McINERNEY DEFEATS HUNEYCUTT IN FINAL MATCH
Mark McInerney played golf croquet like a world
champion on Sunday--with confidence and finesse, even
when the going looked tough. "He had a good run,"
Mark would say of an opponent in the zone for a
particular game, but McInerney's steadiness carried
the day and brought him the biggest prize, in both
cash and glory.
Sunday started with four semifinalists: two Irish
playing against two Americans. In the first one, Mark
defeated Florida croquet pro David Maloof in three
games after an in-form Maloof (playing his second Golf
Croquet tournament--he was finalist in 2011 against
Stephen Mulliner) beat Mark in the first game; but
Mark took the second game decisively and breezed
through the third with a 7-4 victory.
The other semi-final was a closer affair, between
Patsy Fitzgerald of Ireland and Danny Huneycutt, top
American player. Huneycutt was obviously delighted to
emerge the winner and have a chance to play against
McInerney. He played well, but Mark's confidence and
steadiness won the day--and the biggest cut of the
cash.
I asked Danny later which was more important to him,
the money or the glory. After some thought, he was
sure, he said, it was the glory. I think the same
would be true of all the players in the event--even
the ones who aren't faring very well in tough economic
times.
Each of the three Irishmen are personally affected by
the depths of the economic depression in their
country. Mark's business--as a dog behaviorist and
owner/manager of a bridle shop--is obviously
depressed by the temper of the times; Ed Cunningham,
a project manager for a construction company, has said
that their few contracts are for overseas work; and
even Patsy Fitzgerald, who lives on a 100-acre estate
in a classic Georgian mansion overlooking his own
croquet court, has seen a reduction in his backlog of
commissions for paintings. "I used to be about 10
months behind," he told me. "Now it's more like two
months."
He could open a bed-and-breakfast, I proposed. Patsy
replied, "We like to close the gates and see no one
for days on end." He raises cattle on half his
acreage, with the other 50 acres being re-
forested. "If worse comes to worse," I
suggested, "you can release the manager of your cattle
operation and do more of the work yourself." He only
smiled slightly, which made me think that he's a very,
very modest fellow, indeed.
There is a bright side to his situation, and a dark
side as well if you can allow for muddled
metaphors: "The light in my studio isn't very good for
painting," Patsy told me. "There can be eleven or
twelve days in a row when everything is misty and
gray. It's why there are so few painters living in
Ireland, I think." Which means more work for Patsy,
I suggested. Again, the modest smile.
The Irish croquet players are genuinely nice guys.
They loved their visit to Palm Beach county, and my
impression is that they all thought it was worth it--
including Mark McInerney, who can now prepare for
playing in the Association Croquet World Championship
in Adelaide in about six weeks. At about number 15 in
the world, he doesn't have the top ranking in that
form of the game, and he'd like to win both titles,
though he knows that's a long shot.
The next Golf Croquet World Championship is scheduled
for April of 2013. Which means that Mark will
doubtless be invited to the 2013 International Polo
Palm Beach Golf Croquet Invitational next February.
It's a "tournament of champions," after all, and Mark
is the biggest champion of them all in Golf Croquet.
COMING SOON IN CROQUET WORLD:
A "COURTSIDE CHAT" WITH
WORLD CHAMPION GOLF CROQUET PLAYER
MARK McINERNEY
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