Arizona Croquet Club Association Rules A-Singles Club Championship 21 April 2001 Tournament Director: Paul Bennett Court Day Time Player Opponent ----------- ----- --------- --------------------------------- ---------------------------------- Kraft Sat 8:00 AM Paul Bennett VS Patty Dole Kraft Sat 8:00 AM Stan Patmor VS Pat Roach Kraft Sat 10:00 AM Paul Bennett VS Rory Kelley Kraft Sat 10:00 AM Stan Patmor VS Ren Kraft Kraft Sat 12:00 PM Pat Roach VS Ren Kraft Kraft Sat 12:00 PM Rory Kelley VS Patty Dole Kraft Sat 2:00 PM Winner Block1 VS Winner Block 2 Block 1: Stan Patmor Pat Roach Ren Kraft Block 2: Paul Bennett Rory Kelley Patty Dole Tournament format and rules: Laws of Association Tournaments ... Singles ... No bisques ... 2 blocks - winners to advance to playoff at 2:00 PM Winner of blocks determined first upon wins, next net pts, then gross pts, and if still tied by a lag to the peg from the baulk line. Other details: The hoops will be gauged as best as we can to 3-11/16". Play will commence at 8:00 AM at Kraft's lawn. Barlow GT balls All players must agree to have fun. Forfeiting of games will not be allowed. A Penalty of $15 will be strictly enforced. Entry fee is $15 per player. NO USCA sanctioning or grand prix tracking points. Call Paul Bennett @ 602 956-8966. Summary of play Bennett 26 Dole 1 Roach 22 Patmor 10 Kelley 25 Bennett 20 Kraft 26 Patmor 11 Roach 26 Kraft 16 Kelley 26 Dole 2 Winner of block 1 was Pat Roach Winner of block 2 was Rory Kelley Arizona Club championships A-Flight summary The Arizona croquet club held their annual club championships this Saturday and play was divided into two flights. See B-Champ results on web-site at http://www.azcroquet.org The weather on Saturday started out beautifully. The Kraft lawn looked and played marvelously. Jim Hulett cut the lawn in a special pattern resembling the British flag. The Association rules are used in the club championships in Arizona. By the time the tournament was over, the weather had changed dramatically and Kelley and Roach were battling it out for the championship trophies in what could only be described as English weather.... the wind was blowing violently, followed by a mild but driving rain. The court was covered with leaves and twigs, but play continued. Pat played quite well commanding the better part of the game and won 26-9. But as Dr. Bob Rotella explains in his book "Golf is Not a Game of Perfect", often Croquet is Not a Game of Perfect. Late in the game, Pat gave Rory a chance which he took to make 9 points and set a good leave. With one chance to hit instead of letting the opponent possibly take the 2nd ball around and winning the game, it is often necessary to make a long roquet to grab the game back from your opponent. And Pat did hit. And to two others players in the tournament, Ren and Paul, they too had their chances to be in the finals and play for a trophy, but they had failed earlier in the day to capitalize on the chances their opponents had given them. Paul set up a sextuple leave against Rory, which Rory shot into and missed. Paul managed to make 4 peels before breaking down at 2 back. Had Paul been able to finish the sextuple break, Paul would have ended the game without Rory having had another shot. Instead, Rory managed to finish his first break and "keep the innings" thereafter. To have the "innings" in Association croquet is to keep control of the play after your turn is complete. One does this by keeping the opponent balls separated and apart from your balls which are together and able to score hoops or break up the balls on the next turn. Since all balls are "alive" on each other at the beginning of the turn, one may be able to keep the innings for a long period of time in the Association game, unless the opponent can "hit in" - usually about a 60 foot shot. Paul had another half dozen opportunities in the game to "hit in" and regain control of the game. But he did not hit in until there was only about 1 minute remaining in the game and he started with the ball which was a few hoops ahead of his back ball. Instead of passing before time ran-out, Paul was stuck without an opportunity to come back. Unlike, American rules, the player only has one turn after time is called. There was no way to win the game after time expired. And Ren had had his chances in the game against Pat. Ren having taken his first ball around through nine hoops, was in control and could in one turn take his second ball around through all its hoops and in the same turn manage to score its partner ball through its last 3 hoops to end the game before Pat had had another shot. This is called a triple peel which is a common way to end the game in Association play. All in all the play was fun and everybody had their chances to get in and win their games. The championship trophy goes to Pat Roach, a long time Arizona Croquet club member. Pat went undefeated in play on Saturday and desires the trophy glasses he won. Pat in a weekend tournament a few years ago managed to pull off 3 out of 4 triple peel wins. Rory and Jacques will play at the Soloman cup and the World Championships in England next June. We wish them both well. PTB