CROQUET NEWS:  Croquet Court Gets Grand Unveiling in Venice

17 January 2005
Wellfield Park, Venice, Florida, USA
by Laura Green in the Hearld Tribune
photos by Armondo Sorares

Fred Jones puts a ball through a wicket during a croquet game at the courts at Wellfield Park.

Russ Cuccia knew little about the sport of croquet when he started watching three courts being built on Wellfield Park, two blocks from his home.

He'd played the backyard version and wondered how this might be different.

	Russ Cuccia takes another stroke.

"There's a tremendous amount of strategy involved. It adds a whole other dimension to the game," he said.

Cuccia, 50, is now hooked.

Members of the local croquet club hope the new fields, at corner of Lucaya and Pinebrook, will entice others to try the competitive version of the game.

The fields at Wellfield Park may be the largest municipal croquet facility in the country, members said.

Jackie Jones takes a stroke as her partner Russ Cuccia looks on.

"Croquet has pretty much been in private clubs. Hopefully this will make it open to more people," said Jackie Jones, Sarasota County Croquet Club president and a top-ranked women's croquet player in the United States.

Though the club has been using the facility for about a month, members will celebrate with a grand opening Tuesday [17 January 2005] from 10 a.m. to noon.

There will be demonstration and then guests will be invited to pick up a mallet and take a swing.