Ron Lloyd has won his first United States Croquet Association national title, and Jeff Soo has won a record tenth, besting the mark he set earlier this year. Lloyd (Pinehurst, NC) won the doubles while Soo (Durham, NC) won the singles at the 2006 USCA National Championships of Golf Croquet, played September 20–24 at Meadows Mallet Club, near Lexington, NC. Soo and Lloyd faced off in the singles final, Soo winning 7-6, 7-2. Lloyd, paired with Bill Martin (Germantown, TN), then won the doubles by 6-7, 7-4, 7-5 over Florida players Mik Mehas and David Bent.

Lloyd moved to Pinehurst last year to become the lawn sports professional at the Pinehurst Resort, and so becomes the latest in a line of USCA national champions based in North Carolina. NC players have won at least one national croquet title every year since 1999.

Soo has now won—and currently holds—US national titles in all three USCA-sanctioned versions of the game: American Six-Wicket Croquet, Association Croquet, and Golf Croquet. Previously, Mehas was the only player to have done so. This is the second time Soo has held three national titles simultaneously (he also did so in 2002–2003), also a record.

Last modified on 21 October 2006