Do not imagine that this is the game you remember playing in the backyard growing up. It has its similarities, but “competitive croquet” is quite a bit more challenging than the backyard variety. Still a time-honored ball-and-mallet game that has been played all around the world (including at the South Pole) for centuries, competitive croquet is a game of strategy, skill, and tactics that can have a serious look to it, while still being full of fun and amusement.
We even found mention of the possible introduction of croquet to the Club in 1904 (four years after it was an Olympic event at the Paris games), and we thought it would be fun to give it a go in the 21st century.
This was an experimental development for us 2019, and it turned out to be an instant hit. Our grounds personnel did a phenomenal job of constructing from scratch a superb, regulation croquet court - which a member of the United States Croquet Hall of Fame, who has given several clinics at Ekwanok, describes as "one of the best in America." The Club has developed a croquet cottage adjacent to the court to serve a a mini-clubhouse for croquet. The Ekwanok membership has embraced the sport with enthusiasm, with ever-increasing play and activity, inter-Club matches, and even intra-Club matches among members, the Golf staff and the House staff. The sport has become a fun and exciting addition to the Ekwanok experience.