Griffiths Go 10-0 On Home Court
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There were no cucumber sandwiches. No one was sipping champagne or toting around a glass of wine. Throw out all you think you know about croquet -- the Kansas City Open is for croquet warriors only.
MCA 2021 AGM: Two Event Dates Set
/The 2021 MCA AGM was held virtually on February 6, 2021, and the meeting mainly centered around bringing back a more active tournament schedule for the upcoming season. Shortly after the meeting, it was confirmed that the ninth annual Kansas Open Nine Wicket Series (9WS) event will be held on the weekend of July 24-25, 2021 at Kactus Creek Croquet Club in Parkville, Mo. In addition, the board also agreed to bring back the traditional date in September for the MCA Championship. The singles Pro, Gold and Silver Championships for the 9WS would be played on Saturday, September 18, 2021. A venue is still be determined and the event could potentially include a second event played on Sunday.
Read More2020 KC Open: A Griffith Double
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KC Open Pro Finalists: Bryce Millican and Matt GriffithTOP SEEDS FALL EARLY
PARKVILLE, MO -- The shortened version of the Kansas City Open ran smooth this past Saturday at Kactus Creek Croquet Club and the event saw Matt Griffith and Ellie Griffith defend their home court.
The Pro and Gold Divisions started together in an open bracket with losers from round one moving into a Gold playoff. Winners in that round advanced in the Pro Playoff and faced off against the top four seeds -- all of whom had a bye in the first round. The quarterfinals produced a lot of excitment as two the top seeds were upset.
PHOTOS | PRO PLAYOFF | GOLD PLAYOFF | SCORESHEET
Ron Millican came out of round one with a 24-11 win over Colton Lennard and to face #3 seed Greg Clouse. Millican was previously 1-5 versus Clouse, but he came through with a 15-12 upset and now has taken two-in-a row vs Clouse. The bigger surprise though occurred in the top half of the bracket where #9 seed Bryce Millican advanced to face #1 Matt Smith. This tournament represented the first Pro action for Millican, while Smith came in with a 22-2 record. Millican shocked the veteran with a 21-13 upset to advance to the semifinals.
I played Millican in that round and we had a nice long outgame, where I theoretically had the upper hand. Millican kept his composure though and stayed clean, while I picked up enough deadness to stall out. He was clever enough to avoid the clearing wicket as the clock wound down and took a 16-13 win to advance to the final.
Matt Griffith was the only top seed to perform his duty as he advanced in round one 27-11 over Jodi Adams and then got into a bit of tussle with Ron Millican in the semifinals, but advanced 18-14.
He was in top form in the final though and utilized an early two-ball break and out of bounds croquet shot error by Bryce to roll to a 32-2 perfect score pegout win. It was Griffith's fourth KC Open title and record 11th Nine Wicket Series Pro tournament win.
GOLD BRACKET
The Gold Playoff semifinals squared off on the north court and Jim Ratzlaff and Colton Lennard got into a high-scoring battle with newcomer Lennard. Lennard prevailed with an impressive 26-24 victory. The other semi had a similar matchup with newcomer Valerie Andruss taking on veteran Ellie Griffith -- two-time Gold 9WS champion. Griffith was on form and took a 24-9 win to advance to the final.
She continued the form there and defeated Lennard 25-15 to claim repeat as the KC Open Gold Division champion and secure the sweep for the Griffiths.
NOTES
- Matt Griffith became the first player to reach 2,000 9WS Pro points -- reaching 2,016 in the title game.
- Jodi Adams came into the 2020 KC Open with 664 career Pro Points and 10th on the all-time list. She scored 36 on Saturday to reach 700 career points and move ahead of Paul Miller for ninth on the all-time list.
- Dylan Goodwin and Ron Millican kept active 9WS streaks alive are the only two players to have played in all 27 events.
- The event had 12 entries which exceeded expectations considering the COVID-19 global pandemic. 15 total players showed interest.
MCA: GC Grand Prix Top 10
/The MCA has three players that are currently ranked in the USCA's Golf Croquet Grand Prix Top 10. Nice Work!
KC Open Gold Report: Hard-Fought Title Game
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The 2019 Kansas City Open wrapped up earlier today with tightly contested 16-15 Gold Championship Final with Ellie Griffith taking the title over Justin Marciniak. The event played out at Kactus Creek Croquet Club in Parkville, Missouri, it was Griffith's fifth straight appearance in a Gold Division title game where she has now won three out of five finals.
