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. 

PHOTOS | PRO 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.