CROQUET NEWS:  United States Open Won by Jerry Stark

	Place	Player, State	Rank, Grade
	1st	Jerry Stark, CA	#1, 2479
	2nd	Matt Baird, OK	#28, 2015
	3rd	Brian Cumming, ON	#2, 2467
	4th	Rich Lamm, CO	#10, 2349
	5th	Paul Bennett, AZ	#7, 2395
	6th	Ron Hendry, CA	#44, 1834
	7th	Danny Huneycutt, NC	#3, 2453
		Jim Butts, CA	#32, 1977
	9th	Rory Kelley, AZ	#22, 2058
		Jim Bast, TX	#23, 2048
		Leo Nikora , HI	#36, 1932
		Russell Brown, NY	#46, 1815
	13th	Mike Orgill, CA	#48, 1785
		Aviv Katz, CA	#66, 1625
		David Collins, CA	#76, 1569
		Rob Coleman, CA	#97, 1413
	17th	Charlie Smith, CA	#52, 1767
		Arthur Bagby, CA	=62, 1665
		Len Lyon, CA	=81, 1542
		Marty Foroughi, CA	#91, 1476

5-9 December 2007
Mission Hills Country Club, Rancho Mirage, CA, USA
by Leo Nikora

Jerry Start (middle) receives the United States Open trophy from tournament director Stan Patmor (left) and manager Rory Kelley (right).

Jerry Stark of California beat Matt Baird of Oklahoma in the finals of the United States. Stark won the United States Open previously in 2005 (see past winners).

Twenty people from the United States and Canada played on seven double-banked courts at the Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage, California. The players' North American rankings (as of 21 November 2007) ranged from #1 to #97, including five of the top ten players. The courts were in fair condition, and a new court had been added. The weather was mixed; being cold most days, and rainy one day; and there was snow in the mountains.

Two blocks of ten played a full round-robin. The winners of each block entered medalist play, and the next four finishers of each block advanced to knockout play. The winner of medalist play advanced to the finals of knockout play, and the loser advanced to the semi finals of knockout play. Players eliminated from the blocks and knockout competed in plate play.

Advanced Association Rules were followed. Games were two hours long, with last turns and sudden death if necessary. Wilhoit balls were used. Stan Patmor directed the tournament, and Rory Kelley managed the tournament.

A wonderful champagne brunch was held beside the court during the finals of the event. Ellery McClatchy hosted a marvelous dinner at his home. Stan Patmor put on a barbeque at the Casa Larrea Inn in Palm Desert, CA, where many of the players were staying.

	Year	Winner, State
	2006	Paul Bennett, AZ
	2005	Jerry Stark, CA
	2004	Paul Bennett, AZ
	2003	Rich Lamm, CO
	2002	Rich Lamm, CO
	2001	David Maugham
	2000	Jeremy Dyer
	1999	Jacques Fournier, AZ
	1998	Jacques Fournier, AZ
	1997	Leo McBride, ON
	1996	Don Fournier, Jr, AZ
	1995	Mik Mehas, CA
	1994	Phil Arnold, CA
	1993	Wayne Rodoni, CA
	1992	Bob Rebuschatis, CA
	1991	John Taves, CA
	1990	Bob Rebuschatis, CA
	1989	Wayne Rodoni, CA
	1988	Neil Spooner

Pictures are posted in the Maui Croquet Club Gallery.

Knockout

The second through fifth finishers of the two blocks (Blue Block and Black Block) were seeded into an eight-player single-elimination knockout, with matches being one two-hour game. The winner played the loser of the medalist in the one two-hour game semi-final match. The winner of the semi-final match played the winner of the medalist in the best-of-three two-hour games final match.

	(1st) Jerry Stark, CA [#1]				Stark 26tp-0 26tp-17
(2nd) Danny Huneycutt, NC [#3]	Baird 20-17	Baird 12-9	Baird 26-2	Baird 21-18
(5th) Matt Baird, OK [#28]
(4th) Jim Bast, TX [#23]	Bennett 26-2
(3rd) Paul Bennett, AZ [#7]
(3rd) Rich Lamm, CO [#10]	Lamm 18-11	Lamm 18-11
(4th) Rory Kelley, AZ [#22]
(5th) Jim Butts, CA [#32]	Butts 23-11
(2nd) Ron Hendry, CA [#44]
	(2nd) Brian Cumming, ON [#2]

Jerry Stark over Matt Baird 26tp-0, 26tp-1

Game One
Stark took the first break to hoop #4-back, and set a new standard leave.
Baird lifted ball at hoop #4 to the B baulk line, but missed the roquet on East boundary.
Stark ran a delayed triple peel.

