USCA 9W National Championship
May 30 - June 1, 2024
Chesapeake Bay Croquet Club
15 participants descended on Chesapeake Bay Croquet Club from May 30th to June 2nd to compete in the national championships for 9 wicket croquet in both singles and doubles. The entrants were treated to fantastic weather, good spirited competitors and a sneak peak of the venue under construction for the Golf Croquet World Championships being held later this year.
The tournament began with the doubles competition on Thursday and Friday, with block play finishing Friday
morning before moving into the knockout. After block play finished, the team consisting of Macey White and Nancy Crouch secured the 1 seed and Doug Moore and Paul Neubecker secured the 2 seed and first round byes. The knockout went chalk until the finals, where the 2 seeded team of Paul and Doug were able to knock off Macey and Nancy. Keep your eyes peeled on the USCA youtube channel for this game to be posted in the near future.
The two teams who got knocked out in the first round competed for the First Flight Doubles title which was won by a team of relative newcomers John Woods and Jeff Taylor. This happened to be their only win as a team of the tournament, proving they only win the ones that count. Saturday saw three additional players join for singles only play divided into two flights, 8 players in Championship and 7 players in First flight. All 8 players advanced to the knockout for championship, while 6 out of 7 first flight players made the knock out with the top two seeds earning a 1st round bye.
First time tournament participant, a 4 seed, Dean Rowland made a deep playoff run in 1st flight but ultimately lost in the finals to the 2 seed George Claffey. In championship flight, previous doubles partners made their way through the knockout to be forced to turn on each other in the finals. Given the two were looking at a 7 hour drive back to New York together after the match, the potential for hard feelings and awkwardness was luckily avoided with Doug Moore ending his 2nd place finishing streak and finally securing a 1st place finish over his doubles partner Paul Neubecker. All competitors were in good spirits at the conclusion of a very successful tournament.
National 9W Champion
Doug Moore & Paul
Neubecker
Championship Doubles
1. Paul Neubecker & Doug Moore
2. Macey White & Nancy Crouch
T3. Brian Hovis & Dean Rowland
T3. Todd Marshall & Greg Clouse
First Flight Doubles
1. John Woods & Jeff Taylor
2. Steve Thurston & George Claffey
Championship Singles
1. Doug Moore
2. Paul Neubecker
T3. Brian Hovis
T3. Macey White
T5. Steve Thurston
T5. Gil Rocha
T5. Nancy Crouch
T5. Greg Clouse
First Flight Singles
1. George Claffey
2. Dean Rowland
T3. Todd Marshall
T3. Kabe Erkenbrack
T5. Jeff Taylor
T5. John Woods
7. Russ Brudnicki