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.
02/11: Annual AGM
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.
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:
TOP 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
The MCA has three players that are currently ranked in the USCA's Golf Croquet Grand Prix Top 10. Nice Work!
Player Report by Dylan Goodwin
The 2019 Kansas City Open offered a tough selection challenge for the Pro Division with two blocks of four only advancing one player each to the championship. The format came about with the available court space at Kactus Creek limited to one court.
Matt Griffith put an exclamation point on his fourth straight MCA Pro Nine Wicket Series win as he took me down 26-24 in yesterday's final at the 2018 MCA Championship at Kactus Creek Croquet Club in Parkville, Missouri.
In reality, Griffith had pretty much claimed the 9WS Series by the time the final started as he held a 30-point lead at the start of the game. I did make a go of it with an out-game approach with blue, but it didn't take Griffith long to get in and wrap up the Cup chase by taking yellow through wicket #3.
The 2018 Kansas City Open Pro Division offered a day designed for the croquet hardcore. Matt Griffith and I squared off in the final yesterday at about 5:30 p.m. at Kactus Creek Croquet Club in Parkville, Missouri, after playing five straight games. In total, we played eight hours of croquet with about 15 minutes for a quick lunch after round two.
While Matt Griffith and Ron Millican took the glory at the 2018 Lee's Summit T-Bone MCA opener, it was Greg Clouse that slipped in to snag the early lead in the Nine Wicket Pro Series with 116 points. Clouse faired better in the conditions than any other player and averaged 23.20 wickets on the day.
Matt Griffith made his way through the MCA's most challenging event to claim his ninth MCA Pro title this past Saturday at the 2018 Lee's Summit T-Bone Croquet Tournament at Howard Park in Lee's Summit, Missouri. He finished with a tight 16-14 win over Ron Millican in the final, which was a re-match of their block game where Millican took a a 24-13* win.