2017 Kansas City Open: Schedules

PARKVILLE, MO -- The 2017 Kansas City Open is set to roll out this weekend with 20 players lined out for battle at Kactus Creek Croquet Club in Parkville, Missouri. The Pro Division will start the action with at 8:30 a.m. on Saturday morning. Nine players will play in three blocks of three with six players advancing to the afternoon knockout. Matt Griffith, Dylan Goodwin and Billy Bob Breeden will all receive the early morning byes and have 9:45 a.m. starts. All players are asked to be on hand 30 minutes prior to their first game.

PRO SCHEDULE (SATURDAY): challonge.com/2017KCpro

The combo Gold and Silver Division will begin play on Sunday morning and have an 8:30 a.m. start. The combo division will try a new King of the Mountain (KOM) format that will guarantee all players at least two games in Gold and should provide good opportunities for players looking to qualify for the MCA Gold Championship and for players competing for the top spot. Full details on the format will be posted later this week, but the opening matchups are listed below.

GOLD-SILVER FIRST ROUND: 8:30 AM SUNDAY

CT / Seed - Player v Seed - Player
SE: 1 - Steve Jackson v 5 - Ellie Kemp
SW: 3 - Brevin Millican v 7 - Wanda Jackson
NE: 2 - Justin Marciniak v 6 - Josh Reed
NW: 4 - Gabe Airrington v 8 - Cade Millican

Byes: Di Berg, Darin Watson, Jim Ratzlaff (9:45 a.m. starts)

NOTES

• Please arrive 30 minutes prior to your first game
• Address: 13312 NW 76th St, Parkville, MO 64152
• All players should have at least 45 minutes for lunch
• Lunch is not provided; however, Kactus Creek has a refrigerator and grill on site
• Winners report/write down scores and both players should gather court equipment: balls, clips, timers and replace to the proper end of the court
• Games are 60 minutes and each player has three timouts
• The clock may be stopped interference for double-banked games in the final 10 minutes of the game
• Entry fee is $20 for MCA members, $30 for non-MCA members [More information about membership]
• Tournament manager is Dylan Goodwin -- kccroquetclub@gmail.com

Update on 2017-07-28 22:48 by MCA Website Admin

The Gold-Silver Line-up had a slight error in order. The 2/6 and 3/7 games were slotted wrong. The names are the same, but the court positions have changed.

Goodwin Jumps Ahead in the Pro Division

With a win over Greg Clouse in the quarterfinals at Lee's Summit, Dylan Goodwin was able to leapfrog Clouse in the standings for the overall lead. Goodwin now has a 199 points in 10 games. Paul Miller stayed in second with 171 points in nine games, but is closer to the top position. Clouse follows closely in third place with 166 points. We now know that 30 or 40 points is easily made up in this race, so that means Robert Fournier (145) and Ron Millican (135) are still in contention. The race is on.

Rank	First	Last	GP	Wins	Losses	Total Wickets	Wicket Average
1	Dylan	Goodwin	10	7	3	199	19.90
2	Paul	Miller	9	5	4	171	19.00
3	Greg	Clouse	8	5	3	166	20.75
4	Robert	Fournier	8	4	4	145	18.13
5	Ron	Millican	7	3	4	135	19.29
6	Matt	Smith	4	4	0	103	25.75
7	Greg	Adams	4	2	2	66	16.50
8	Jodi	Adams	4	0	4	66	16.50
9	Carl	Distefano	2	0	2	33	16.50
10	Debbie	Millican	2	1	1	32	16.00
11	Jason	Johnson	2	0	2	22	11.00
12	Bill	Berg	2	0	2	14	7.00

Update on 2013-07-13 02:29 by MCA Website Admin

The Pro Standings and standings in this post have been updated. For some reason, the 12th place player, Bill Berg, was cut off.

Commanding Lead for Clouse in the Pro Division

Rank	First	Last	GP	Wins	Losses	Total Wickets	Wicket Average
1	Greg	Clouse	4	4	0	111	27.75
2	Paul	Miller	4	2	2	77	19.25
3	Dylan	Goodwin	4	3	1	75	18.75
4	Ron	Millican	3	2	1	59	19.67
5	Robert	Fournier	3	1	2	54	18.00
6	Carl	Distefano	2	0	2	33	16.50
7	Debbie	Millican	2	1	1	32	16.00
8	Jason	Johnson	2	0	2	22	11.00
9	Bill	Berg	2	0	2	14	7.00

Pro Division points are earned from Pro Division playoff games and open/Pro Division block games. Due to open block games, it is possible for Gold Division players to earn points in both the Pro Division and the Gold Division. It is also possible for a Gold Division player to qualify for the MCA Championship in both or all divisions.

Johnson Leads MCA Gold Division

Rank	First	Last	GP	Wins	Losses	Total Wickets	Wicket Average
1	Jason	Johnson	2	2	0	55	27.50
2	Debbie	Millican	2	1	1	27	13.50
3	Carl	Distefano	1	0	1	12	12.00
4	Bill	Berg	1	0	1	12	12.00

Gold Division points are earned from Gold Division only games in either block or playoff games. Due to open block games, it is possible for Gold Division players to earn points in both the Pro Division and the Gold Division. It is also possible for a Gold Division player to qualify for the MCA Championship in both or all divisions.

Clouse Racks 'Em Up in Stilwell

Pro Division FinalistsStilwell, KS -- Greg Clouse rolled through the Stilwell Open with relative ease in the early going. Clouse took 32-9 and 32-8 wins in block play to take the number one overall seed in the Pro Division Playoff. In the semi-finals, he knocked out Paul Miller 29-12. In the championship game he survived a late attack by Dylan Goodwin to claim the Stilwell Open title with an 18-16 win. Goodwin as the three seed, had advanced with a tight 18-16 win over two-seed Ron Millican on his side of the bracket. Clouse, Goodwin and Millican were all 2-0 in block play.

