Arizona Open 2004

by Paul Bennett


Arizona Open Continues Tradition but on New Ground


The Arizona Open tournament continues its tradition as one of the best six wicket USCA rules tournament in the west. The first tournament was held in 1983 and continues today to attrack low handicap players into the event. In the Championship flight, six of the nineteen players hold handicaps of 0 or less. Over its 22 year history, the Arizona Croquet Club has experimented with its tournament, tried a variety of events, playoff and scheduling formats, mixing of Championship and First Flight players, used experimental USCA rules and even played one year under its own version of USCA Advanced Rules. The ACC has used a variety of courts in addition to Ren Kraft's club court, but this year we asked for and got permission to use the courts at Mission Hills and Indian Ridge country clubs in Palm Springs, California.

The Mission Hills and Indian Ridge clubs are no stranger to good croquet. They have hosted the USCA Western regionals, the US Open association rules tournament, the Mission Hills Invitational and numerous club events. The courts are well maintained, the facilities are great, the atmosphere is comfortable and most importantly the club is supported by a great group of players that are excited about croquet.

Indian Ridge has two championship croquet courts which are fast and challenging. Judy Dolstrom is one of the last croquet supporters in the club and was very helpful to us throughout the tournament. Mission Hills has three dedicated croquet lawns and one grass tennis court which is converted to croquet during the US Open and the Invitational. There is support for expanding the tennis court into two or three lawns. Mission Hills is growing and croquet has attracted several clients to buy condos next to or near the croquet lawns. Dick Tucker and Pat Apple have been promoting croquet at Mission Hills for the past 15 years. Those that seem to stop by to play croquet, think about and buy a condo nearby. The latest two to move into Mission Hills are Paul and Marty Embry from Louisville, KY.

The Arizona Open started with registration and practice on Monday, March 8. Small Kachina Dolls were given to each player as a gift. The gift each year is different and has included pins, hats, umbrellas, wine corks, seat cushions, bags, towels and coffee mugs. Each serve as a reminder of the tournament after we part ways.

The trophies for the Open have also varied throughout the years but the favorite one has always been the Kachina Dolls.

The Kachinas are the personal and spiritual bases of the Hopi belief, a complex mixture of myth, legend, ritual and ceremony. It has never been codified, as the Hopi have no written language. These beliefs have been handed down through oral tradition from generation to generation. As the spoken language does not readily lend itself to translation, the rituals do not allow literal interpretation. Scholars disagree on aspects of their meaning. Nevertheless, the basic tenets are clear.

The Hopi artists carve the Kachina dolls either as representations of the spirits themselves to be honored, or as gifts to the children. They are not toys, but rather are educational materials. An "original" Kachina doll is a work of art. The artist has to find the special suitable cottonwood, season it with special clay, use intricate techniques, apply suitable paints made of earth pigments and appropriate ornaments with skill and patience. Inevitably, modern technology has encroached on the process, especially in the areas of paints, but concentrated effort is made to protect and defend the inherent meaning.

These trophies are very beautiful and highly valued by the croquet player. They represent one of the fine traditions of this tournament.


Ren Kraft and Paul Bennett leased a condo next to the croquet courts for the week of the tournament. This condo was coined “croquet central” and was the place for the Opening Welcome party, the nightly Toast and Tallys and the Thursday night Bratwurst dinner. The Toast and Tally gathers the players together at the end of the day for cocktails, scores and a means to decide where to go out and eat dinner. The social aspect of croquet is one of its strongest points which differientiate it from many other sports. People want to help each other, talk about the game and feel part of its fraternity. The Toast and Tallys, informal, present a great environment for social interactions which otherwise are absent on the court. It great for the tournament director because it is a place to gather the scores and overall standings.

In the early days, tournament formats were generally based upon one of two styles. The round robin format involves a series of matches between all the players in a given division and the winner is decided by the player with the most wins and most net points. The ladder elimination format is quick format that divides the field into half each round by advancing the winners, i.e. Quarter finals, semi-finals, finals. The ladder format is very quick with 64 players down to 1 player in 6 rounds of play. To improve the number of games and allow players a second chance, the double elimination ladder format places the losers of each round into a second ladder with the winner of that ladder eventually playing the winner of the first ladder. Still this format guarantees some players only two games in the tournament.

