Golf Croquet World Championships come to Melbourne

Think croquet is limited to old-fashioned tea parties? Think again. For the first time in history, Australia will play host to the Golf Croquet World Championships (25 February – 5 March 2017) when it arrives in Melbourne this February.

Around 80 players from 14 countries will converge on the city for the World Championships, which are held every two years in a nominated country. The event will be staged at a number of croquet clubs around Victoria, with the Victorian Croquet Centre (VCC) at Cairnlea, 17 kilometres northwest of the city, acting as the central hub.

Golf Croquet is like the ‘One Day Test’ of croquet – it’s is a much simpler and quicker version of the game than Association Croquet and is gaining popularity with younger generations. It is easy to learn and only takes about 50 minutes to complete a game. The sport is growing in popularity in Victoria with 89 clubs and more than 2800 registered members.

Prior to the Golf Croquet World Championship, the World Croquet Federation Under 21 Golf Croquet World Championship will also take place from 18 – 23 February at Cairnlea’s VCC, with 28 players from Australia, Egypt, New Zealand and USA competing. The top two players from this event will earn themselves a spot in the main open Championship event.

Spectators are welcome at all events and admission is free by registering here.