Croquet  Court Allocation

 
 

Rules for Croquet Court Allocation — 2008

The overriding principle for court use is that no one should fail to play if there is any court capacity available.

BASIC ALLOCATION

Play is from 9:30 until dusk.

Outside of Club sessions, courts will be allocated at 9:30 and 13:30 giving equal footing to both golf and association players. Evenings will not be allocated: players are expected to arrange courts and games for themselves.

Allocation will be made on the basis of the following priorities:

  1. Club Events (double banked only within the event);
  2. Club Sessions (routinely double banked);
  3. Club Matches (double banked last);
  4. Games with visitors (may be double banked);
  5. Friendly games (routinely double banked);
  6. Practice (routinely double banked).

Courts may only be booked in advance for Club Events (not Club Matches) and may use all the courts.

The number of courts allocated for golf and association will be in proportion to the numbers of games to be played. Golf and association players will not share the same court except as a last resort. One court will be held vacant until 10:00 and 2:00 for golf players (and on golf morning, one court will be likewise kept for association players). Games may be moved if possible to accommodate latecomers. Latecomers do not have to play on the allocated court if a more convenient rearrangement exists.

If the numbers wishing to play exceeds the courts’ capacity, matches will be combined: those practicing will be asked to play each other; friendly singles players will be asked to play doubles. If the capacity is still exceeded, allocation will be by draw.

Double banking will be used when necessary according to the following priorities:

  1. Matches will be double banked last
  2. Games will be doubled banked with like games, eg matches with matches, golf with golf.

Players arriving after the allocation time will be accommodated within the above priorities if possible. Games in progress will not be stopped and re-allocated, but players may be asked to convert a friendly singles game into a doubles.

Play starting before the allocation time is at the players’ risk and may be re-allocated where necessary in accordance with the above; such players will not have priority by virtue of starting early.

Court allocation to games will be by draw (other than club matches) except:

1.         The reserved lawns for golf and association will be rotated

  1. Double banking will be in the order 1, 5, 4, 3, 2 but avoiding club matches first.

CLUB SESSIONS

1.         Monday morning10:00 beginners’ coaching court 4

2.       Association Club Morning 9:30–3:00 Tuesday

3.        Golf Club Morning 9:30–1:00 Wednesday

4.       Golf Club Afternoon 1:30-4:30 Thursday

5.       Association Club Evening 6:00 Thursday

6.       Golf Club Morning 9:30-1:00 Saturday

Mowing is also on Monday mornings; avoid arranging matches for this time.

ETIQUETTE

Players engaged in friendlies or practice when double banked with a match must defer to the match immediately at every opportunity. In particular, doubles games should avoid any discussion around a hoop and peelers should note the position of the match before lining up. On seeing any possible interference with the match, players must immediately mark and remove the relevant balls and stand well clear until the interference has passed. If players do not observe such possible interference, the match players should request immediate marking and removal of the balls.

Where it is necessary to double bank golf and association games, the golf game should where necessary let the association game past their hoop. In some cases, a pause of several minutes may be required.

Hoop running practice must not use hoop 1 on any court to avoid excess wear.

COURT 4 USAGE

Court 4 is sometimes set out as two half-courts. When not used as such, players may convert it to a full sized lawn provided it is returned to its original condition after use. It is not necessary to remove the string boundaries.

The hoops for court 4 are set in the half-court further from hut 2. The hoops for the nearer half-court are kept in hut 2 — details are inside the hut.

EMERGENCY RULE

Should any circumstance arise that is not covered by these rules, then the situation will be resolved in accordance with the overriding principle: no one should fail to play if there is any court capacity available.

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