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The 2021 Steuber Classic took place at the National Croquet Center from February 17 -21. Forty- one (41) players from around the country participated in the tournament. All matches were single banked as is the custom in the tournament. The weather was warm but became increasingly windy as the week went on. It certainly affected play and strategy.

The first day featured Waterford Doubles in both American Rules and Golf Croquet. Sixteen players competed in each flight. In a squeaker, Anne Licursi outpointed Randy Cardo by 1, to win the American Rules competition. Anne is on a roll, having won her flight in the National Croquet Club’s doubles tournament in December 2020.On the Golf Croquet side Cami Russack won, with newcomer Alex Galasso finishing second.

Singles block play ran from Thursday the 18^th to Saturday the 20^th, with semis and finals played on Sunday. In American Rules Second Flight Hal Denton came on strong and beat Jane Helms in the semifinal match and David Kepner in the Final. In First Flight, 4 players made it out of the block. Courtney Green defeated Jeanne Branthover and Brian Zindel defeated Mark Ski in the semifinals. In the final, in a back-and-forth game, marked by interesting strategy by both players, Brian Zindel defeated Courtney Green 10-9.

The Championship Flight, as is always the case in tournaments at the National Croquet Center featured some of the best croquet players in the country. There were many surprises, and 4 Players came out of the block of 10. If this were Vegas, the oddsmakers would have predicted a Finals match of Randy Cardo vs Macey White. Their opponents disagreed, as David Ekstrom (rumored to be on the wrong side of 80) beat Randy Cardo 14-9. Jodie Rugart beat Macey White 21-7. In the final, wisdom prevailed over beauty and David Ekstrom won 16-10. It was a great day of Croquet.

The final match is now being streamed over YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQRQ9s6fTXo.

Ten players competed in the Golf Croquet singles. For block play, all ten played each other, with the top 6 competing in the Championship Playoffs and the remaining 4 competing in First Flight. All playoff games took place Saturday except the Championship Final on Sunday. All Saturday games were 19-point games.

In First Flight, Cami Russack defeated Mary Galasso in the semifinal and Alex Galasso in Final.

In the Championship Flight quarterfinals, Bo Prillaman defeated Billy Simmons and Tamer Hatata defeated Tate Russack. In the semifinals Jim Teel defeated Bo Prillaman and Billy Harper defeated Tamar Hatata.

The final match on Sunday was best of 3 ,13-point games. There were some amazing shots which drew roars from the crowd. In game 1, Billy Harper won 7-4. Jim Teel got the second 7-3. In the final game Jim Teel won 7-5 ,when his approach shot rolled through the hoop. Sometimes the Croquet Gods are just on your side.

In all the tournament was marked with good sportsmanship, camaraderie, and lots of masks. We got to see old friends and meet new ones. It doesn’t get any better than that.

2021 Steuber Classic American Rules Results

2021 Steuber Classic Golf Croquet Results