All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club are invited to become members. The patron of the club is Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, and the President is The Duke of Kent. The Club was founded by six gentlemen at the offices of "The Field" on 23 July 1868 at the height of a croquet craze as the "All England Croquet Club," and held its first croquet competition in 1870. Its original ground was situated off Worple Road, Wimbledon. Croquet was very popular there until the then-infant sport of lawn tennis (a game introduced by Major Walter Clopton Wingfield a year or so prior, and originally called "Sphairistikè") was
Croquet Reg Bamford (South Africa) and the Women's Golf Croquet World Champion was Judith Hanekom (South Africa). In 2018, two international championships open to both sexes were won by women: in May, Rachel Gee of England beat Stephen Mulliner to win the European Golf Croquet championship, and in October, Hanan Rashad of Egypt beat Yasser Fathy (also from Egypt) to win the World over-50s Golf Croquet championship. Garden croquet is widely played in the UK. The rules are easy to learn and the game can be played on lawns of almost any size but usually around by . The rules are