13-15 September 2024 Report by Daniel Bennett, Manager

The Irish Golf Croquet Championships were held by the Croquet Association of Ireland at Carrickmines from the 13th to the 15th September 2024.
The three titles being competed for were the Singles championship, the Maggie or Handicap Doubles, and the Plate event.
24 players entered the singles event. They were sorted by DGrade into 6 blocks of four with the 6 winners and 2 runners up proceeding to the quarter final knockouts.
The blocks produced some great matchups. Huw Spiers pulled off a 500 D Grade swing against Mark Stephens, going undefeated in Block A. Fred Rogerson kept Norwegian Marius Thorne just outside the playoff grade with an experienced performance. Henry Bagwell’s 300 leap to outgun Alan Looney wasn't enough for either of them to make it out of block E. Visiting Glenn Fauske, fresh off a Baltic Open victory, won all 3 to top the group.

Simon Williams went the distance in his first playoff game in the best -of- format against a vibrant Evan Newell. Huw Spiers meanwhile made Fred Rogerson dig deep to come from 1
game back. Glenn Fauske and Robert O’Donoghue made up the other semi -inal competitors In the finals, Glenn Fauske played some great Golf Croquet in the first game to pip Simon Williams 7-6 but Williams used every bit of his experience and stamina to win the Irish Singles title for 2024.

The ‘Maggie’, or Irish Golf Croquet Doubles trophy, had its own share of the excitement. The dashing duo of Clair Whyms and Fernando Llorento Danino beat the obliging Fiachra Carroll and Henry Bagwell in an early round, only falling to the Looney/Rogerson experience and the oscular strategy of the first-time visitors Cami and Tate Russock. Huw Spiers and Marguerite Cremin Chung found their groove early and managed to make the finals on both sides of the table, resulting in a draw marry on the Sunday. Fred Rogerson and Alan Looney met their match in a very entertaining first game on finals day. Their inability to match the celebrations of their opponents delighted their audience but allowed their opposition to reach the 5 hoops needed in this handicap format.
The formidable Spiers and Chung partnership were then to face the Florida couple, Cami and Tate Russock. Perhaps it was the result of over-tiredness on the part of the Irish contingent, having played more games than anyone else all weekend, that they couldn’t halt the American duo. The ‘Maggie’ will be engraved with foreign names for the first time.

There was a healthy scattering of plate games throughout the weekend, even with the very tight schedule in just three days of play. Celine Reilly defeated Henry Bagwell in the final on hoop 13, a well-deserved result after some storming play in the semi. Some excellent croquet was played over the weekend on world-class lawns at Carrickmines. The Croquet Association of Ireland are lucky to have such a fantastic venue overlooking the Dublin Mountains and easily accessible on a tram line direct to the City Centre. Having been fully subscribed this year, we would encourage anyone wanting to experience the occasion to enter as early as possible for next year's event, provisionally scheduled for the 12th -14th September 2025.