Regulations - Croquet.com
An information guide on various croquet rules and how to play croquet. ... Speaking of golf, golf croquet is one of the most popular new forms of the game. ...
United States Croquet Association — Rules
United States Croquet Association -- Promoting the sport of croquet in America. ... This special edition of the rules was prepared by the sport's governing body, ...
Croquet Rules, Rules to Croquet
Croquet Rules and instruction to croquet. learn the Rules to Croquet Here ... According to the croquet rules, the game starts with the toss of a coin. ...
Croquet - Wikipedia
Article on the sport of croquet and its many variations.