Revised Golf Croquet Handicap Guidance

by Alison Maugham [^]
27th February (CqE Official News)

A decision has been made to stop the implementation of the February 2025 guidance to align Golf Croquet handicaps with DGrades. If you are a club or national handicapper and have been implementing these changes, please now stop this process.

It is regrettable that these initial actions will have caused disruption to some players at the beginning of this season, but upon recognising the full impact the implementation would have on the wider playing population, I would like to ensure that further disruption is avoided. There are currently three tournaments in the calendar due to be allocated this weekend, they will now have a delayed allocation to ensure that the impact can be minimised.

If you are a player who has been affected by this guidance or have spent time as a volunteer implementing the guidance, I sincerely apologise.

If you have any questions or require any support with this matter, please don't hesitate to contact Croquet England by email (communications#croquetengland.org.uk).

Yours faithfully,

Andy

Andy Dalby-Welsh
Chief Executive

This communication has been emailed to all Croquet England subscribers unless they have opted out of our email communication service.

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Alignment of GC Handicaps to Dynamic Grades

by Christopher Roberts [^]
18th February (CqE Official News)

This is to draw attention to a specific duty of all Club Handicappers (GC) - and particularly when undertaking annual checks of handicap cards.

Dynamic Grades (see footnote) are a 'more reliable' indicator of skill level than handicap cards, because revised start grades are based on opponents' existing grades, and it is a global database.

Handicaps may be correct within a club, but not comparable between clubs.

The following guidance is displayed for on the 'Managing a GC Handicap' page of the Croquet England website - croquet.org.uk/?p=games/golf/handicapping/maintenance

GC Handicappers Should Routinely Compare Players' Handicaps with their Dynamic Grades

If their Dynamic Grade suggests a handicap that is more than one lower than their handicap card shows, their handicap should be reduced accordingly, in the same way as new players who have triggered ASGA* (see the Players whose start grades have been revised by ASGA section - croquet.org.uk/?p=games/golf/handicapping/maintenance#ASGA). If their Dynamic Grade suggests a handicap that is more than one higher than their card shows, the player should be encouraged to enter more competitions to add more ranked games to their record and increase the accuracy of their Dynamic Grade.

Example: A player has a Dynamic Grade of 1421. The first trigger point below 1421 is 1400, which corresponds to a handicap of 6. Therefore, if their current handicap is 5-7, no change is required.

• If their current handicap is higher than 7, it should be reduced to 6, and their handicap index continues from 1400.
• If their current handicap is lower than 5, they should be encouraged to play in more competitions.

Dynamic Grades are used by the Golf Croquet Grading (Ranking) System - rank.worldcroquet.org/gcrankdg/rank.php (note - players who play only internal club games or handicap games will not have a Dynamic Grade).

ASGA - Automatic Start Grade Adjustment - is an adjustment during a player's first 20-30 ranking games using their performance grade.

Chris Roberts
Chairman of the Croquet England Handicap Committee
info#kickphoto.co.uk

Croquet England seeks new Chair of Trustees

by Gabrielle Higgins [^]
29th January (CqE Official News)

Samir Patel, who has served as Chair of Trustees since Croquet England's inception in 2023 and before that as Chair of the Croquet Association's Council since 2021, will be standing down later this year. Croquet England owes a great debt of gratitude to Samir, and more will be said in due course. Meanwhile, applications are invited for his successor by 1 March 2026 with a view to a phased handover taking place between April and October. This is an exciting opportunity to lead Croquet England and help shape its future as the strategy of More People playing More Croquet in More Places moves into its delivery phase.

Information about the role and how to apply is available here.

Target Scoring in Advantage GC 2026

by Roy Tillcock (GCRC) [^]
27th February (GC)

Following international trials in 2025 GCRC has approved the use of Target Scores to replace Starting Scores for ALL Advantage Play in England from March 1^st 2026.

Players should note that only the method of scoring is changed, the game itself is otherwise unaffected.

Clubs and Federations have been circulated with details of Advantage GC 2026 including replacement documentation.

Additional information is available from the Croquet England Advantage GC page.

2026 European GC Singles

by Ian Lines (Chair of International) at Nottingham [^]
26th February (International)

Congratulations to the following eight England players who have been awarded places in this 32-player event:

• Mark Avery
• Richard Bilton
• Euan Burridge
• Sam Cuthbert
• Rachel Gee
• Jack Good
• Stephen Mulliner
• Tim Russell

Full details of the event are at https://www.croqueteurope.com/competitions/gc-championships

The 2026 European GC Singles Championship will be held at Nottingham on 14-17 May 2026. Spectators will be most welcome.

CqE AC Women vs. Oxfordshire

by Ian Lines (AC Selection) at Cheltenham [^]
23rd February (AC)

CqE AC Women vs Oxfordshire on 9-10 May 2026 at Cheltenham

Each year a team of women from Croquet England are selected to play against the winners of Division 2 of the AC Inter Counties, which in 2025 was Oxfordshire.

The team of women selected this year comprises:

• Louise Bradforth
• Sarah Hayes
• Gabrielle Higgins (Captain)
• Sarah Melvin
• Christine Rice
• Diana Wilson

Visitors to spectate at Cheltenham on 9-10 May 2026, and provide support for either side, would be most welcome.

Croquet England seeks new National Safeguarding Officer

by Gabrielle Higgins [^]
11th February (CqE Official News)

Croquet England is grateful to Ron Carter for helping to establish the role, serving since 2021 as the first National Safeguarding Officer. Applications are now invited for his successor. They should be received by 1 March 2026.

Information about the role and how to apply is available here

England GC team to play Spain announced

England Team 2026

Many congratulations to the England GC Team selected to play Spain at Bowdon in June.

• Euan Burridge
• Callum Johnson
• J-P Moberly (Capt.)
• Stephen Mulliner
• Tobi Savage
• Aston Wade
• 1st Reserve: Sam Cuthbert
• 2nd Reserve: Stuart M Smith

We wish them the best of luck.

Chris Clarke Chair CE GCSC

New Policies - updated

by Samir Patel [^]
3rd February (CqE Official News)

The Croquet England Trustees have approved four new Policies

Gender Policy - Most players will have seen at least some news reporting following the UK Supreme Court's ruling in April 2025. The new Gender Policy reflects that ruling, together with research by the World Croquet Federation and responses to a player consultation. This policy aims to balance the principles of fairness and inclusion in a way that is reasonable and proportionate, but we recognise that there are limitations to the information available. Further guidance from the Equalities and Human Rights EHRC is awaited and is likely to influence this policy in the future. In any discussion of this policy, I'd like to remind everyone to keep in mind that it operates within a framework that includes the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion policy, Anti-bullying policy, Welfare and Wellbeing policy and Codes of Conduct.

Fundraising Policy - Croquet England is a registered charity, and like many other charities raises funds from a variety of sources. This policy addresses Croquet England's commitment to the Charity Commission's guidance on fundraising (CC20) and the Fundraising Regulator's Code of Fundraising Practice.

Prize Policy - This policy outlines the framework for awarding prizes in Croquet England tournaments. Its aim is to ensure that all activities must adhere to Charity Commission regulations, the Gambling Act 2005, and the Code of Fundraising Practice.

Professional Players - our constitution sets out that we are focussed on the promotion of amateur sport. For this to mean anything in practice, we have now created a much more robust definition of a professional player (and hence by exclusion a definition of an amateur player). All calendar events remain open to both amateur and professional players, unless stated otherwise in the special conditions.

In addition, the Selection Policy has been updated to include a revised selection ethos for the Solomon Trophy contested between Great Britain and the USA and to add reference to the selection places for the Croquet England Open Championships and other Doubles events. Updated Selection Procedures have been approved by the Executive.

Tournament Regulations 2026

by Samir Patel [^]
30th January (CqE Official News)

Croquet England's Tournament Regulations apply to all Calendar Fixtures included in the annual calendar. As is usual, these have been reviewed by various of Croquet England's committees since the end of the 2025 season and updates have been approved by the Executive Committee which apply for the 2026 season.

The main change that will affect players is the introduction of three dress code variants.

• The existing 'whites' regulation remains the default.
• There are now options for tournament organisers for a 'smart casual' or 'strict whites'.
• Tournament organisers must specify any variant in the calendar entry for the event, so players are advised to check these before before packing for an event. We also recommend that any dress code conditions are communicated to players with joining instructions for an event, along with other useful information such as start time.

A number of new policies have been approved by the Croquet England trustees, including the Prize Policy, Professional Player Policy and Gender Policy.

The full regulations, which include a summary of all changes, are published on this website.

Announcement date for Women's GC Europeans moved

by Chris Clarke [^]
28th January (CqE Official News)

Please note that the announcement date for the Women's GC Europeans has been changed to 20th March.

Chris Clarke

Chair of GCSC

Tournament Entry System goes live on Friday

by James Death [Admin] [^]
28th January (CqE Official News)

The fixtures calendar will be live soon. Once live, players will be able to enter the tournaments listed throughout the season. Remember, there is no rush to enter if there is an allocation date. Entries are to be treated equally whenever they are entered before the allocation date.

Some of the courses are already live, as a lot are early season.

Clubs will be able to enter their teams in the Inter-Club competitions.

The listing has been simplified to make it faster and easier to scan. If someone wishes to enter just a single fixture, they now need to go via that fixture's details page. For more help on how to use the Fictures Calendar efficiently, please refer to the help pages here >> https://www.croquet.org.uk/?p=tournament/caCalendarHelp#customisation

Best of luck to everyone for the upcoming season.

2026 European AC Singles Championship

by James Death [Admin] at Telc, Czechia [^]
26th January (International)

The 2026 European AC Singles Championship will be held at Telc Croquet Club, Czech Republic between 15-18 August 2026. The event capacity is 20 players. The entry fee for this event is £84 per player. Details for the event can be found at Croquet Europe - AC Singles Championships

England players who wish to play should register their availability by 19 March 2026 at https://www.croquet.org.uk/?p=members/availability. England will receive up to 2 Ranking Places, which will be announced by the ERC by 26 April 2026. England will also get 1 Membership Place, which will be selected by the AC Selection Committee by 25 May 2026.