Era of Domination Continues

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Matt Griffith put an exclamation point on his fourth straight MCA Pro Nine Wicket Series win as he took me down 26-24 in yesterday's final at the 2018 MCA Championship at Kactus Creek Croquet Club in Parkville, Missouri.

In reality, Griffith had pretty much claimed the 9WS Series by the time the final started as he held a 30-point lead at the start of the game. I did make a go of it with an out-game approach with blue, but it didn't take Griffith long to get in and wrap up the Cup chase by taking yellow through wicket #3.

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KC Open Pro Report: Swiss Battle Royale

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The 2018 Kansas City Open Pro Division offered a day designed for the croquet hardcore. Matt Griffith and I squared off in the final yesterday at about 5:30 p.m. at Kactus Creek Croquet Club in Parkville, Missouri, after playing five straight games. In total, we played eight hours of croquet with about 15 minutes for a quick lunch after round two.
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2017 MCA Championship at Loch Lloyd Line-ups

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All qualified players are checked in and the line-ups are set for the 2017 MCA Championship to be held this Saturday, September 16, 2017 at Loch Lloyd in Belton, Missouri. The Pro Division will start at 8:30 a.m. with a projected championship game start time of 11:00 a.m. The Gold Division will start at approximately 12:30 p.m. and will also incorporate the Silver Championship. Four players that fall from the Gold Playoff will move into the Silver Championship while the Gold Championship progresses. The Pro Division will have a court available if knocked out players after round one would like to have a plate.
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MCA Championship Headed to Loch Lloyd

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The MCA is pleased to announce that the 2017 MCA Championship will be held at Loch Lloyd in Belton, Missouri, on September 16, 2017. The Pro Division will have the morning start this year and will begin play at 8:30 a.m. The Gold Division start time will follow the Pro Championship, so the estimated start time is 12:20 p.m. The traditional all-white croquet apparel rule will be in effect for this event, which happens to be the fifth MCA Championship since the start of the Nine Wicket Series (9WS) in 2013. Loch Lloyd also has a dress code and details on that will be provided soon.
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2017 States Shield Championship Schedule

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Three MCA players will be participating in this Saturday's Croquet Network States Shield Championship final as Missouri will take on the visiting Wisconsin team at Kactus Creek Croquet Club in Parkville, Missouri. From the MCA, Matt Smith, Steve Jackson and Billy Bob Breeden will represent Missouri.
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2017 KC Open: Griffith Clinches Pro 9WS

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With the dust settling on a big weekend of action at the Kansas City Open held at the Kactus Creek Croquet Club in Parkville, Missouri, the numbers all add up to a three-peat for Matt Griffith in the MCA Nine Wicket Series as he now leads the overall race by more than the 96 points that will be available at the MCA Championship in September.
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2017 KC Open: Early Pro Report

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PARKVILLE, MO -- Matt Griffith took the 2017 Kansas City Open Pro Division title with a tight 19-17 win over Billy Bob Breeden at Kactus Creek Croquet Club in Parkville, Missouri. Griffith has now won three of the four Kansas City Open Pro titles and a record seven MCA Pro titles. Griffith advanced to the final after a 23-16 win over Dylan Goodwin. Breeden made it to the final after winning 24-22 thriller over Greg Adams in the semifinals.

Tomorrow the action resumes as the Gold players will hit the courts at 8:30 a.m. look to gain slots in the final eight for the MCA Gold Championship in September. 

Millican Smashes the Pro Ceiling

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The MCA Pro Division now has a female player listed on the page of title champions. Deborah Millican worked through the long grass of the Lee's Summit T-Bone Tournament held this past Saturday at Howard Park in Lee's Summit to finish with a 25-9 win over Billy Bob Breeden to claim her first Pro title. It's a wonderful moment for the MCA and for croquet in general as the sport has always been marketed as gender and age equal. Scroll through that list of champions and you'll see the MCA is well represented across all demographics.
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Breeden Collects Another KC AC Title

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The Kactus Creek AC Invitational sponsored by CroquetNetwork.com was originally scheduled for Tulsa, Oklahoma, but with minimal interest the event shifted gears and switched to the Kactus Creek Croquet Club in Parkville, Missouri. On relatively short notice, five players chose to join the fray and battle it out April 21-23, 2017. The reward for these brave AC warriors was Friday start in "November-like" conditions, but the event saw improving weather each day.

