memberprofile
Lynda Sudderberg Age: 65 (end of August 2019)
Croquet highlights/tourney wins:
Home base: West Palm Beach, Fla.
Most recently, winning the 2018 Chattooga Club Mt. Laurel. The 2019 SCCC Jones Invitational was also significant for me. I’ve started playing Association and winning the Association Nationals Doubles First Flight this year with Dawn Jupin was so much fun. I was undefeated in the First Flight Singles and lost the finals by a hoop, but I was very happy with the way I played throughout the tournament. Historically, winning Championship Doubles with Johnny Osborn at the 2014 Clayton Cup was such a thrill for me!
Home club: National Croquet Club and the Sarasota County Croquet Club (SCCC) Grip: Standard Mallet: PFC Hoop Maker Standard 9.5 inches, 2 pounds, 14.2 ounces Years playing croquet: 10 Favorite croquet venue: The National Croquet Center – I think the entire facility is fabulous. Favorite tournament: So many fun tournaments are in great locations that it’s hard to choose, but I think the Pinehurst Invitational is currently at the top of my list. It hits all the buttons: quality lawns, top competition and great social events in a lovely location. Honorable mention goes to the Peyton Ballenger for its wonderful court-side social events. And, my all-time favorite tournament is the June 2012 New York Croquet Club Clayton Cup during which my husband, Steve Grassbaugh, and I got married!
How did you get into the game? We were living in Columbus, Ohio, and attended a fundraiser that included an introduction to croquet at the New Albany Country Club. We joined the club, continued to play and here we are 10 years later, totally addicted. When we retired in 2016, we moved to West Palm Beach because of croquet.
Do you play other sports? Not now but riding and showing horses (hunter/jumpers) was a major part of my life for more than 40 years. I also competed in swimming, handball and paddle tennis and have enjoyed golf, tennis and downhill skiing.
What is the best thing the USCA has done for croquet? Every competitive sport needs a national umbrella organization for governance, rules, tournament oversight, handicap and ranking management, communications, messaging, etc., and I think the USCA effectively provides those services for the croquet community.
What is the USCA’s greatest weakness? I think the USCA is a little overwhelmed with how to integrate the three six wicket games into a common mission. I think a good step would be to revise both the American and Golf Croquet handicap systems to more closely align with the algorithm system currently used for the Dynamic Grade in the Association Croquet grading system and the WCF Golf Croquet rankings.
What would you like to see happen in the sport over the next 10 years? I think one of the biggest challenges the USCA faces is fully integrating the gaining social golf croquet contingent into the overall croquet “fold,” so-to-speak. I think that competitive golf croquet players are generally already there; but it seems to me that the social players are not as easy to engage. It does appear that a lot more U.S. players are playing all three games competitively, including myself. I would also like to see more Association played in the U.S. And finally, we need to improve our youth outreach. They’re the future of the sport!
What have you learned from croquet? Patience, focus, persistence and confidence. I have also learned that there’s a world of interesting people who play croquet in a lot of wonderful places. I love the game and all it has to offer.
The future of the sport: The future of the sport depends on our efforts to bring new blood into the game.
Quick croquet tip: Patience, focus, persistence and confidence. And if first you don’t succeed…try, try again!
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