The Kingfisher croquet court is a “proper” croquet court. It was expensive to build. The croquet mallets and balls are high quality and thus expensive. They aren’t “toys”. They may NOT be used outside of the croquet court The croquet court and croquet equipment can be SERIOUSLY harmed by players who don’t follow these instructions.

Only a responsible adult age 21 or older (RA) may open the locked storage box for croquet equipment at the croquet court. To obtain the combination for the storage box, a RA must first read and understand these instructions, and then phone Teresa Robinson (307-679-5660), Ted Jacobsen (801-910-6511), or Andy Jacobsen (801-238-8350) and ask for the combination. 

A RA MUST be present on the court whenever the croquet equipment is being used. 

The rules of Association Croquet and Golf Croquet (two different games) are in a spiral-bound booklet in the storage box for croquet equipment. Golf Croquet is the simplest of the two games. Someone in a playing group should read and understand the rules for the game to be played.

There are seven painted white dots on the court – six for hoops and one for the center pin. There is a piece of galvanized metal beneath the artificial turf at each white dot. Very strong (and expensive) magnets ay the base of the hoops and center pin attach hoops and center pin to the metal plates beneath the artificial turf. The magnets can cause SERIOUS injuries to players and/or be shattered if the hoops and center pin are not handled EXACTLY per these instructions. Ted and Andy Jacobsen have personal experience regarding the prior sentence. The magnets can disrupt or disable magnetic media (e.g., credit cards, computers, and other electronic appliances), pacemakers, ICDs and other implanted medical devices. 

The hoops and center pin may be placed on the court, removed from the court, and/or handled ONLY by the RA after he or she has read and understands these instructions.

The RA should NEVER attempt to hold or carry more than ONE hoop at a time. Carrying one hoop in each hand is NOT OK.

When setting up the court, the RA should remove from the storage box one hoop by putting a hand underneath the foam block in which the hoop is resting and lifting the foam block and hoop entirely out of the storage box being careful that the hoop does not contact (a) an adjacent hoop in the storage box or (b) any nearby ferrous metal. Hoops should be placed so that balls run through them on a north/south (not east/west) line. Place the first hoop at any one of the six hoop locations on the court by putting your left foot about four inches to the left of the white spot marking a hoop location and your right foot about four inches to the right of that spot with both feet pointing north. Then (and only then), remove the hoop from the foam block and place it over the spot marking a hoop location. DON’T lift the hoop up to adjust its position unless both feet are in the position described in the previous sentence. Return the foam block for the first hoop to the storage box. Then remove from the storage box and set in place the remaining five hoops, ONE AT A TIME, in the manner described above. Then set the striped center pin at the white spot at the center of the court.

In play, a solidly struck ball may dislodge a hoop. When that occurs, the ball loses momentum and the shot is usually less effective than it would have been with a firm hoop. To provide a firm hoop, a player who is about to strike a ball may ask another player to put a hand on top of the “endangered” hoop until the shot has been made. PLEASE DON’T hit balls at an unnecessarily high velocity. The magnets attached to the hoops can be ruined by a high velocity strike and a ball can be permanently dented by hitting a rock at the edge of the court.

As a special rule for the Kingfisher court, if a player’s backswing will be impeded by a hoop (thus risking damage to the hoop’s magnets), the player may move the ball up to the length of two mallet heads but not nearer the next hoop in sequence and not nearer than one mallet head to any other ball.

When a group finishes playing on the court, the hoops and center pin may be left in place unless: (1) the game just played is the last game that will be played by that group or persons at Kingfisher with that group, or (2) rain is forecast before another game will be played on the court.

To remove hoops and the center pin and place them in storage, the RA should reverse the procedure described in Paragraph H above placing one foot on each side of a hoop to be lifted (one hoop at time), lifting it while keeping the top of the hoop horizontal, placing the hoop in a foam block, and setting the foam block in the storage box; then lift the next hoop; etc. When all of the croquet equipment is in the storage box, please lock the storage box and spin the combination dials so the combination doesn’t show.