PHOTO GALLERY | RESULTS

The first two days were a round-robin that eliminated one player to set up a four-player knockout on Sunday. Matt Griffith worked through the block with a 4-0 record to take the top seed in the knockout. There he advanced with a 26-2 semifinal win over Ron Millican, who still needs some convincing on the merits of AC. Billy Bob Breeden took down Dylan Goodwin 24-4 with ease in the other semifinal. That set up what proved to be an interesting final between Griffith and Breeden.

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2017 MCA Spring Notes

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As we rapidly roll into the 2017 season, here's a brief rundown new developments for the 2017 MCA season ...

MEMBERSHIP DRIVE IS OPEN: 2017 MCA membership is open and forms for Basic/Family and Premium (Jersey) membership can be found under the Membership page.

TULSA AC INVITATIONAL: Croquet Network has announced an Association Croquet event to be held April 21-23, 2017 at LaFortune Park in Tulsa, Oklahoma. MCA member Billy Bob Breeden is spearheading the event and more info is available under the calendar entry on Croquet Nation.

MISSOURI OPEN SET: MCA president Dylan Goodwin has finalized Saturday, July 8, 2017, for the Third Annual Missouri Open to round out the 2017 MCA Nine Wicket Series. The event will again be held at Eagles' Landing Golf Course in Belton, Missouri.

Miller Back on Top

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The 2016 MCA Nine-Wicket Series continues to find ways to reach back to the 2013 season. During that historic first season, Paul Miller took both the inaugural MCA Championship tournament and GWM Pro Points Race, but since then had only been able to play in a few MCA events. His return this year netted his first tourney win since 2013 as he took down Billy Bob Breeden 32-18 in Sunday's Kansas City Open Pro Division final at Kactus Creek Croquet Club in Parkville, Missouri. That little nod to the 2013 season follows the only other tournament winner from that first year, Greg Clouse, also picking up his first MCA win since 2013 at the Missouri Open held earlier in July.
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2016 Cleveland Open Pro Line-up

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The Pro Division for the 2016 Cleveland Open start swinging the mallets at 8:30 a.m. on Saturday morning with a three-round random draw format. Ten players will be looking for eight spots in the afternoon playoff bracket. The Pro Championship will take place at 3:15 p.m. on Center Court at the Cleveland Croquet Club. Methodology is explained below.
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September Madness

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BELTON, MO -- The MCA capped its third season of the Nine Wicket Series with a wild weekend of play at Markey Park in Belton, Missouri. Dylan Goodwin took the Pro Championship with a 17-13 win over Greg Clouse in a hard-fought final, but with four divisions and the Six Ball Open Championship on Friday night there was plenty of hardware to go around.

Deborah Millican probably had the biggest weekend as she took the Six Ball Open Championship in an epic Friday night battle under the lights, then followed that with a 20-11 win in the Gold Championship over Bill Berg claiming both the Gold Shield and overall Gold Points race with 208 points on the season. Bill Berg was second in the Gold Points race with 193 points.

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2015 MCA Championship Results

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MARKEY PARK / BELTON, MISSOURI / SEPTEMBER 19, 2015

PRO DIVISION

Final
Dylan Goodwin 17, Greg Clouse 13

Semifinals
Greg Clouse 23, Ron Millican 19
Dylan Goodwin 17, Billy Bob Breeden 14

Quarterfinals
Greg Clouse 13, Bill Berg 12
Ron Millican 22, Greg Adams 21
Billy Bob Breeden 21, Jason Johnson 20
Dylan Goodwin 21, Deborah Millican 17 

Overall 2015 Pro Division Points Race
1. Matt Griffith 474 pts ($150) 2. Greg Clouse 371 pts ($75) 3. Dylan Goodwin 286 pts ($50) 4. Billy Bob Breeden 254 pts ($25) 5. Ron Millican 248 pts

GOLD DIVISION

Final
Deborah Millican 20, Bill Berg 11

Semifinals
Deborah Millican 22, Ellie Kemp 9
Bill Berg 24, Jodi Adams 23

First Round
Ellie Kemp 20, Debbie Breeden 16 

Overall 2015 Gold Division Points Race
1. Deborah Millican 208 pts 2. Bill Berg 193 pts 3. Jodi Adams 168 pts 4. Debbie Breeden 121 pts 5. Nathan Oberg 114 pts 