The Arizona Open uses a format of block play (round robin) combined with a ladder playoff. This format known as the Patmor draw is quite common in tournaments. This format is flexible in accommodating either a small number or a large number of players into a schedule of only a few days. The tournament director may choose the number of blocks and players in each block that best suite the number of games and time slots available. Then at the end of round robin play, the director decides how many from each block advance into the ladder playoff.

Traditionally the AZ Open is a week long event starting on Sunday and finishing on Saturday, but this year, we started on Tuesday and finished on Saturday. Consequently, the director had to choose a format appropriate to these parameters. It was decided to make two blocks of singles and two blocks of doubles in Championship flight and one block of singles and doubles in First flight. The block play does not have to be a complete round robin. By making one larger block in first flight and by eliminating two games from each players schedule, the players were given more games than if the field had been divided into two smaller blocks. Each player averaged 4 games per day (including singles and 1 or two doubles games). Some players had only 3 games per day, but a few had five. The blocks were played the first three days and the ladder playoff started on Friday and finished up on Saturday. All players are guaranteed 9 games prior to the elimination rounds. By Saturday, however, only a few players remained in the tournament.

The elimination ladder this year was a modified double elimination ladder. The first and second place finishers in the block play advanced to a double elimination ladder while the next four in each block advanced to a single elimination ladder. This format rewards the players that finish well in block play.


Jeff Caldwell and Britt Ruby finished first in their two blocks while Jim Butts and Johnny Mitchell finished second. These players had double life in the ladder. Jim Houser advanced past Tyler Thomas in the first round of ladder play, but lost to Paul Bennett after he advanced past Ren Kraft. Johnny Mitchell defeated Paul in the next round after losing to Britt Ruby in his first round of play. Tom Krause beat Dick Tucker in the first round and defeated Paul Embry in the second round after Paul had defeated Arthur Bagby, recent winner of the Mission Hills Invitational. Jeff Caldwell defeated Tom Krause in the next round of play after Jeff had lost to Jim Butts in the first round of play. Johnny Mitchell beat Jeff Caldwell to meet Jim Butts in the semi-finals. Jim Butts defeated Johnny Mitchell and then Britt Ruby in the finals on Saturday to win the Arizona Open Championship Singles.

In doubles, Johnny Mitchell and Paul Bennett, undefeated in block play, defeated Arthur Bagby and Jim Butts in the first round of play to advance to the finals. Britt Ruby and Jim Houser defeated Jim Bonacci and Gordon Smale in the first round, then went on to defeat Jack Scott and Jeff Caldwell in the second round after they had beat Ren Kraft and Tom Krause. Ruby and Houser went on to defeat Arthur Bagby and Jim Butts in the semi-finals and then Paul Bennett and Johnny Mitchell in the finals to win the Arizona Open Championship Doubles.


In first flight play, Len Lyon, 1st place finisher in block play, defeated Phyllis Butts in the first round of play and Len defeated Bob Riddell in the second round of play after Bob had defeated Rich Alderson. Aviv Katz defeated Gardner Pond in the first round of play, but was defeated by Phyllis Butts in the second round of play. Bob Kays defeated Cindy Bagby in the first round of play and Rich Alderson in the second round of play and Phyllis Butts in the third round of play. Bob Riddell defeated Bob Kays in the semi-finals and Len Lyon in the finals to win the Arizona Open First Flight Singles.

In doubles, Bob Riddell and Aviv Katz defeated Paul Moore and Judy Dolstrom. Len Lyon and Bob Kays defeated Phyllis Butts and Gardner Pond in the first round and Bob Riddell and Aviv Katz in the second round to advance to the finals. Paul Moore and Judy beat Phyllis Butts and Gardner Pond in the second round but lost to Bob Riddell and Aviv Katz in the third round. Len Lyon and Bob Kays defeated Bob Riddell and Aviv Katz in the finals to win the Arizona Open First Flight Doubles.


