Palmetto Invitational brings top croquet players to Green Boundary Club

May 4—AIKEN — The Green Boundary Club hosted the Palmetto Invitational May 1-3, an exclusive American six-wicket croquet tournament featuring some of the top players in the country.

"We're really thrilled to have such high-quality players," said Marc Blumberg, director of the tournament, which was officially sanctioned by the United States Croquet Association. Fifteen two-person teams participated, coming from as far away as Rochester, New York and Vero Beach, Florida.

"The top players are all working professionals. They work at clubs, and they travel to national tournaments," Blumberg said.

He said he and about 40 other Green Boundary Club members play the game regularly.

"They've been playing croquet here for 100 years," he said. The original croquet lawn was closer to the club building at 780 Whiskey Road. The club's half-size lawn is about 70 years old. The regulation lawn behind the building is about 40 years old, built with six inches of topsoil and turf on a rock base.

"When they put in both of these lawns, they did a fabulous job," Blumberg said on May 3. "In the last couple of days we had a couple inches of rain and we had zero ponding. There was no standing water."

Play proceeded in steady rain on May 2.

"We only stop if there's lightning," Blumberg said.

During the tournament, two 75-minute matches were conducted simultaneously on the lawn, which is called "double banking." Each match has two two-person teams competing, so there are eight people on the 108 ft. by 54 ft. lawn at any time. Blumberg had two digital timers running, stopping the right one when a timeout was called.

Adam Lassiter, a croquet pro at Albemarle Croquet Club near Belvidere, North Carolina, and his wife, Hillary Lassiter, were the tournament's winning team. He praised Blumberg's tournament directing.

"He's doing a phenomenal job. Hillary and I've enjoyed our time here, and Marc has been extremely hospitable and directed a great tournament," he said.

"It's hard to double-bank doubles and keep everyone on time and scheduled and manage the clocks. That's what I mean by good tournament directing. He squeezes a ton of games into a pretty short window. Everything has been so smooth," he said.

"It's so nice to see these six-wicket tournaments stay alive, and this is why we're here," Lassiter said. He started playing croquet in 2010. Hillary has been playing in tournaments for three years.

"The setting here is so nice, and the people," he said. "That's what makes the game, the friendship and the camaraderie."

"This game is very strategic," Blumberg said. "There is the more popular version of croquet, which came along later, called golf croquet. It's faster, and it's a much simpler game."

In American six-wicket croquet, players try to send each team member's ball through the six wickets twice, then hit a single stake in the center of the court for a total of 13 points.

When a ball has passed through all six wickets but has not hit the stake, it becomes a "rover."

"A rover has certain so-called 'superpowers,'" Blumberg said. "They can hit other balls. They can clear themselves by going through any wicket in any direction. So, once you have the rovers involved, then it just opens the door. A rover can drive another rover into the stake, and at that point they they're out."

"There are no nice guys on the croquet lawn," said competitor Bo Prillaman, from near Vero Beach, Florida.

Off the lawn, however, it's a different story.

"That's part of croquet, too. You meet such nice people. In no other sport have I ever met nicer people," Prillaman said.

He and Brian Hovis of Louisa, Kentucky lost 13-14 to the Lassiters in double overtime in the tournament's final match May 3.

"It's the greatest game. It's mentally challenging. It's easy on your body. You can play it till you're 100. You can also play when you're seven," Prillaman said.

"It's a lifelong sport," said Hovis.

They both encouraged people to try the game and get involved in tournaments.

"You've got to learn to swing the mallet first. You learn how to hit the ball, and then you start learning strategy after that," Hovis said.

"There's all kinds of instruction," Blumberg said.

"I probably learned half of what I know watching croquet matches on Youtube," said Prillaman.

Later in the year the club will host The Green Boundary Invitational golf croquet tournament.

"Then, during the first week of November, we'll host the first official state championship for golf croquet," Blumberg said.