Sunday
Feb192023

MCA Targeting Three Events After Annual Meeting

The Midwest Croquet Association held its 2023 AGM on February 11, 2023, in Leawood, Kansas, to outline plans for the 2023 season. The meeting featured a discussion on the mission of the Midwest Croquet Association and how the organization can support clubs and events in the area.

In addition, elections were held and Dylan Goodwin was re-elected as a board member and president, with Jodi Adams also being re-elected to the board to continue in her role as treasurer. Valerie Andruss was also re-elected to her position as a board member, while Greg Clouse and Justin Marciniak also join the board. Both have previously served on the MCA Board.

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Tuesday
Jan102023

Midwest Croquet Association Announces 2023 AGM Date

Leawood, Kansas - The Midwest Croquet Association (MCA) is pleased to announce that the Annual General Meeting (AGM) for 2023 will be held on Saturday, February 11, 2023 in Leawood, Kansas.

The AGM is an opportunity for members of the MCA to come together to discuss and plan events for the upcoming year and to confirm the MCA's board members and president.

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Monday
Jul262021

Griffiths Go 10-0 On Home Court

There were no cucumber sandwiches. No one was sipping champagne or toting around a glass of wine. Throw out all you think you know about croquet -- the Kansas City Open is for croquet warriors only. 

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Tuesday
Jul202021

2021 KC Open Game Schedules

Updated on Wednesday, July 21, 2021 at 6:05PM by Registered CommenterMCA Website Admin

The 2021 Kansas City Open game schedules are set with 12 players battling in the Pro Division on Saturday morning with an 8:30 a.m. start time. We'll run four blocks of three and advance all players to the afternoon playoff. Four players have a late start in the morning thanks to a bye round. (Matt Griffith, Greg Clouse, Dylan Goodwin and Greg Adams)

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Wednesday
Jul142021

2021 KC Open Entry List

The 2021 Kansas City Open is quickly approaching and interested players can learn more about the details here. For information on entering the event, contact kccroquetclub@gmail.com. The updated entry list follows:

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Wednesday
Jun302021

2021 KC Open: Full Speed Ahead

The Eighth Annual Kansas City Open Nine Wicket Series tournament is set to return to the pre-pandemic format with two days of play at Kactus Creek Croquet Club on July 24-25, 2021. The KC Open has become an annual tradition where the best croquet players in Kansas City battle for bragging rights on the finest court in the metro. Don’t miss out on the best croquet event of the year!

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Sunday
Feb212021

MCA 2021 AGM: Two Event Dates Set

The 2021 MCA AGM was held virtually on February 6, 2021, and the meeting mainly centered around bringing back a more active tournament schedule for the upcoming season. Shortly after the meeting, it was confirmed that the ninth annual Kansas Open Nine Wicket Series (9WS) event will be held on the weekend of July 24-25, 2021 at Kactus Creek Croquet Club in Parkville, Mo. In addition, the board also agreed to bring back the traditional date in September for the MCA Championship. The singles Pro, Gold and Silver Championships for the 9WS would be played on Saturday, September 18, 2021. A venue is still be determined and the event could potentially include a second event played on Sunday.

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Thursday
Jan282021

2021 MCA Virtual AGM

The MCA will hold a virtual AGM via Zoom to plan for the 2021 season on Saturday, February 6, 2021, at 10:00 a.m. All active members are welcome to attend. Please email kccroquetclub@gmail.com to receive your invitation.

Monday
Jul272020

2020 KC Open: A Griffith Double

KC Open Pro Finalists: Bryce Millican and Matt GriffithTOP SEEDS FALL EARLY

PARKVILLE, MO -- The shortened version of the Kansas City Open ran smooth this past Saturday at Kactus Creek Croquet Club and the event saw Matt Griffith and Ellie Griffith defend their home court.

The Pro and Gold Divisions started together in an open bracket with losers from round one moving into a Gold playoff. Winners in that round advanced in the Pro Playoff and faced off against the top four seeds -- all of whom had a bye in the first round. The quarterfinals produced a lot of excitment as two the top seeds were upset. 

PHOTOSPRO PLAYOFF | GOLD PLAYOFF | SCORESHEET

Ron Millican came out of round one with a 24-11 win over Colton Lennard and to face #3 seed Greg Clouse. Millican was previously 1-5 versus Clouse, but he came through with a 15-12 upset and now has taken two-in-a row vs Clouse. The bigger surprise though occurred in the top half of the bracket where #9 seed Bryce Millican advanced to face #1 Matt Smith. This tournament represented the first Pro action for Millican, while Smith came in with a 22-2 record. Millican shocked the veteran with a 21-13 upset to advance to the semifinals.

I played Millican in that round and we had a nice long outgame, where I theoretically had the upper hand. Millican kept his composure though and stayed clean, while I picked up enough deadness to stall out. He was clever enough to avoid the clearing wicket as the clock wound down and took a 16-13 win to advance to the final.

Matt Griffith was the only top seed to perform his duty as he advanced in round one 27-11 over Jodi Adams and then got into a bit of tussle with Ron Millican in the semifinals, but advanced 18-14.

He was in top form in the final though and utilized an early two-ball break and out of bounds croquet shot error by Bryce to roll to a 32-2 perfect score pegout win. It was Griffith's fourth KC Open title and record 11th Nine Wicket Series Pro tournament win.

GOLD BRACKET

The Gold Playoff semifinals squared off on the north court and Jim Ratzlaff and Colton Lennard got into a high-scoring battle with newcomer Lennard. Lennard prevailed with an impressive 26-24 victory. The other semi had a similar matchup with newcomer Valerie Andruss taking on veteran Ellie Griffith -- two-time Gold 9WS champion. Griffith was on form and took a 24-9 win to advance to the final.

She continued the form there and defeated Lennard 25-15 to claim repeat as the KC Open Gold Division champion and secure the sweep for the Griffiths.

NOTES

  • Matt Griffith became the first player to reach 2,000 9WS Pro points -- reaching 2,016 in the title game.
  • Jodi Adams came into the 2020 KC Open with 664 career Pro Points and 10th on the all-time list. She scored 36 on Saturday to reach 700 career points and move ahead of Paul Miller for ninth on the all-time list.
  • Dylan Goodwin and Ron Millican kept active 9WS streaks alive are the only two players to have played in all 27 events.
  • The event had 12 entries which exceeded expectations considering the COVID-19 global pandemic. 15 total players showed interest.

 

Wednesday
Jul222020

KC Open COVID-19 Guidelines

For this Saturday’s Kansas City Open, the following guidelines are in place in order to keep all players and spectators safe and healthy. Players or spectators with cold symptoms (fever or cough) or that are under quarantine restrictions should not attend the event. Please notify the tournament manager at kccroquetclub@gmail.com if you need to withdraw due to illness or quarantine.

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