Internal Competitions Explained

Golf Croquet (GC)

The Golf Croquet Open Club Singles Championship is open to all members who can play GC. It is level play (i.e. handicaps are ignored) and is the best of three 13 hoop games.

The Golf Croquet Open Club Doubles Championship is open to all members who can play GC. Two players team up and take on another team of two. If you don’t have a partner, one will be allocated to you. Each player plays one particular colour throughout. It is level play (i.e. handicaps are ignored) and is the best of three 13 hoop games. 

The Jane Collier Cup Golf Handicap Singles is open to all members who can play GC. It is the best of three 13 hoop games. 

The Golf Croquet Handicap Doubles Cup is open to all members who can play GC. Two players team up and take on another team of two. If you don’t have a partner, one will be allocated to you. Each player plays one particular colour throughout. Each team’s two handicaps are added together and the total halved, rounding up to a whole number. It is the best of three 13 hoop games. 

The Golf Croquet B-Level Singles Cup is open to all members who can play GC with a handicap of three and above. It is level play (i.e. handicaps are ignored) and is the best of three 13 hoop games.

The Clark & Cork B-Level Mixed Doubles Sugar Bowls is open to all members who can play GC with a handicap of three and above. Two players team up and take on another team of two. If you don’t have a partner, one will be allocated to you. It is level play (i.e. handicaps are ignored) and is the best of three 13 hoop games. 

The Golf Croquet C-Level Singles Cup is open to all members who can play GC with a handicap of seven and above. It is level play and is the best of three 13 hoop games. 

The Golf Croquet High/Low Handicap Cup is a high/low doubles competition open to all members and is ideal for someone new to GC. The teams are determined by the competition organiser pairing a less experienced player with a more experienced player who take on another team of two similarly selected high and low handicappers. It is handicap play taking an average of the two player’s handicaps for each team rounded up. Each player plays one particular colour throughout, providing an ideal way to discuss and learn the tactics, and the various shots available to GC players. It is the best of three 13 hoop games. 

Locke Bowl (GC)

Historically an AC competition but due to numbers will now be GC. Players compete in three disciplines of croquet over one day, comprising: 

  • Two single game Golf Croquet Singles. Handicap play
  • Two single game One-ball. Handicap play.
  • Golf Croquet Doubles. Handicap play.

Exact format of the day will be based on numbers attending. 

The Golf Croquet Winter League is open to all members who can play GC. It is handicap play and is the best of three 13 hoop games. For new members a temporary winter league handicap will be allocated by the league organiser. More details on the league can be viewed here.

The winner of each match must email cccresults@gmail.com the result of an in-house competition game immediately after and update the relevant sheet on the left hand notice boards.

NB. For those GC players starting out in Association Croquet see The Ratcliffe Cup (one-ball), The Associates Cup, Freeland Cup, & Harbord Memorial below.

One-ball Croquet

The Ratcliffe Cup is open to all members. One-Ball is a variant of Association Croquet but instead of each player having two balls each has just one. Its simplicity is suitable for beginners of both GC and AC. One-Ball is not dissimilar to GC, in that most turns comprise a single shot, which is used to take position or to aim at another ball. However, the tactical decisions in One-Ball are interesting and most games last less than 30 minutes. It is traditional handicap play with extra shots (bisques) for the higher handicap player. The winner is the player to get his ball through all 12 hoops in sequence and lastly hitting the centre peg. It is the best of three games.

Association Croquet (AC)

The AC Open Club Singles Championship is open to all members who can play AC. It is level advanced play with the winner the best of three 26 point games. 

The AC Open Club Doubles Championship is a doubles competition open to all members who can play AC. It is level advanced play with the winner the first to score 26 points in a single game.

The Acland Cup is open to all members who can play AC with a minimum handicap of six. It is level advanced play with the winner the first to score 26 points in a single game.

The Associates Cup is a form of AC played on a half sized court, is termed Short Croquet, and is suitable for beginners. It is a single game played using the short handicap system. It is an ideal competition for a GC player transitioning to AC. The shorter distances involved makes it easier to play and to understand some of the tactics required for AC. The winner is the first player to run both their balls in sequence through hoops one to six and then hit the centre peg with both scoring 14 points.

The Booth Cup is open to all members who can play AC with a minimum handicap of ten. It is played using individual handicaps with full bisques to base six (i.e. the number of bisques each player receives is their handicap minus six). The winner is the first to score 26 points in a single game.

The Butlin Bowl is open to all members who can play AC with a minimum handicap of 0.5. It is level advanced play with the winner the winner is the first to score 26 points in a single game. 

The Cant Cup is open to all members who can play AC. It is handicap play (i.e. weaker player only receives bisques) with the winner the first player to score 26 points in a single game.

The Freeland Cup is open to all members who can play AC and who have a minimum handicap of 16 so suitable for beginners. It is a single game played on a full court using individual handicaps with full bisques to base six (i.e. the number of bisques each player receives is their handicap minus six). The winner is the first player to run both their balls in sequence through hoops one to six and hit the centre peg with both scoring 14 points.

The Haslam Trophy is a handicap doubles competition open to all members who can play AC. It is handicap play (i.e. weaker team only receives bisques) with the winner the first team to score 26 points in a single game.

The Harbord Memorial Cup is a high/low doubles competition open to all members and ideal for someone new to AC. The teams are determined by the competition organiser pairing a less experienced player with a more experienced player who take on another team of two similarly selected high and low handicappers. It is handicap play taking an average of the two player’s handicaps for each team with the weaker team receiving bisques. Players take alternate shots providing an ideal way to discuss and learn tactics, the use of bisques, and the various shots available to AC players. The winners are the first team to run both their balls in sequence through all twelve hoops and hit the centre peg with both to score 26 points in a single game.

The Len Connor Cup is open to all members who can play AC. It is handicap play with advanced rules with the winner the first player to score 26 points.

The Ted Davey Cup is open to all members over the age of 70 who can play AC. It is handicap play (i.e. weaker player only receives bisques) with the winner the first player to score 26 points in a single game.

The AC Handicap League is open to all members who can play AC. It is handicap play (no restrictions) with a three hour time limit per game. Each player plays one singles match against all the other players. The winner of each game is the first player to score 26 points or the person in front at the three hour mark. The player winning the most games wins the tournament.

The winner of each match must email cccresults@gmail.com the result of an in-house competition game immediately after and update the relevant sheet on the left hand notice boards.