The CAI has been trying out a handicap system for playing Golf Croquet. This was used in the summer of 2017 and provided challenging games between players of all levels.  It is intended that this will be proposed for formal adoption by the CAI and a description of the system can be found in this document. Comments on the system would be very welcome by Simon Williams.

Croquet will be represented among 300 other activities of every kind at the annual Transition Year Expo at Punchestown Racecourse next Monday and Tuesday, 11th and 12th September. The Exhibition is open from 10 to 3.30 each day.

The CAI team (Nathaniel Healy, Jane Morrison, Sandy Greig, Gerard Osborne Burke, Alan Looney and Dave McGrath) came up short in their attempt to win the McWeeney for the third time in succession in their annual match against the English CA.

The Irish Golf Croquet Championships will be held at Carrickmines Croquet and Lawn Tenis Club on 8th to 10th Septemper 2017. An entry form may be downloaded from a link on the left and entry fee can be paid by Paypal or by cheque in advance.

The 2017 Croquet Championships of Ireland were played at Carrickmines between the 5th and 12th of August. The winners and runners-up of the 8 events were as follows:

Singles Championship of Ireland
Winner:       Andrew Johnston
Runner Up: Danny Johnston

Doubles Championships
Winners:        Andrew Johnston and Danny Johnston
Runners Up:  David Bent (USA) and Nathaniel Healy

The new full gallery of photographs of the Irish Open Championships has been added to the Carousel at the bottom of this page and under the 'Latest Gallery' block in the right hand column..Contact photocai@croquetireland.com if you would like higher resolution copies or access to a larger collection.

Over two hundred people tried croquet during the huge Flavours of Fingal County Show at Newbridge House last weekend, showing this venue's importance as a showcase for the game. Five further people and one whole family also signed up for the new Newbridge House Croquet Club, and I feel that many more will be forced to buy garden sets at the insistance of their children!

The South Leinster Open was held last weekend in NewcastleCC, played, as usual as an Advanced Singles Event. This year the entry was down, so only the Johnstons' lawn was in use. This has been brought to a terrific standard after much hard work and the speed of play was excellent. In addition, Newcastle hospitality was well up to its usual high standards.

Following heavy overnight rain, the start of this year’s Irish-hosted Home Internationals at Southport was delayed due to significant puddles on all five courts.  Ongoing drizzle (with intervals of heavy showers) kept them topped up, so the usual all-play-all format was amended to a knockout format.  The randomly drawn semi-finals were: