Fun Events

Big Lobster Croquet Tournament Underway

10/07/19

Paul Bennett

NORTHEAST HARBOR, Maine (WABI) – “This game here is more like your backyard 9 wicket game.”

The Big Lobster Croquet Tournament is underway.
Folks gather in Downeast Maine aiming to become the Big Lobster Champion.
“This is the oldest 9 wicket tournament in the country. It has been a good draw for a lot of people to see Maine and play the game here.”
Many of the players are top-notch croqueters from around the U.S. and Canada.
One participant has won the tournament twice and has also won the National Tournament.
“I practiced so much and got so good at it that I could beat virtually anybody, and that is what it takes to be a winner. I enjoy that. Winning is fun.”
The first two days of 9 wicket doubles are played at the Claremont Hotel in Southwest Harbor.
The tourney then changes to 6 wicket play at the Woodlawn Court in Ellsworth.
“It’s a consuming game. A lot of strategies involved. There is a lot to it, a lot more than what anyone can imagine.”
“It’s a precision game, I love precision. Being a retired dentist, I am a precision kind of guy, and so, I like the very nature of it being executed with precision.”

“I’m told that anybody of all ages can play croquet and here at the Claremont Hotel there is even a children’s court.”
“You don’t have to be in any great physical shape to play the game, just a desire to understand how to play.”
The tournament was started in the late 1990s and has been played every other year since.
I’m told there is no end in sight.

CBS news report – Big Lobster Underway