Smith Claims Pro Title at 2025 US Golf Croquet Classic

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matt Smith in play during the pro final

MCA Series Tour’s First GC Event Features High-Level Play in Denver

SMITH AND PAILAS

Denver’s Washington Park saw great croquet action this past week as the Denver Croquet Club hosted the 2025 U.S. Golf Croquet Classic from July 10-12. The event concluded with Matt Smith delivering an impressive performance to win the Pro Division with a 7-4, 7-5 finals victory over Daniel Pailas. The best of two was closely contested, with Smith playing a tactical approach that saw him in control of hoops more often than not.

In game one, Smith jumped out to a 3-1 advantage, but Pailas battled back to get to 4-4. As the loser of Hoop 8, that meant Smith had a chance to “run the gambit” and he dutifully took H9, H10 and H11 for a 7-4 win in a game that took about 45 minutes.

Pailas came out strong in game two, scoring a slightly angled five-yarder to go up 1-0. Smith got the advantage at Hoop 2 and Pailas was relegated to a pair of distance shots. The clear attempt with red missed but his west boundary hoop attempt from 21+ yards sailed through to push his advantage to 2-0.

Smith answered back to get to 2-2, but Pailas won three out of the next four to get to 5-3, once again winning Hoop 8. With the gambit on for Smith, Hoop 9 was a battle with Pailas getting multiple clears from the west boundary to stay alive. The battle had an odd ending as Pailas inadvertently jawzed Smith’s black ball, which then created an out-of-turn sequence that took some time to sort out. Pailas opted for a ball swap that kept the point on the board.

After Pailas rolled red and yellow together at Hoop 10, Smith took control of the hoop and got the win there to level at 5-5. After Smith claimed Hoop 11 for a 6-5 lead, Hoop 12 saw another battle with multiple clearances by Pailas from the boundaries. Smith was patient and continued to hold position and set up blocks. Eventually, Pailas ran out of arrows and Smith claimed the match after about 95 minutes of play in game two.

The Pro final featured the top two seeds in the event, but block play actually saw some surprises that put both players as #2 seeds in the knockout. In Group A, Steve Berry took a 7-5 win over Smith to get control of the group and eventually claim the top spot. His only loss came to Ned Sperry, who is #60 in the US GC rankings and took a win earlier this year in the Steuber Classic and made the finals at the Croquet Week GC Tournament and the Albemarle Open.

HARRISON WAS 5-0 in GROUP B

For Group B, local player Carter Harrison opened strong against Pailas, taking a 7-4 win and kept that going, also notching a 7-6 win over me to eventually go 5-0 in the group. Another local player, J. Josh Still, also started strong as he got me 7-5 to start the event and also earned a berth in the Pro Playoff.

In the Pro Playoff, Still drew Smith, and they had a true battle in the first round of what was a best-of-two 13-point game format. Smith took game one 7-5, but Still came back 7-5 to force the first tiebreaker of the event. The event utilized the “Bromley” three-hoop tiebreaker that starts in Corner 1 and plays through Hoops 4, 5 and 6. Smith survived with a 2-1 result.

The other first-round Pro Playoff matchup saw Group B #2 Pailas square off against Sperry. Game one was fierce, but Pailas found his way to a 7-5 win. Game two was more efficient as Pailas finished strong with a 7-1 to advance to the semifinal against Group A #1 Berry.

Pailas stayed on his hot streak and took game one 7-4 in a match that featured several hoop battles. Berry and answered with his own 7-4 win to tie the match, but Pailas claimed the tiebreaker 2-0.

Smith heated up in his semifinal against Group B #1 seed Harrison taking a 7-2, 7-4 win to advance.

Overall, the tournament featured 13 players, including ZED play. The main event saw two open blocks of six, with the top three finishers from each block advancing to the Pro Playoff. The remaining players moved on to the Gold Playoff.

GWENDOLYN DESILVA PRESENTS THE GOLD TROPHY TO SHANE ECKERT

ECKERT WINS GOLD

In the Gold Division final, I played Shane Eckert and he took a 7-6, 7-6 win with solid tactical play and great shot-making. He was first to Hoop 13 in both games, and I had to get a double jump at Hoop 12 to even make it to Hoop 13. Overall, the match was rarely more than a 1 or 2-point difference and quite fun to play in.

COLORADO CROQUET

On Friday evening, Ron Eccles invited players to visit the Colorado Croquet Club for drinks and courtside grilling at his new croquet venue, which features a 45 x 60-foot mini-court on artificial turf. The facility features plenty of amenities and shaded patio areas for socializing, and it is focused on being a rental space for special occasions.

This event marked the third stop in the 2025 MCA Series Tour, with the next competition set to take place at the Houston Invitational in October.

—Player Report by Dylan Goodwin