2022 Indian Territory Open
May 27-30
Tulsa Croquet Club
The 2022 Annual Indian Territory Open was the first tournament to be hosted on Tulsa Croquet Club’s new four-court complex at LaFortune Park in Tulsa. We owe a debt of gratitude to Tulsa County Parks Department and Director Vince Trinidad for leading the effort, and to our great groundskeeper Brad Remke who worked with great diligence to make our relocated venue tournament playable in time for this event.
In an effort to join the ranks of sanctioned Golf Croquet events throughout the croquet world, our aim was to work GC into this tournament by pairing it with 2 flights of our traditional American Six-Wicket play. The WCF Grading system certainly takes some getting use to but we are doing our best to comply.
Clearing an area for 4 courts end-to-end creates a lengthy flat path, and you know that our state song says “Oklahoma! Where the wind comes sweeping down the plain...”. After several windy days in which we could only hold on to one food item at a time during meals, on the final day our 20’ x 40’ tent tethered to a number of 55-gallon water barrels gave way and blew over. One of our favorite club members incurred a significant injury in attempting to escape from the collapsing tent.
Our social committee kept us refreshed with lunches and drinks throughout the day and we had an enjoyable Tournament Dinner at Big Whiskey Restaurant a few blocks from the court on Sunday evening. A big thanks to Barbara Parsells, Ginny Schulte, Mary Baird and Karen Hampton, and to Lucy Spaulding for the dozens of homemade cranberry cookies. Matt Baird did his always masterful job of scheduling games and tabulating scores. We also welcome our new TCC Member Ronald Hay who joined just in time for the tournament.
The results for GC Singles were Wendell Thompson 1st and Ford Austin 2nd, and in Waterford Doubles Ford took 1st over Wendell.
In American Six-Wicket Championship Finals, Matt Smith beat Scott Spradling in Singles, and Scott topped Kevin McQuigg in Waterford Doubles.
First Flight Six-Wicket results were: Greg Clouse 1st and Carl Archiniaco 2nd in Singles, and Carl taking the top spot over Harold Menzel in Waterford Doubles.
Wendall Thompson & Ford Austin with future croquet players
Scott Spradling & Matt Smith - Championship Finalists
AMERICAN 6W
Championship Singles
1. Matt Smith
2. Scott Spradling
3. Matt Baird
3. Stuart Price
5. Art Parsells
5. Kevin McQuigg
7. Jon Spradling
8. Joe Steiner
First Flight Singles
1. Greg Clouse
2. Carl Archiniaco
3. Dale Jordan
3. Suzanne spradling
5. Bob Baker
5. Daniel Bolduc
7. Joe Schulte
8. Rob Franks
9. Harold Menzel
Championship Waterford Doubles
1. Scott Spradling
2. Kevin McQuigg
3. Matt Smith
4. Joe Steiner
5. Stuart Price
6. Jon Spaulding
7. Art Parsells
First Flight Waterford Doubles
1. Carl Archiniaco
2. Harold Menzel
3. Greg Clouse
4. Bob Baker
5. Suzanne Spradling
6. Joe Schulte
7. Rob Franks
8. Daniel Bolduc
9. Dale Jordan
10. Gwendolyn DeSilva
Golf Croquet
Singles
1. Wendell Thompson
2. Ford Austin
3. Jim Loftis
3. Dan Campbell
5. Anna Hanson
5. Mariah Chitwood
5. Nina Browning
5. Ronald Hay
9. Bill Bennison
10. Gwendolyn DeSilva
GC Waterford Doubles
1. Ford Austin
2. Wendell Thompson
3. Jim Loftis
4. Ginny McQuigg
5. Nina Browning
6. Anna Hanson
7. Ronald Hay
8. Mariah Chitwood
9. Bill Bennison
10. Dan Campbell
11. Jim Simmons
12. Gwendolyn DeSilva