CROQUET NEWS:  Up for Croquet? This Club Satisfies (Just Wear White)

It supplies hardware needed for play, and it's attracting players from throughout region

15 July 2005
Wolfeboro, New Hampshire, USA
story by Chris Baxter in Concord Monitor, Concord, New Hampshire, USA
photo by Ken Williams

Lois Caporal reacts with amusement as Dorothea Frysinger misses a shot. The Newcomers Club gathers to play croquet at the Wolfeboro Croquet Club.

On sleepless nights, most people count sheep. Keith Simpson counts wickets.

The Wolfeboro resident has played the backyard classic of croquet for more than two decades. But what started as a summer game with some buddies has turned into a serious hobby that may soon have him competing in professional matches across New England.

Simpson's home turf is a grassy green patch at the Wolfeboro Croquet Club. Started in 1997 by Paul Zimmerman, the small club now draws dozens of recreational and competitive players from throughout the region, offering a full-size court and hardware at no cost.

Although Simpson has yet to compete in a United States Croquet Association tournament, he spends at least one day a week battling his friend of 35 years, Lloyd Haddend. With luck and practice, it won't be long before he's facing off against other seasoned players in the association's professional matches.

In the early 1980s, Simpson, Haddend and others got tired of the garden variety croquet when they found themselves lacking proper rules for some baffling situations, such as striking a ball out of bounds.

After having a friend weld six metal wickets and construct a few homemade mallets, Simpson revived an old grass tennis court at Grover Cleveland's former summer residence in Tamworth.

A marriage and career pulled Simpson away from the game for several years, until he saw a sign for the new Wolfeboro club. Simpson is one of the top regulars at the club, which is mainly used by the Lakes Region Newcomers Club, a group of 37 retirees. Although the sport, which originated in Europe in the mid-1800s, is known for sometimes-confusing rules, the Wolfeboro club is strict about only one regulation:

Everyone must wear white.

"It's traditional to wear white," said Lori Bowen, the club's operations manager. "And that's the way it has to be here. All whites, no exceptions."

A few years ago, Simpson set aside his old mallet, homemade of ash and maple wood, for a newer one with a plastic head.

Working as a software engineer throughout the week, Simpson has a hard time getting his mind off croquets (sending an opponent's ball), roquets (hitting an opponent's ball) and staking out (completing the course).

Needless to say, he keeps his mallet in his office.

"You can be in the worst spot in this game, and with one well-planned shot or a spice of luck, the whole thing can turn around," Simpson said. "You're always looking down the road; always with one eye on the next wicket."

But those accustomed to the backyard wicket formation are in for a surprise at the Wolfeboro club. A professional court is arranged as a square 105 feet by 87 feet, with wickets at each corner. Two additional wickets stand on either side of the stake, placed in the center of the square.

Competitors go around the square, through the center, back around the square in the reverse direction, through the center and hit the post.

"It's a combination of the angles in billiards, the strokes in golf and the strategy in chess," Simpson said. "It's just a ball."

The Newcomers Club is also taking advantage of the game's "health benefits," which they say include laughter and sharp eyesight. Some of the more competitive players have even hired personal croquet trainers.

Wolfeboro's Dorothea Frysinger plays the course every Thursday morning with her friend Barbara Haskell. Both are 89 years old.

"They have a hell of a time," said Dick Shurtleff, director of the croquet group for the Newcomers Club. "They may not follow all the rules, but we just let them do their thing. It's more a verbal competition than one on the green."