The Lawn Club brings croquet back to Rochester

Norm Pike of Greece has played a lot of croquet in many different places. He has enjoyed the unique sport in Florida, Canada and the island of St. Croix.

But Pike, 68, no longer has to travel to play as he has brought the sport to Rochester.

A member of First Bible Baptist Church, Pike approached the decision-makers back in 2007 about the possibility of setting up a court at Grace and Truth Sports Park in North Greece, which is owned by the church.

“Who is going to maintain the facilities, cut the grass and be responsible for everything were the first questions I heard,” Pike said. “I told them, ‘I guess I am’.”

So the church agreed to allow Pike to set up shop in the park, just to the right of the main entrance and shy of the main soccer fields.

He has set up three courts to play American Six-Wicket Croquet and is currently building a room off to the side which can be used for relaxing before or after games.

Along with the courts, Pike and his wife Linda, have also started the Lawn Club, Rochester’s only known croquet club. They started by inviting members of Grace and Truth to join the club - which will meet on Tuesday evenings from 5:30 to 8:30 until the end of October - to come out and learn and participate in the sport. They have also opened the club to anyone who wants to come join them, regardless of skill level.

“It is a fun game and we have a very laid-back atmosphere here,” Pike said. “We welcome all to come try out the sport and most find it to be a challenging game all while having a good time and enjoying the company of others.”

At first, the game is difficult to pick up, especially without watching it first hand. Essentially, it can be played one-on-one or as teams of two. Each player receives a mallet and plays two of the four colored balls. The idea is to enter each of the six wickets several different times with an objective of scoring 26 points.

Opponents try and hamper your ability to get through wickets with their shots all while trying to score for themselves. Players get 45 seconds to make a shot and games usually take 45-60 minutes to complete.

Luckily for new players, Pike is very patient and spends most of his time teaching and helping the newer players understand the rules.

Mary Ann Morrow of Fairport joined the club just two weeks ago and says she is glad she did.
“I thought it was a sport that an old lady could play, and I was right,” she quipped. “They are incredibly welcoming here and I have really enjoyed it so far. I had no knowledge of the game but they have done a great job of teaching me.”

All of the equipment is provided for players who want to join the club and Pike allows three free visits for interested parties to come check out the sport and see if they like it.

After that they charge a sliding scale, which at most would only be $25 for the full season.
The sport can also be a good activity for couples because it involves a lot of communication. There is strategy involved in every shot and dialogue is key for being successful.

The club also hosts tournaments on occasion and recently had a club from Syracuse up to partake in a Saturday of competition.

He also brings in guest speakers to talk strategy about the sport. This past week he brought in Rich Curtis, a Rochester resident who is the former President of the United States Croquet Association, to talk to the members.

Pike calls the game a combination of golf, pool, chess and checkers. Players are given handicaps, much like in golf, and as they improve in the sport their handicaps go down.

“It is a sport, much like golf, where people conduct business while playing,” Pike said. “Plus there is no age restrictions and players can play into their 90s.”

Anyone interested in joining the Lawn Club or getting more information, can e-mail Norm and Linda Pike at lindaandnorm@gmail.com.