A simple introduction

Golf Croquet is a great game for socialising and easy to learn, but is also challenging to play well. It allows you to play several games in a session, with games usually lasting about 45 minutes.

How it works

The game is played as two sides with four balls, Blue and Black versus Red and Yellow. Unlike Association Croquet, each turn consists of just one shot, and play is strictly in sequence: Blue, then Red, then Black, Yellow and Blue again.

All four balls attempt to get through Hoop 1. As soon as one ball is successful, that side scores a point, and attention passes to the next hoop in the sequence. The first side to seven points is the winner.

Hitting the opponent out of position is legal. Players will often send an opponent’s ball right across the lawn, in the hope of keeping it out of range. You can play blocking shots, hide your ball behind a hoop or even jump it over another ball. Tactical complexity arises from putting the other players out of position while protecting your partner ball to give it a scoring opportunity.

Read More

There’s more detail on the rules on the Croquet England website: the Basic Rules of Golf Croquet or the full Rules of Golf Croquet. Or come along and try it!

See also our page about Association Croquet.