2019 Westhampton Mallet Club Invitational

June 20–23, Westhampton Beach, New York

There was an interesting twist in the finals of the 2019 Westhampton Mallet Club Invitational. The twelve players in Championship Flight had handicaps ranging from -3 (Randy Cardo) to +3 (Beverly Cardo), with eleven players having handicaps below 0. For four days the players battled long and hard in the heat and the rain. In the end it all came down to family and the emerging women power on the courts.

In the semifinals Beverly Cardo faced off with Tim Bitting, a veteran championship player. On the same court Jodi Rugart, 2018 top female player and Tim’s sister in law, took on Randy Cardo, the 2017 and '18 Grand Prix winner. Both games were exciting and suspenseful with all players making long breaks and few if any tactical errors. At the end of the 90 minutes Randy prevailed over Jodi and Beverly defeated Tim.

For the first time in WMC history a husband and wife faced off to see who would take the Championship. With Danny Hunneycutt refereeing and Carla Rueck handling the deadness board the players took to the field. It was an amazing game with both players showing off their croquet skills. The score seesawed back and forth. In the end Randy took top honors. Everyone went away with the feeling that this was just the first of many times that these two players will be facing each other in final games.