The finals were held at Mission Hills country club. A wonderful lunch was served to the players and spectators with champagne, dessert and trophy presentation. A great deal of thanks go out to the Mission Hills croquet club, the special events coordinators at Mission Hills and Indian Ridge, and all the players that make the tournament a lot of fun to put together. It is a lot of work but very worthwhile for the game and the tradition.


The Arizona tradition will continue. Phoenix needs to develop court space. One possibility is to re-use courts at Sun City, Desert Mountain and the Phoenician Resort during the Open. Venture Out has two excellent courts which we can use if properly coordinated between croquet and lawn bowlers.

The Arizona Open depends upon Ren Kraft's court which is central to our club's activities. We plan on rebuilding this court in May. The top soil will be turned over, re-leveled and an intense chemical attack of the perl scale will be applied to the soil system. This will help the root system re-establish itself during the summer months.

Many other courts have come and gone. One of our greatest losses has been the loss of Gainey Estate Ranch croquet. This venue was our long standing place for holding the finals. Other courts which have come and gone were owned by various members: Patmor, Cline, Barber, Chatham and Fournier. Each court had its unique setting, history and charm.

One of the long term prospects for Phoenix, Scottsdale or Tempe would be the development of a set of public croquet lawns. The planning and coordination for 3 to 4 public courts would require lobbying for budget, land and public interest. Like Houstin, San Francisco and Central Park in New York, a public setting is well worth the effort and would go far to promote the sport of croquet beyond the private enclaves it generally hides behind. As with Mission Hills, when you can put 4 courts together in one place, tournaments are more easy to manage, players can often find an open court even during a tournament. A public court setting would require lights in Phoenix because play at night is comfortable when it is cooler even during the hottest months.


Block Results

First Flight Singles

    1. Len Lyon 6-0

    2. Bob Riddell 5-1

    3. Rick Alderson 4-2

    4. Phyllis Butts 3-3

    5. Aviv Katz 3-3

    6. Bob Kays 2-4

    7. Cindy Bagby 2-4

    8. Gardner Pond 2-4

    9. Marty Embry 0-6


First Flight Doubles

    1. B. Riddell – A. Katz

    2. L. Lyon – B. Kays

    3. P. Butts-G. Pond

    4. P. Moore – P. Apple

    5. C. Bagby – M. Embry


Championship Singles – Block 1

    1. Jeff Caldwell

    2. Johnny Mitchell

    3. Jim Houser

    4. Arthur Bagby

    5. Ren Kraft

    6. Richard Tucker

    7. Jim Herzog

    8. Bill Roche

    9. Don Taves

Championship Singles – Block 2

    1. Britt Ruby

    2. Jim Butts

    3. Tom Krause

    4. Paul Bennett

    5. Paul Embry

    6. Tyler Thomas

    7. Gordon Smale

    8. Cameron Guernsey

    9. Jack Scott

    10. Biff Roche


Championship Doubles – Block 3

    1. Mitchell – Bennett

    2. Kraft – Krause

    3. Bonacci – Smale

    4. Taves – Guernsey

    5. Roche – Roche


Championship Doubles – Block 4

    1. Bagby – Butts

    2. Ruby – Houser

    3. Scott – Caldwell

    4. Tucker – Embry

    5. Herzog – Alderson


Final Standings

Championship Singles

      1. Jim Butts

      2. Britt Ruby

      3. Johnny Mitchell

      4. Jeff Caldwell

      5. Paul Bennett

        Tom Krause

      7. Jim Houser

        Paul Embry

      9. Tyler Thomas

        Ren Kraft

        Richard Tucker

        Arthur Bagby


Championship Doubles

      1. Ruby – Houser

      2. Mitchell – Bennett

      3. Bagby – Butts

      4. Scott – Caldwell

      5. Bonacci – Smale

        Kraft – Krause


First Flight Singles

      1. Bob Riddell

      2. Len Lyon

      3. Bob Kays

      4. Phyllis Butts

      5. Aviv Katz

        Rick Alderson

      7. Gardner Pond

        Cindy Bagby



First Flight Doubles

      1. Lyon – Kays

      2. Riddell – Katz

      3. Butts – Pond

      4. Moore – Dolstrom


Submitted by Paul Bennett, 16 March 2004.