Monday, July 26, 2021 at 8:00PM 
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.
Sunday, February 21, 2021 at 12:08PM 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.
Monday, July 27, 2020 at 8:06AM 
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
Saturday, March 21, 2020 at 2:39PM The MCA has three players that are currently ranked in the USCA's Golf Croquet Grand Prix Top 10. Nice Work!
Sunday, July 28, 2019 at 5:55PM 
The 2019 Kansas City Open wrapped up earlier today with tightly contested 16-15 Gold Championship Final with Ellie Griffith taking the title over Justin Marciniak. The event played out at Kactus Creek Croquet Club in Parkville, Missouri, it was Griffith's fifth straight appearance in a Gold Division title game where she has now won three out of five finals.
Sunday, September 16, 2018 at 10:42AM Ellie Griffith won her first MCA Championship tournament on the way to placing first in the 2018 MCA Nine Wicket Series Gold Division points race.
Executing a series of immaculate roll-up shots and long, accurate split shots, Griffith cruised to a 27-12 victory against runner-up Brevin Millican.
Similar to her performance at the KC Open on the same court six weeks ago, Griffith broke through to the double wickets on the far side of the court with some ease while her opponent struggled to advance his balls past wicket three during the early phase of the game.
Sunday, July 29, 2018 at 5:33PM Parkville, Mo.—Justin Marciniak won all five of his games Saturday to place first in the Gold division at the 2018 Kansas City Open at Kactus Creek Croquet Club.
Wednesday, May 16, 2018 at 6:00AM A loss to #1 seed Wanda Jackson in the last round of block play dropped Ellie Griffith into the wildcard round for the Gold Division at the MCA 2018 opener in Lee's Summit, Missouri on May 5, 2018. But that loss didn't turn out to be so bad as she rolled through the bracket and on to her first MCA tournament title.
Monday, May 7, 2018 at 4:00PM Ellie Griffith played consistent croquet all day to cruise to a first-place finish at the 2018 Lee's Summit T-Bone Croquet Tournament.
