Championship Singles2 Michael Mehas 3 Ron Lloyd 4 Mike Zuro 5 Doug Grimsley 6 Joe Koenig 7 Jim Houser Bill Martin 9 Carl Uhlman Paul Bennett 11 Ren Kraft Steve Johnston 13 Bill Thieme Patty Dole Matt Griffith Rick Sheely 17 George Funk Johnny Mitchell Cameron Guernsey Charles Smith |
First Flight Singles2 Jeff Caldwell 3 Jack Scott 4 All Dilley 5 Sandy Brown Don Jacobson 7 Margo Leonard Marilyn Jacobson 9 Jim Herzog Bob Nevens Carol Cherry Jim Butts 13 Gordon Charlton Pam Johnston |
Championship Doubles2 B. Thieme-M. Mehas 3 J. Mitchell-J. Koenig 4 R. Sheely-G. Funk 5 P. Bennett-B. Martin B. Cherry-M. Zuro 7 S. Johnston-R. Kelley M. Griffith-C. Uhlman 9 C. Guernsey-J. Houser P. Dole-R. Kraft D. Grimsley-C. Smith |
First Flight Doubles2 B. Nevens-A. Dilley 3 J. Herzog-J. Butts 4 M. Leonard-M. Jacobson 5 G. Charlton-D. Jacobson C. Cherry-P. Johnston 7 G. Charlton-S. Brown |
The American Rules, or to be more specific, the Official Rules of the United States Croquet Association, USCA, is generally played by members of the USCA in this country. As Americans often require themselves to be different, Jack Osborn, the founder of the USCA, invented this version of the rules to compliment and unify the existing set of rules that several croquet clubs around the country were using by mid 1970. In fact, the game had fractured into many different versions as immigrants migrated to the United States. Few clubs kept up or inquired about the "English" version of croquet.
The Arizona club was formed before the creation of the USCA by Ed Cline, Stan Patmor, Doug Whitneybell and William Hermann. Our club has always fostered support for the International Rules croquet, or to be more specific, the Laws of Association Croquet. Association Croquet is played throughout the world by members of the Croquet Association including Great Britain, the Australian Croquet Association, the New Zealand Croquet Council, and of course by players in the United States.
This year the Arizona Open tried a unique experiment by using a set of Advanced USCA rules for players in the Championship Flight. The Advanced American Rules offer the players a set of rules that combine a few of the Association rules into the American game. It is both an exciting and challenging variety to the existing set of USCA rules.
The Championship players began the tournament in two blocks of 10 with a full round-robin format. Eight players from each of the two blocks advanced to the playoff ladder. The players with the best record were given triple life, which means that they can lose up to two games before being eliminated. The players that make it out in the middle end up with two lives, and the players that barely make it out of their block have only a single elimination remaining. But, naturally, if you make it out of the block play, then you still have a chance to win the tournament.
The trophies this year were handcrafted Kachina dolls made by the Hopi Indians. The final order of finish is shown in the above table. Congratulations to those deserving winners!
You simply must come join us next year for the 2001 Arizona Open. We will fall back to playing by the Official Rules of the USCA this next year. If you wish to add your name to the Arizona Open mailing list, click here.
Hope to see you at the Open.
- Paul Bennett
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