The United States Croquet Team for the 2005 Solomon Trophy match will have a strong North Carolina accent. North Carolina players Damon Bidencope, Bob Cherry, Danny Huneycutt, Jeff Soo, and Team Manager Mack Penwell will join Californian Jerry Stark and Kentuckian Curtis Drake on Team USA. This year the annual USA vs. Great Britain test match will occur March 24–27 at the Mission Hills Croquet Club in Rancho Mirage, California.

This is one of the strongest and most experienced US teams to contest the Solomon Trophy. Five of the players have played in previous Solomon Trophy matches, and four have played in the MacRobertson Shield, croquet’s “world series”. Four have won US national titles (as has Team Manager Penwell). They are sure to face a steep challenge: the US has yet to beat GB in an international-rules test match, dating back to the start of this series in 1985.