Golf Croquet
The game is played with four balls, Blue and Black versus Red and Yellow. Unlike Association Croquet, each turn consists of just one shot, and play is strictly in sequence: Blue, then Red, then Black, then Yellow and Blue again.
All four balls attempt to get through Hoop 1. As soon as one ball is successful, that side scores a point, and attention passes to the next hoop in the sequence. The first side to seven points is the winner.
Hitting the opponent’s ball to knock it out of position is legal. Players will often clear an opponent’s ball 30 yards, in the hope of keeping it out of range. Tactical complexity arises out of blocking shots, and putting the other players out of position, while putting your partner into a better scoring opportunity.
Watch the video here (made by Toronto Croquet Club in New South Wales) for a quick introduction to Golf Croquet
More information about the Game of Golf Croquet
To see the official Laws of Golf Croquet, visit the Croquet England website.
The sides are Blue and Black against Red and Yellow (or Green and Brown against Pink and White). Doubles or Singles can be played; in Singles the player plays both balls of his side in alternative turns. In Doubles each player plays one ball only.
2. Play progresses in strict colour order: Blue, Red, Black, Yellow (the order of colours on the peg), then back to Blue again. If second colour balls are being used, then the sequence is Green, Pink, Brown, White.
3. Each turn consists of one stroke only. There are never any extra strokes for running hoops or hitting other balls.
4. A full-sized lawn measures 35 by 28 yards, and is laid out with six hoops and a centre peg. The order and direction in which hoops are scored is shown in the diagram.
The game starts by playing the balls in order from a position within one yard of corner 4 (the bottom right corner, as shown in the diagram).
All players try in successive turns to run (i.e. pass through) Hoop 1. As soon as any player on either side completes the running of Hoop 1, then he scores that hoop point for his side, and all players move on to Hoop 2, and so on around the lawn. Thus each hoop is scored only once, for one side or the other. The side to have scored the hoop may mark this by putting a coloured clips on the crown of the hoop.
The peg plays no part in Golf Croquet, other than as an obstacle and a reminder of colour order.
The game ends as soon as one side has scored seven points.
The four balls are played in sequence and each turn consists of a single stroke. A stroke is played when the striker hits any ball with his mallet and causes it to move, or commits a fault.
When all balls have stopped, any ball which has left the lawn is placed on the boundary where it went off.
If at any time a boundary ball obstructs the playing of another ball, the boundary ball may be temporarily removed. If the replacing of a ball on the boundary is prevented by the presence of another ball which will be played first, then the ball is replaced after the obstructing ball has been played. Otherwise the obstructing ball is temporarily removed until the ball is played.
A ball may be jumped over a hoop or another ball.
A ball scores a hoop point by passing through its next hoop in the order and direction shown in the diagram. This is also known as running a hoop.
A ball begins to run a hoop when any part of it first emerges from the back of the hoop, and finishes doing so when the whole of it finally enters the front of the hoop.
A ball may take more than one stroke or turn to run a hoop.
If a ball other than the striker’s ball is knocked through the next hoop in order, then the hoop is scored for that ball. If more than one ball completes the running of the same hoop in the same stroke, then the other ball and not the striker’s ball is deemed to have scored the point, irrespective of the actual order of the running.
If a ball runs two hoops in the same stroke, then both hoop points are scored.
Players may take positions towards the hoop beyond the one being contested if they wish, but not more than halfway towards the next hoop. Immediately after the hoop in order is scored, any ball is resting beyond the halfway line between the hoop just run and the next hoop it is deemed to be offside and the adversary may choose to move the offside ball to one of the two penalty areas or decide to leave the ball where it lies.
The two penalty areas are a one yard semi circle around the half-way points on each of the two longest boundaries.
Exception to this rule: Balls are not offside if they reached their position as a result of:
- hitting an adversary’s ball;
- an adversary’s stroke;
- scoring the previous hoop, or causing another another ball to score the previous hoop; or
- being struck by its partner ball which then scores a hoop in the same stroke.
In handicap play, the game starts with different scores in order to balance the match, giving both players an equal chance of winning. The stronger player may start with a negative score, while the weaker player may begin with a positive one; so the stronger player must physically run more hoops to win, and the weaker player needs fewer.
How it works
Adjusted starting scores:
In a handicap game the game usually begins with a score other than 0 : 0. Based on the players’ handicaps a stronger player might start at -1, while a weaker player starts at +3.
Winning the game:
The game still ends when one player reaches 7 points (or another target, depending on the rules being used).
Number of hoops:
- A player with a zero starting score will physically run exactly 7 hoops to win.
- A player with a positive starting score will run fewer than 7 hoops to win.
- A player with a negative starting score will run more than 7 hoops to win.
Extended games:
If a game is close, it may be necessary to repeat the sequence of hoops after hoop 13 (3, 4, 1, 2, 11, 12) to get a result.
Doubles play:
For doubles, the average handicap of each team is used to determine the starting score, often rounded if necessary.
Click here for a Table of Starting Scores for GC ‘Advantage’ Handicap