Denver’s Washington Park saw great croquet action this past week as the Denver Croquet Club hosted the 2025 U.S. Golf Croquet Classic from July 10-12. The event concluded with Matt Smith delivering an impressive performance to win the Pro Division with a 7-4, 7-5 finals victory over Daniel Pailas. The best of two was closely contested, with Smith playing a tactical approach that saw him in control of hoops more often than not.

In game one, Smith jumped out to a 3-1 advantage, but Pailas battled back to get to 4-4. As the loser of Hoop 8, that meant Smith had a chance to “run the gambit” and he dutifully took H9, H10 and H11 for a 7-4 win in a game that took about 45 minutes.

Pailas came out strong in game two, scoring a slightly angled five-yarder to go up 1-0. Smith got the advantage at Hoop 2 and Pailas was relegated to a pair of distance shots. The clear attempt with red missed but his west boundary hoop attempt from 21+ yards sailed through to push his advantage to 2-0.

ONLINE RESULTS-PRO-BLOCKS
ONLINE RESULTS-GOLD PLAYOFF
CROQUET SCORES RESULTS

Smith answered back to get to 2-2, but Pailas won three out of the next four to get to 5-3, once again winning Hoop 8. With the gambit on for Smith, Hoop 9 was a battle with Pailas getting multiple clears from the west boundary to stay alive. The battle had an odd ending as Pailas inadvertently jawzed Smith’s black ball, which then created an out-of-turn sequence that took some time to sort out. Pailas opted for a ball swap that kept the point on the board.

After Pailas rolled red and yellow together at Hoop 10, Smith took control of the hoop and got the win there to level at 5-5. After Smith claimed Hoop 11 for a 6-5 lead, Hoop 12 saw another battle with multiple clearances by Pailas from the boundaries. Smith was patient and continued to hold position and set up blocks. Eventually, Pailas ran out of arrows and Smith claimed the match after about 95 minutes of play in game two.

Overall, the tournament featured 13 players, including ZED play. The main event saw two open blocks of six, with the top three finishers from each block advancing to the Pro Playoff. The remaining players moved on to the Gold Playoff.

In the Gold Division final, Shane Eckert edged out Dylan Goodwin 7-6, 7-6 to claim the division title.

This event marked the third stop in the 2025 MCA Series Tour, with the next competition set to take place at the Houston Invitational in October.

—Player Report by Dylan Goodwin

Midwest Croquet Association

Smith Claims Pro Title at 2025 US Golf Croquet Classic