CROQUET NEWS:  Sure Shot

Water Festival Croquet Tourney Draws Tough Competition

21 July 2007
Henry C. Chambers Waterfront Park, Beaufort, South Carolina, USA
by Zach Van Hart in Beaufort Gazette, Beaufort, South Carolina, USA
photo by photographer

Anne McLaughlin, of Sun City, Hilton Head, executes a perfect double split roll and sets up both her husband Bill's and her next shot during the Beaufort Water Festival croquet tournament championship on Thursday at Henry C. Chambers Waterfront Park.

"This is not a gentile game; it's a cutthroat game," said Avril Nicholson, director of the annual Beaufort Water Festival croquet tournament, which concluded Thursday at Henry C. Chambers Waterfront Park after four days of play.

After Monday's and Tuesday's open doubles, which were won by Bill Esher and Don Burrell, Bill and Anne McLaughlin won Thursday's finals in the co-ed doubles 12-8 against Carol Crow and Doug Crowley. There were plenty of smiles to go around besides the winners, though. Playing on a 30 feet by 40 feet field, much smaller than a regulation 84-by-105 field, produced close quarters for players and a chance to chat and admire other players' stylish hats. The terrain also lacked the smoothness of a typical course, or as Anne McLaughlin said, "This is rumpity, bumpity."

The players sure didn't mind.

"This is the epitome of croquet for the fun of it," said Crow.

With a team earning one point for a ball through a wicket, the McLaughlins took an early lead in the finals and stayed ahead thanks to Bill's multiple 3-ball breaks.

"It's getting the balls in a row so you can hit a few wickets at a time," said Bill, a resident of Sun City Hilton Head, which produced a high number of the 14 teams entered for the co-ed tourney. Others came from out of state.

Cameron and Nancy Jones, who live in Columbus, Ohio, but own a house in Pigeon Point, started playing three years ago and now travel across the country to play in tournaments.

"It's a great thing we can do together," said Cameron.

Nancy immediately said the best part of playing is winning, and Cameron gushed about the physics and strategy, comparing croquet to billiards and chess before taking a stab at another sport.

"I always tell people croquet is better than golf because you never lose your ball," he said.

Croquet doesn't require the strength of Tiger Woods, either.

Said Billy O'Neal: "You don't have to look like Arnold Schwarzenegger to play this game."