Ellie Griffith Sweeps Gold Division at 2018 MCA Championship
/Ellie Griffith won her first MCA Championship tournament on the way to placing first in the 2018 MCA Nine Wicket Series Gold Division points race.
Executing a series of immaculate roll-up shots and long, accurate split shots, Griffith cruised to a 27-12 victory against runner-up Brevin Millican.
Similar to her performance at the KC Open on the same court six weeks ago, Griffith broke through to the double wickets on the far side of the court with some ease while her opponent struggled to advance his balls past wicket three during the early phase of the game.
KC Open Gold Report: Marciniak Makes It Interesting
/Parkville, Mo.—Justin Marciniak won all five of his games Saturday to place first in the Gold division at the 2018 Kansas City Open at Kactus Creek Croquet Club.
Read MoreBig Early Lead for Ellie
/A loss to #1 seed Wanda Jackson in the last round of block play dropped Ellie Griffith into the wildcard round for the Gold Division at the MCA 2018 opener in Lee's Summit, Missouri on May 5, 2018. But that loss didn't turn out to be so bad as she rolled through the bracket and on to her first MCA tournament title.
Read MoreEllie Griffith Goes 5-1, Gets Gold Win at 2018 Lee's Summit T-Bone Tournament
/Ellie Griffith played consistent croquet all day to cruise to a first-place finish at the 2018 Lee's Summit T-Bone Croquet Tournament.
Read More2018 Lee's Summit T-Bone Schedule
/Fourteen players are ready to roll out the 2018 MCA Nine Wicket Series with the Lee's Summit T-Bone Croquet Tournament this Saturday, May 5, 2018, at Howard Park in Lee's Summit, Missouri. The Pro Division will feature eight players split into two blocks for three games in the morning. The action starts at 8:30 a.m. All eight players advance to the playoffs with the quartefinals set to begin at 1:00 p.m. and the Pro Championship game projected for an approximate 3:30 p.m. coin toss.
Read MoreAGM Highlights: Jackson is New President
/The 2018 Midwest Croquet Association Annual General Meeting held at the eCafe in Overland Park, Kansas, on January 27, 2018, achieved the primay goal of transitioning to a new president. Steve Jackson from Kansas City has taken over the role from Dylan Goodwin who served for five years.
The transition was the central part of the meeting discussion and an interesting twist occurred as a new vice president position was created which Ellie Griffith taking that role. The idea is that adding another member will help with the workload for the president and also ensure of smooth succession in future years.
Gold Championship: Jackson's Revenge
/The 2017 MCA Gold Championship set up similar to the 2016 edition. Steve Jackson entered with a lead in the overall race in both years. While 2016 ended on a sour note, Jackson left no doubt in 2017 as he capped his 15-1 season with a pair of wins to claim his first Gold Series Championship and third straight Gold tournament title.
Read More2017 MCA Championship Finals Results
/BELTON, MO -- The MCA wrapped up the 2017 season yesterday at the Country Club of Loch Lloyd in Belton, Missouri. Championship game scores are below and links to the full knock brackets follow. Full report and photos to be posted later.
PRO FINAL: Matt Griffith 26, Dylan Goodwin 15
GOLD FINAL: Steve Jackson 23, Ellie Griffith 12
SILVER FINAL: Darin Watson 24, Cade Millican 15
PRO BRACKET: challonge.com/17mcaprochampionship
GOLD BRACKET: challonge.com/17goldchampionship
SILVER BRACKET: challonge.com/17silverchampionship
2017 MCA Championship at Loch Lloyd Line-ups
/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.
Read More2017 USCA 9 Wicket Nationals Set
/The 2017 USCA National 9 Wicket Championship hosted by Kactus Creek Croquet Club will be held at English Landing Park in downtown Parkville, Missouri, September 22-24, 2017. The event will have a Championship Flight and a First Flight Singles and Doubles. The maximum number of entries is 24. The tournament will use standard USCA 9 Wicket Rules with options 1,1b,2,3,4,5,6,8.
Read More2017 KC Open Gold: Jackson's Perfect Day
/The MCA Gold Division took to the court for the second half of the Kansas City Open this morning at 8:30 a.m. Five rounds later, Steve Jackson stood tall as the winner as he went 5-0 and won three straight on the King of the Mountain (KOM) court. The 10-player format on two courts acted like a Swiss while awarding more points each round for the winners v winners games. By round three, that created a KOM court that awarded six points per win and a secondary court that offered three points per win. Players that took a loss in the early rounds had a path back to the top of the mountain.
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