2006 Croquet Overview
Lahontan is proud to offer croquet as an amenity to its members. Use of the croquet field may be arranged through the Golf Shop. A reservation will allow members to have priority use of the field.
Croquet At Lahontan
While many forms of croquet exist, Lahontan suggests the following game for its speed of play and easy rules. California Golf Croquet is an introduction to Six Wicket tournament style croquet. This is an excellent game for people who wish to gain skills and enjoy the competition of croquet.
Six Wicket “Golf” Croquet
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The game is played by two teams. A team consists of 1 player (singles), or 2 players (doubles). One team plays the BLUE & BLACK balls while the other team plays the RED & YELLOW balls. ALL FOUR BALLS ARE ALWAYS USED IN A GAME.
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The balls are always played in this order: Blue, Red, Black & Yellow. (Please Note: This is the order of the colors on the center stake from top to bottom.)
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There are six wickets symmetrically placed on the court and one stake at the center. Each wicket and the stake count as 1 point for a total of 7 points that can be scored in a game.
The object of the game is to go through each wicket in the prescribed order and direction (see diagram and follow the arrows) with either team ball before a ball from the opposing team goes through the wicket. Once the correct wicket has been made by a ball (scoring a point), no other ball has to make the wicket. The first team scoring 4 points wins the game (best out of 7 points).
Please Note: A ball must be completely through the wicket before a point is scored. Balls that are not completely passed through the wicket do not score a point.
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The game begins from the starting area in corner 4 (see diagram). For the first shot a ball is placed anywhere within three feet of corner 4. In order, each ball plays to the #1 wicket (see diagram).
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Each turn consists of one stroke. There are no extra shots for hitting other balls or making wickets. You may not put your foot on your ball and knock another ball away.
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A tactic of the game is to knock the opponent’s ball out of position so that their ball cannot score a point.
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A striker may shoot for position at the next wicket before the wicket being contested is made, but cannot earn a point there until the contested wicket is scored (i.e., shoot for position at #3 before #2 has been scored gaining a head start for the point at #3). If a player shoots for the next wicket and happens to make it through or is knocked through before the contested wicket is scored, no point is scored.
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When a ball crosses over the boundary line, that ball is brought back inside the boundary line at a distance of one mallet-head at the point it crossed over the line and plays its next turn from there.
Croquet Lawn Diagram