SILVER DIVISION

Final
Darin Watson 19, Brevin Millican 15

Semifinals
Brevin Millican 12, Di Berg 10
Darin Watson 10, Justin Marciniak 7

First Round
Brevin Millican 20, Trevor Adams 17 

Overall 2015 Silver Division Points Race
1. Di Berg 163 pts 2. Darin Watson 158 pts 3. Gabe Airrington 135 pts 4. Justin Marciniak 81 pts 5. Eddie Mondt 78 pts 5. Ellie Kemp 78 pts

BRONZE DIVISION CHAMPIONSHIP
1. Renee Potter 16 pts 2. Gwyneth Bowen 13 pts 3. Cade Millican 12 pts 4. Elizabeth Goodwin 10 pts

Game 1 -- G Bowen 8, R Potter 6, E Goodwin 4, C Millican 4
Game 2 -- R Potter 10, C Millican 8, E Goodwin 6, G Bowen 5 

Overall 2015 Bronze Division Points Race
1. Tim Weimholt 50 pts 2. Gwyneth Bowen 46 pts 3. Trevor Adams 42 pts 4. Renee Potter 38 pts 5. Daniel Cooper 37 pts 5. Aaron Rowden 37 pts 

2015 MCA Championship Official Schedule

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BELTON, MO -- It's championship week! The action starts on Friday evening with the Six Ball Championship at 6:00 p.m. at Markey Park in Belton, Missouri. Saturday morning the Pro Division will take the courts with an 8:30 a.m. start. Gold, Silver and Bronze follow with a 12:45 p.m. start. No meals are provided with this event.

ADDRESS:
Markey Park
615 Markey Rd
Belton, MO 64012

We are still able to take up to five more players for the Six Ball Championship on Friday evening. It is a free event for MCA members and $10 for non-members. Contact kccroquetclub@gmail.com if you would like to participate. Official schedule follows.

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2015 MCA Championship Player List Update

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LEAWOOD, KS -- Each year, the MCA headquarters springs into action after the final MCA 9WS regular season event and begins the invite process for the MCA Championship. For those not familiar with the format, MCA members that qualify in the top event of each division (12 in Bronze) get free entry into the championship. Non-members that qualify can still pay a fee to participate in the event. In addition, the MCA will offer a single-elimination Six-Ball Championship on Friday evening (September 18) that is free for members and open to all players with a $10 entry fee.
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2015 Kansas City Invitational Results

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KANSAS CITY, MO -- MCA member Matt Griffith won the 42nd Annual Kansas City Invitational on Saturday in Kansas City, Missouri. The event is six-ball (cutthroat) and is likely the longest active running croquet tournament in the US. In 2013, the Palm Beach Invitational celebrated its 45th year, but there is no report of the event running again since that year.

PHOTO GALLERY

The MCA had 11 members participate in the 30-player event with Griffith, Ellie Kemp, Dylan Goodwin, Greg Adams, Jodi Adams, Billy Bob Breeden, Debbie Breeden, Ron Millican, Deborah Millican, Greg Clouse and Jason Johnson all on hand.

The event was held at Fast Eddie Mondt's private residence on two courts. The southern court featured a steep downhill at the turn wickets that provided a challenge all day for players -- funneling most balls that approached directly out of bounds behind the turn stake. Players got two games and the top 12 by place points advanced to two six-player semifinals. From there the top three advanced from each game to the final.

The MCA supports all competitive croquet events in the midwest and all of the players that participated enjoyed the event. 

FINALS LINE-UP
Matt Griffith (W)
Billy Bob Breeden
Greg Clouse
Art Hatchey
Deborah Millican
Ron Millican

2015 Missouri Open - Pro Schedule

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BELTON, MO - Entries for the 2015 Missouri Open Pro and Gold Division topped out at an odd number of 15 players. That scenario forced a split between the Pro and Gold Division. With 10 pro spots available, eight spots were given to the eight players that made the Pro Playoff at the Lee's Summit T-Bone Tournament. Matt Smith and Paul Miller were awarded the final two spots based on 9W Ranking. The Pro Division will play a three-round morning draw and eliminate two players to get down to an eight player afternoon bracket. Full schedule:
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