2021 USCA Club Teams – 100 Players Strong!!

This was my first experience with Club Teams, and it was a blast.  When I got the players list, I was amazed that there were 100 players signed up.  What a fantastic relief after a year of COVID fear and very little croquet.  Division I (large team division) had four teams.  The Westhampton Mallet Club brought 20 players; the Houston Croquet Association came with 20 also.  The host club, NCC, fielded 24 players and the Beach Club brought 26.  In Division II (small teams) the New York Croquet Club brought 4 players, the Oklahoma City Golf & Country Club came with 4, the Woodlawn Croquet Program sent 4 players and the Bellaire Country Club sent 2.

All of the play was doubles.  Based on doubles aggregate handicaps, the doubles pairs were grouped into three flights.  There were 16 pairs in Championship, 17 in 1st Flight and 17 in 2nd Flight.  Play started on Thursday.  Thursday and Friday were round-robin days.  The outcome of the round-robin games gave seeding for the playoffs which started Saturday morning.  Everyone in the tournament went to the playoffs.  There were some surprises and upsets.  Most notably, the #1 team from Houston, Robert Pulitzer and John Brown upset the highest seeded Sherif Abdelwahab and Derick Wassink in the semis and beat the #2 seeded pair of Randy and Bev Cardo in a spectacularly close final. 

Macey White, Tournament Director