Champagne is popping for an adopted son of Long Island's East End after he was crowned the world champion of golf croquet. McLoganTV introduces us to Matthew Essick, and the evolving sport.
Hitting wooden balls with a mallet through hoops?His fan club is growing, especially around the village of Quogue, where matches were watched in the library, the community center and the Quogue Field Club where he teaches."Matt has brought youth and vitality to this sport," one fan said.In college with bad knees, Essick gave up basketball for croquet, a sport he played as a kid with his family, and he shined.
"The terrain is flat, it's faster, and wickets are much tighter than your backyard croquet," he said. Essick's ribbing from friends has turned to admiration. Now as a champ, he's fighting to make it mainstream. "That's the one thing that croquet is lacking right now is the ability to go out and find a court and play," he said.
Essick says to grow the sport, there is an urgent need to fund and provide widely available public croquet courts."We are hoping to have a lot of Americans in the event and to host a great tournament," Essick said.Croquet fans believe the sport they embrace can become as popular as pickleball in the United States.
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