Game Two
Baird took the first break to hoop #4-back, and set a diagonal spread leave.
Stark lifted ball at hoop #2 to the B baulk line, but missed the roquet on
East boundary.
Baird got on peel of an on-time triple, failed the peel of penultimate with
a death roll, and then missed a 10-foot roquet in front of hoop #2-back.
Stark ran to hoop #4-back, and set a new standard leave.
Baird lifted forward(?) ball at hoop #2 to B baulk, but missed roquet on
East boundary.
Stark ran an on-time triple.

Medalist

The winners of the two blocks (Blue Block and Red Block) played a best-of-three two-hour games medalist match. The winner advanced to the final match of knockout play, and the loser advanced to the semi-final match of knockout play.

Brian Cumming, ON [#2]	Stark 26-14 22-26 26tp-22
Jerry Stark, CA [#1]

Stark over Cumming 26-14, 22-26, 26tp-22

In the last game, Stark came from behind 0-23 to win!

Plate

The sixth through tenth finishers of the two blocks (Blue Block and Black Block) were seeded into an ten-player single-elimination plate, and the losers of the first two rounds of the knockout were also added to the plate.

		Paul Bennett AZ [#7]	Bennett 26tp-2	Bennett 26tp-0	Bennett 26-20
	(6th) Leo Nikora HI [#36]	Nikora 26-1
(7th) Charlie Smith CA [#52]	Katz 11-7
(9th) Aviv Katz CA [#66]
(10th) David Collins CA [#76]	Collins (default)	Bast (default)	Huneycutt 26tp-0
(8th) Arthur Bagby CA [=62]
	Jim Bast TX [#23]
		Danny Huneycutt NC [#3]
		Jim Butts CA [#32]	Butts 26-8	Hendry 23-11
	Rory Kelley AZ [#22]	Kelley 25-8
(8th) Len Lyon CA [=81]	Coleman (default)
(10th) Rob Coleman CA [#97]
(9th) Marty Foroughi CA [#91]	Brown (default)	Brown 16-12	Hendry 26-20
(7th) Russell Brown NY [#46]
	(6th) Mike Orgill CA [#48]
		Ron Hendry CA [#44]

Blocks

There were two ten-player blocks: Blue Block and Red Block. Each block played a full round-robin, with matches being one two-hour game. The top five players advanced to knockout play.

Blue Block	Cumming	Huneycutt	Kelley	Bast	Nikora	Hendry	Smith	Collins	Lyon	Foroughi
Brian Cumming ON [#2]	1st 9 wins	26-15	26-20	26-17	26-9	26-19	27tp-8	26-11	26-11	26tp-1
Danny Huneycutt NC [#3]		2nd 7 wins	26-0		26-9	26-9	21-13	26-0	26-2	26-3
Rory Kelley AZ [#22]			3rd 6, +76	26-2	26-8		26-9	26-0	26-3	26-1
Jim Bast TX [#23]		26-12		4th 6, +63	26-18		24-15	26-4	26-7	26-1
Leo Nikora HI [#36]					6th 5, +15	23-18	26-8	21-13	21-2	26-0
Ron Hendry CA [#44]			26-2	23-22		5th 5, +34	17-7	26-3		22-13
Charlie Smith CA [#52]							7th 3, –34	26-1	26-5	17-10
David Collins CA [#76]								10th 0 wins
Len Lyon CA [=81]						17-16		16-7	8th 3, –105	12-6
Marty Foroughi CA [#91]								22-1		9th 1 win

Red Block	Stark	Bennett	Lamm	Baird	Butts	Brown	Orgill	Bagby	Katz	Coleman
Jerry Stark CA [#1]	1st 8, +159		26tp-8	26-1	26tpo-13	26tp-9	26tp-1	26tp-9	26tp-0	26tp-0
Paul Bennett AZ [#7]	22-14	3rd 8, +105	13-12	21-10		26-9	26-1	26tp-0	26-0	14-6
Rich Lamm CO [#10]			4th 5, +60			26-10	26-4	22-12	26-7	26tp-0
Matt Baird OK [#28]			26-8	5th 5, –4		23-12		17-16	21-7	23-7
Jim Butts CA [#32]		26-9	26-23	26-1	2nd 8, +113	21-6	22-4	17-9	26-8	26-4
Russell Brown NY [#46]						7th 3 wins		11-10	14-7	13-6
Mike Orgill CA [#48]				12-9		23-13	6th 5, –44	20-2	14-1	10-8
Arthur Bagby CA [=62]								8th 2 wins	11-10	13-4
Aviv Katz CA [#66]									9th 1 wins	14-10
Rob Coleman CA [#97]										10th 0 wins