Two summers ago Doug Johnson was heading south on Lake Shore Drive when, right past the 57th Street exit, something in Jackson Park caught his eye: lawn bowlers playing on two perfectly manicured greens. An avid croquet player since discovering the game 12 years earlier, Johnson was thrilled. For him and his croquet cronies, who had been forced to search Lincoln Park for freshly mown grass to play on, this was everything they could hope for: beautifully tended lawns, lights for night playing, and an idyllic setting practically right on the lake, all courtesy of the Chicago Park District.
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Mindful of stepping on toes, Johnson introduced himself and explained what he wanted to do. “The lawn bowlers were apprehensive at first,” he said. “I don’t think they were too crazy about having to share the facility with a whole other club, especially one that really aspired to grow.” Together they agreed on a schedule, trying not to disrupt the lawn bowlers’ routine more than was necessary.
After several months of negotiations, the Chicago Croquet Club–with Johnson as president–got the official go-ahead from the Park District in February. Over the next few months, as membership swelled to 22, the club created a budget, bought equipment, and tried to get the word out about the official opening on June 15.
The official rule book for six-wicket croquet, which is what the members play competitively among themselves, explains in detail the concept of “deadness”–after a player roquets another’s ball (hits it with his or her own ball), it’s “dead” and can’t be hit again by that player until he or she scores another wicket–and terms like “rover ball,” a ball that has gone through all the wickets and becomes something like a wild card. The white plastic wickets are high and very narrow–barely wider than the balls. Games can last anywhere from an hour and a half to upward of four hours. Strategy is just as important as making shots. “You have to think three or four moves ahead,” said Johnson, who admitted that it’s not much of a spectator sport. “If you don’t know the rules it’s kind of like watching a game of chess.” Players say the game attracts problem-solving types. “You get a lot of stockbrokers,” said Kroeger. “Lawyers really like it.”
Around lunchtime some members of the bowling club showed up and, after mingling for a while, began setting up a lane on the edge of one of the courts. They weren’t in the way, but some of the croquet club members were put out. “See, we would never do that, come by and start playing while they were having an event,” one said. But most were understanding. “They really have had a huge presence at this place,” said Marek. “Small cadres of people have played croquet here the last few summers, but this is the first time that the croquet players have kind of swarmed over the club.”
