USCA Seniors Masters 6W
November 6-10, 2024
National Croquet Center
Upsets and Overtimes at the 2024 Seniors and Masters
42 players in three flights competed in Singles and Doubles this year in sunny South Florida at
the NCC. Players came from all over the country to compete in six flights of singles and three
flights of doubles. I think the players would say that Block play throughout the week went
smoothly. Now from the Tournament Directors’ points of view…not so smoothly. On Thursday
at 9:00am (first match of the day) Larry Lynch squared off against his doubles partner Stephen
Grassbaugh in a scheduling wrecking, eleven rounds of last rotation game. I just kept looking
over at court 3 and wondering to myself how is this possible? I started scrambling to move
games around in order to relieve the scheduling log jam that was ensuing. Larry Lynch did end
up eeking out the win 22 - 19, after all of the spectators fell asleep. Everyone survived the day
and things did actually get relatively back on track by the last round.
You won’t believe this...it happened again. Friday morning was beautiful and I was my usual
optimistic self about the day until Jan Fisher and Pat Spratt tried to break the overtime mark set
by Larry and Stephen the day before. They almost pulled it off. Jan and Pat’s morning match
made it to ten overtimes. I couldn’t believe this was actually happening again...ugh. Jan ended
up winning that marathon game 14 - 13. More scrambling ensued, since I had some practice
from the day before…I knew what had to be done. Again, everyone survived…the game delays
did not cause a single fatality…pheww. The tournament got back on schedule and back to
business as usual.
As it often is the case in this crazy sport of croquet…the unexpected does happen. Ask Larry
Lynch and Mark Ski, who were the number one in their playoff brackets and both lost in the first
round to the highest seed. It didn’t end there...Ron Millican was the last player qualified for the
eight player playoffs in his flight. Ron went on to upset Larry Lynch in the first round, Stephen
Grassbaugh in second round and Jan Fisher in the finals to complete the sweep and win the
honor of 2024 First Flight Singles Champion in the Masters Division. It was impressive to
watch. One final note…Ron Eccles and Pat Spratt had a total of ONE win between the two of
them in block play singles, but together, they were unstoppable. They certainly had some
chemistry as they went on to win the First Flight Doubles title against Missy Ramey and Jan
Fisher 12 - 9.
Now that the dust has settled from all the overtimes and upsets, here are the results:
Championship Singles Seniors
1. George Cochran
2. Randy Cardo
3. John Osborn
3. Steve Scalpone
5. Don Parker
6. Jodie Rugart
7. Bob Gannon
8. Kat Robertson
Championship Singles Masters
1. Bob Van Tassell
2. Lynda Sudderberg
3. Dick Sullivan
3. David Ekstrom
5. Missy Ramey
6. Bill Trower
7. David McCoy
8. Mary Rodeberg
9. Jeff Morrison
10. Ron Eccles
11. John Curington
First Flight Singles Seniors
1. Greg Clouse
2. Anne Carr
3. Mark Ski
4. Rick Hayes
First Flight Singles Masters
1. Ron Millican
2. Jan Fisher
3. Carl Archiniaco
3. Stephen Grassbaugh
5. Larry Lynch
6. Christine Smith
7. David Spivey
8. Deborah Millican
9. David Kepner
10. Pat Spratt
Second Flight Singles Seniors
1. Glenn McAndrews
2. Alex Galasso
Second Flight Singles Masters
1. Jeffery Cohen
2. Priscilla Flowers
3. James Peasley
4. Fei Fei Williams
Championship Doubles Seniors & Masters
1. Randy Cardo & David Ekstrom
2. Jodie Rugart & Lynda Sudderberg
3. Bob Van Tassell & Dick Sullivan
3. George Cochran & Steve Scalpone
5. Don Parker & Mark Ski
5. Bill Trower & David Spivey
7. David McCoy & Mike Gibbons
8. Jeff Morrison & Mary Rodeberg
9. Kat Robertson & David Kepner
First Flight Doubles Seniors & Masters
1. Ron Eccles & Pat Spratt
2. Missy Ramey & Jan Fisher
3. Greg Clouse & Ron Millican
4. Stephen Grassbaugh & Larry Lynch
5. Deborah Millican & Bob Gannon
Second Flight Doubles Seniors & Masters
1. Randall McAndrews & Glenn McAndrews
2. Alex Galasso & Priscilla Flowers
3. Christine Smith & Jeffery Cohen
4. Rick Hayes & James Peasley
5. Carl Archiniaco & Fei Fei Williams
Bob Chilton Memorial Grand Master
David Ekstrom
I hope everyone had fun and I’ll see everyone next year,
Douglas P. Moore
Tournament Director