Croquet and is the game most recreational players in those countries call simply "croquet". In this version of croquet there are nine wickets, two stakes, and up to six balls. The course is arranged in a double-diamond pattern, with one stake at each end of the course. Players start at one stake, navigate one side of the double diamond, hit the turning stake, then navigate the opposite side of the double diamond and hit the starting stake to end. If playing individually ("Cutthroat"), the first player to stake out is the winner. In partnership play, all members of a team must
United States Croquet Association brought together five clubs in 1977 to form the nucleus of the United States Croquet Association. Although the sport had long flourished in the Commonwealth countries, croquet had devolved to a backyard pastime in the United States, and there were no agreed-upon rules. One of the first orders of business of the new association was to hammer out compromise rules acceptable to all five clubs - the Green Gables Croquet Club, the Palm Beach Croquet Club, the New York Croquet Club, the Westhampton Mallet Club, and the Croquet Club of Bermuda. Since then, the list has grown to nearly 400