Westmorland Croquet Club

More about Croquet

We play croquet in both its forms,  Association Croquet and Golf Croquet. Golf Croquet offers an easy-to-learn form of croquet with games generally lasting less than an hour, played as singles or doubles matches. It lends itself to social play.  Association Croquet is the original and more challenging form, generally played as singles though it can be played as doubles, with full-lawn matches lasting up to 3 hours, and the short lawn version up to 1½  hours. Both forms offer a degree of physical exercise and a mental challenge. Playing skills develop with practice.

The game is administered by Croquet England. Croquet is played around the world. Croquet can be played for simple recreation and enjoyment, but at its best requires a great deal of skill and strategic thinking.

The basic rules of Golf Croquet, referred to also as GC, can be grasped easily, with players taking alternate turns, and using a set route twice around the lawn's 6 hoops till a winning score is achieved.  The challenge lies in the strategies and skill used, which include using one's ball to knock other balls into or out of position, or to block the opponent. The full rules also deal with a wide range of eventualities which can occur in the course of playing the game.

Association Croquet, or AC, is similarly based on passing through hoops in a certain order, and finally striking the centre peg, with balls allocated to the players as two pairs. Blue and Black are played against Red and Yellow. When a ball strikes another ball, and when a ball passes through a hoop, extra shots are earned, so a player's turn, with skill, can actually keep a ball in play in a sequence right up to passing through all 12 hoops. A further shot is required to strike the centre peg, after which that ball is removed from play. A fully completed game ends with 26 points being scored by the winner, though if time runs out the player with the highest score at the end wins. Shorter forms can be played, and the Short Lawn version played on the half-sized lawn only requires each ball to pass 6 hoops and "peg out", so is ideal for the beginner. With developing skill, this too is still a good challenge for experienced players.

The handicapping systems used in both forms of Croquet give the weaker player an advantage. In AC the handicap determines a number of free extra turns within a game. Golf Croquet [as from 2023] applies an "Advantage" to the weaker player, because the stronger player has to score more hoops. Consequently, in both forms of the game, players of different abilities can still play matches against each other with their chances of winning being fair. Both forms can also be played as "level play" without any handicap advantage. In Advanced Play in Association Croquet, forms of penalty create challenges for even the most advanced players.  

These links to other sites may be helpful, but the best way to learn the game is to come along and play it in the company of those who can help you develop.

The Full Rules of Golf Croquet

The Full Rules of Association Croquet

Oxford Croquet. An excellent set of resources for learning to play croquet.