PHOTO GALLERY | OFFICIAL SCORESHEET

The final between Goodwin and Clouse came down to last turns. Goodwin was first ball with red and cleared 11PW to pull within two wickets of Clouse. He failed to gain a foward rush on black and then made a key mistake in trying to roll black toward 13PW while taking red toward blue near 14PW. He ended up wired and tried to jump the 15PW for the roquet on blue but missed by a foot.

The easier solution would have been to leave black and go set yellow (dead on red) in front of its wicket (six). Yellow could have then wired black from blue.

In the Gold Division, playoff Debbie Millican started as the number one seed after coming up on the short end of the gross points tiebreaker among the 1-1 block players. Debbie beat newcomer Bill Berg 14-12 in the semi-finals for a berth in the championship game. As the three seed, Jason Johnson caught fire in the semi-final and took a 32-12 win over Carl Distefano who is also brand new to the sport. In the final, Johnson took the win over Debbie with a 23-12.

First and second place in both divisions received white baseball caps with the host Kansas City Croquet Club logo.

Standings in the MCA Nine-Wicket Points Series are being tabulated and will be posted when they are available.

FINAL ORDER

Gold Division FinalistsPro Division
1. Greg Clouse
2. Dylan Goodwin
3. Ron Millican
4. Paul Miller
5. Robert Fournier

Gold Division
1. Jason Johnson
2. Debbie Millican
3. Carl Distefano
4. Bill Berg

BLOCK GAME RESULTS

A Block
Greg Clouse 32-9 over Debbie Millican
Debbie Millican 23-14 over Jason Johnson
Greg Clouse 32-8 over Jason Johnson

B Block
Dylan Goodwin 23-7 over Bill Berg
Robert Fournier 20-7 over Bill Berg
Dylan Goodwin 18-13 over Robert Fournier

C Block
Paul Miller 26-19 over Carl Distefano
Ron Millican 23-14 over Carl Distefano
Ron Millican 20-16 over Paul Miller

PRO DIVISION PLAYOFFS

Wildcard
#4 Paul Miller 23-21 over Robert Fournier

Semi-finals
#1 Greg Clouse 29-12 over #4 Paul Miller
#3 Dylan Goodwin 18-16 over #2 Ron Millican

Finals
#1 Greg Clouse 18-16 over #3 Dylan Goodwin

GOLD DIVISION PLAYOFFS

Semi-finals
#1 Debbie Millican 14-12 over #4 Bill Berg
#3 Jason Johnson 32-12 over #2 Carl Distefano

Finals
#2 Jason Johnson 23-13 over #1 Debbie Millican

Troy White: 1963-2013

White at 9W Nationals in 2010Troy White of Rockville, Missouri, passed away April 23, 2013. He was 49 years old. Troy lived in Rockville, Missouri most of his life. During his life, he worked for JLS Coal Company and also Wilson Plumbing. Troy loved the small town life and especially enjoyed being outdoors. Some of his favorite outdoor passions were deer hunting and mushroom hunting, but his favorite passion was playing croquet. Troy started playing nine-wicket cutthroat croquet in the early 1980’s and started playing in tournaments around this same time.

In the mid-1990’s, Troy won several tournaments over a four-year period and became known as the man to beat in Kansas City. Around 2009, Troy joined the USCA and played in the annual Nine-Wicket USCA National Championship tournament held in Kansas City. Most of all, Troy enjoyed playing nine-wicket cutthroat in someone’s backyard where there were small hills and valleys to present an extra challenge.

Update on 2013-05-09 04:13 by MCA Website Admin

Services for Troy will be at 2:00 p.m. on May 11 in Taberville, MO. There will be no funeral service, but they will have a graveyard service at the cemetery. Afterward, there will be a luncheon the the First Baptist Church of Appleton City, MO.

MCA Name Change: Midwest Croquet Association

LEAWOOD, KS -- The MCA held it's Annual General Meeting February 9 in Leawood, KS and announced several new changes and initiatives. The most significant change is a new name -- the Midwest Croquet Association (changed from Missouri Croquet Association). The change is intended to better represent the organization's activities on both sides of the border and allow for expansion. New president Dylan Goodwin will work with the MCA Board to get a new logo approved that reflects the new direction of the association.

The big ticket item though was the announcement of a season-long nine-wicket points race for singles play. Details will be announced later, but the concept is that players will accumulate points at events hosted throughout the region. Top points players will then qualify for the MCA Nine-Wicket Championship event in September.

Most of the dates and venues are still to be determined, but Ron Millican announced May 4 as the official date for the Lee's Summit edition of the series (more details to come). The event will kick off the nine-wicket MCA season and Millican plans to have both partner ball flights and a cut-throat (six ball) flight as well. The MCA hopes to have at least one event per month over the summer with Warrensburg, MO and Overland Park, KS being likely hosts. August is being left open as many MCA players would like the opportunity to play in the 40th edition of the Kansas City Invitational in Parkville, MO.

The MCA also announced a $5.00 bump in membership fees for both singles and couples/families. Single memberships are now $20.00 and couples/family memberships are now set at $30.00.

Former MCA president Matt Smith asked to leave the MCA Board and Ron Millican has taken his place on the five member board. The board consists of Dylan Goodwin (President), Jodi Adams (Treasurer), Debbie Breeden (Secretary), Greg Clouse and Ron Millican.